Wisteria Monster Dig

[Akhi]

Having seen some of the Wisteria bonsai’s on my last visit to Japan a few years ago, had been on the lookout for a big trunk, I do have one wisteria which I salvaged from a dig site but that would take ages to put on the amount of girth I was after, nevertheless it continues to grow as a vine where I have let it loose . Anyway, I found this ad on Marketplace where all it said was they had some plants to give away, went to see what was available and surprise surprise there was this nice strong wisteria which had twined its way up onto a balcony. Got in there around 1 on the afternoon yesterday and by 2:30 I was done, after an hour and a half of back breaking digging I had a pretty strong Wisteria in my hands. Not quite sure about the colour or variety as the owners were just razing the place down after buying it in the not so distant pst, but wisteria it is and as I did t have a pot big enough to hold it ended up getting a 128 litre storage container from Bunnings two bags of garden soil, two bags of potting mix and one bag of coarse sand. With some help from my little or now not so little helper, got it all planted up. Now the wait for spring.
I had read somewhere that I had to seal wisteria cuts bigger than a pencil as otherwise the heartwood tots, can someone in Melbourne suggest where I can get such a thing and if it is needed?
Any suggestions on potential shaping also much appreciated, I am thinking of it being a big bonsai at a meter or more. Have cut the main trunk at a thick area with reverse taper as it had some branches, plan is to cut it off once the tree grows which should help with the taper as the branch under it is much narrower.

[greg27]

Gonna need some pics of this monster please

Aussie Bonsai Bloke has a couple of vids on his wisteria, the middle has rotted out so it's ended up in two separate pieces, but he's planted them together to tell a bit of a story.

[Akhi]

Photos of the tree attached, some are grainy due to trying to reduce the size to upload.

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It has a much thicker base which is currently under the potting mix which I plan to bring up once it roots. Also planted a number of cuttings from it hoping to have more of these in case I need to graft branches on.

[Akhi]

It is about 1.5 metres high from base of the root ball to the top of the thick trunk.

[Akhi]

Gonna need some pics of this monster please

Aussie Bonsai Bloke has a couple of vids on his wisteria, the middle has rotted out so it's ended up in two separate pieces, but he's planted them together to tell a bit of a story.

Onto it Greg, I wathched that video last night actually I don’t want mine to rot if I can help it as i want it to be a tall one. Have you used sealants before?

[shibui]

bunnigs have 'steriprune'. It is a black goo that is used for sealing wounds. The black lasts a long time so not really good for bonsai ready for showing but should be OK for your monster now.
Bunnings also used to stock an acrylic wound sealant but I can't find it on the catalogue now.

Acrylic sealants are clear or brown so look better.

Otherwise try one of the bonsai suppliers. They will have bonsai wound sealers. The one in the tube would probably be better for this than the tub of plasticine type.

BNW show is on this weekend at Footscray Arts Centre. Pretty sure they will have wound sealers on the sales table and you can check the show while you are there

[Akhi]

Thanks Neil, might head out there, have a good excuse.

[Akhi]

Looks like it will survive, one little branch had some blooms but more importantly The Who stump is teeming with green buds breaking out from bare grey bark. Mystifying how well this species backbuds.

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Now that the dust has settled and looks like this will pull through I have started looking at the trunk and thinking about how to deal with that big reverse taper at the top just before the thinner trunk starts.

[kcpoole]

Do not touch it for another 12 months,
I have dug a few big ones and they all shooted first year then rotted away and died.
No idea why,
I have tried to seal wounds, keep dry, but all have failed
Sucessfully collected small ones though

Ken

[Akhi]

Thanks Ken, will leave as is then. The ones you lost, were they planted in bonsai soil or normal soil? I read somewhere that Wisterias do better in normal/clay soil

[Akhi]

Super excited to see it leaf out like crazy! I nipped the tips once there were about 6 pairs of leaves so it doesn't spend too much energy in elongating. Fingers crossed on how this travels.

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[kcpoole]

Thanks Ken, will leave as is then. The ones you lost, were they planted in bonsai soil or normal soil? I read somewhere that Wisterias do better in normal/clay soil

they were planted in my normal Bonsai Mix.
Interesting comment about the soil. Will remember for the next dig i find and try

Ken

[nozila]

My wisteria I collected rotted out around the base and some branches died back throughout the winter.


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[Akhi]

My wisteria I collected rotted out around the base and some branches died back throughout the winter.


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Did you by any chance do a flat cut of the base? I read that where the base is cut flat exposing the heartwood, the Wisteria rots through as the heartwood is soft. I avoided any flat cuts to the trunk for this so fingers crossed. The flip though will be that I won't be able to get it into too shallow a pot.

[nozila]

No. Someone dug it for me and I just planted it into a tub because I wanted it to survive keeping as much roots as possible.


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