Discussions about propagating from cuttings, seeds, air layers etc. Going on a dig (Yamadori) or thinking of importing? Discuss how, when and where here.
I’ve stumble upon a chance to dig two pretty decent sized melaleuca trees and just want to know if being too big can be an issue? Do I need to have heaps of roots/root ball? Also do Pittosporums silver sheen make good bonsai candidates?
Too big has plenty of issues but too big is relative as well. Some people think that 1m tall is big while others are happy with even larger trees.
Some people like large bonsai but large bonsai. large bonsai can look really powerful and impressive but larger bonsai also have some drawbacks. What size pots will you need? Think about where you can get such pots and the cost. How does one repot such a tree? You will need either a team of strong friends and/or a crane or fork lift to move or handle such trees.
In my experience trees are always bigger than they seem. They seem to expand as you dig the soil away from the trunk. The pot you will need is usually at least half again as big as you thought. The trunk will weigh about twice what you thought and the resulting stump is nearly always twice as ugly as you thought it was.
Most mels should transplant OK. They usually tolerate bare rooting without too much setback. Many will shoot from bare wood so it is possible to collect and start the conversion to bonsai.
Large trunks with large chops will take some years to regrow a new apex and branches so bonsai will not be quick.
Pittosporum is a genus I have no experience with transplanting.
