[kvan64] Flowering Quince - Entry 2

[kvan64]

This old garden plant has all the ugly features as far as bonsai is concerned - bare and straight trunk, reverse taper, root crossing,... Yet I love the challenge to turn it to something decent. I may need a lot of ideas/suggestions with this one later on.

[kvan64]

Ok, here is the initial work for this one. Since the base has nothing interesting and will not be fixed in time for the comp, my plan was to airlay the top part and use it for the comp. I have done a couple of thinner layers last year and they took roots quite readily. I also plan to develop the branching while waiting for the roots to develop. It's a bit risky as I know that having good foliage above the airlayer will help provide energy to form roots below. Let's hope that my plan will work out.

[Spoony]

That looks very
Good luck!

[bodhidharma]

Hope it comes together for you Kvan.

[kvan64]

Thank you spoony and bodhi. There are quite a few flower buds on the trunk that need to be removed. Otherwise, not much work I can do more now other than wait for the tree/airlayer does its own work for now.
Cheers,
DK

[kvan64]

There are quite a few flowers and buds on the new airlayer. I just took the pics and will remove the flower soon after.

[kvan64]

Just some more up date to keep people in the loop. The layer now shooting up like crazy but I have not seen sign of rooting yet. Maybe it has taken but have not protruding out from the base of the pot. I'm not keen on digging to look for roots at this stage.
Cheers
DK

[kvan64]

There are some good news for this one. I checked and found a few roots have found their way down the bottom of the pot and started to stick out the drainage holes.
Since the pot is big and I have enough good stuff there to keep the layering section going so there is no immediate need for taking it off. I may start working on the branching/foliage at this stage. I'm thinking of giving it a hair cut and start wiring in a couple week time

[kvan64]

Here is some more work on this one. There are quite a lot of roots in the layer. I could remove the layer but decide not to. The reason is if I remove the layer now, I can't start working on the branches straight away. I have thought of this when I was making the air layer. As there is a lot of soil and sphagnum moss to sustain the new tree, I don't have to worry about root work and repot until the roots are completely harden off. This allows me to start work on the branches now.

[kvan64]

Time to remove the air layer. There are too much roots that I had to trim down to fit the pot. There are also a lot of red ants (fire ants?) nested in the root ball. I used the insect spray to rid of them but now I am worried that it may harm the young roots. Hope not
The left over part (mother plant) actually looks better then the tree before. Winning the competition or not, I am happy with the result. Now I have 2 better trees

[Watto]

Really interesting progression, thanks for posting. And good luck in the comp.

[Andrew E]

Thats some outstanding progress in a relatively short time. . The mother tree looks a lot better too. Looks very feminine in that photo, looks like its throwing a hip out at the viewer!! lol
Andrew

[kvan64]

Thanks Watto and Andrew. The parent plant does look very feminine. I see what you meant now

[kvan64]

Small update for this one. Building ramification very slowly. The thick 3mm wires are helping to shape the branches up too.

[coocarch]

The mother tree looks awesome after the removal of the air layer. I want to get a quince if the can grow to look like that!