Swamp cypress

[stevemg]

Have I killed this by cutting off the 2 branches been 3 weeks now no new growth

Thank you

[shibui]

I would be surprised if pruning off branches has killed a swampy but 3 weeks is a fair while at this time of year.
Definitely keep looking after it and cross fingers. There's still a good chance it is just slow.

If worst happens and it never grows back I would not totally blame the pruning. There's every chance that something else has affected the tree which was not quite as obvious as pruning - like a couple of dry days. When something happens we often blame the most obvious thing but that's not always the cause.

[stevemg]

Thank you

[juan73870]

My fingers and toes are crossed for it to bounce back to life, because it's a real beauty of a trunk!! Huge potential for a fantastic bonsai!

[Stevie_B]

They love their feet wet, but without foliage is it still as important?

[Marblebah]

Hello everyone, I'm new to bonsai but has a real soft spot for Swampies. I agree, they love being wet, in fact I keep all mine completely submerged to get accelerated growth. All mine have been grown from the single tree I purchased 2 years ago, the trunk then was thinner than my index finger. I am enjoying it so much I think I'm showing some OCD tendencies because I trim regularly but can bring myself to throw cutting away ha ha

[shibui]

Interesting that you have such good strike rate for cuttings. I can only get a few to strike each time I try. Any tips on how you treat swampie cuttings?

[Marblebah]

Apologies upfront for the long-winded reply.

It may be beginners luck but up until recently I was getting better than 90% success with my cuttings.
The last batch I had half fail and still not sure why because I used the same method.

I get rapid growth and branch/leaf development with them being fully submerged and I am generous with regular 'worm tea' feedings once a month.
I don't worry about times or temps when I cut branches back.
I take at least 50% of the branches off and have no trouble with back budding development.

Cut the branch off at the trunk and drop them directly into water.
Strip each branch of foliage except the tips.
Some branches I cut are too big so I either cut the laterals, small ones are discarded but those 2-3mm dia or larger are used.

I use whatever I have to support them in water but like the 50mm seedling pots, the tall ones.
I place about 5-6 stems in each pot and push 5 of the pots into a cut down 3L milk bottle.

I have placed them in places receiving full sun and part sun. That may be where the recent failure occurred, it was a hot summer and they may have cooked. That said, the original and his mate have sat in buckets with little water between bucket and pot on tiles in full sun their entire lives.

They grow well in the water and develop foliage but it takes a few months to see root development.
Once I see roots I do use a 50/50 potting mix and 10mm scoria from Bunnings and pot them up, still keeping them fully submerged.

Hope this helps.

[shibui]

Thanks for the great description. I'll try some in water and see what happens.

[Raging Bull]

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With the Swampies loving the water so much I'm trying a different approach. It's my take on the self-watering pot. I made the pot with no drainage holes , a raised interior rim and an inspection port at the side to be able to check the water level. On the raised interior rim I've placed a piece of corflute board with holes pierced in to allow roots to grow through. I can then water the pot until it is saturated and the tree drinks a lot of it but I maintain a reservoir of water under the corflute for the roots to access. There is a cork sealing the inspection port so the mozzies can't access the water.
I've had the tree in that pot since December '21 and it's thriving, so I'll be making another pot along the same lines for my other Swampy.

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[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Nice work on the pot Frank. Tree looks very happy.