Liquid Amber in the making

[anttal63]

Furtherest right Dec 2007 8-12 weeks after sprouting

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Sept 2010 repot and root work

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Beginning this month may2012 for some colour

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Yesterday B4

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yesterday after new leaders chosen for movement and taper

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Repot next!

[Jow]

It looks like you are doing a good job here Tony. Sometimes growing your own stock is the only way you can get exactly what you are after. Not sure on how thick you plan to grow these but bare in mind the thicker the finished product the tighter the innitial curves should be as they will soften as they grow out. Look forward to seeing these develop!

[anttal63]

It looks like you are doing a good job here Tony. Sometimes growing your own stock is the only way you can get exactly what you are after. Not sure on how thick you plan to grow these but bare in mind the thicker the finished product the tighter the innitial curves should be as they will soften as they grow out. Look forward to seeing these develop!

Got it mate thats why the second leader. Thicker is better !!! 4:1 or less!!!

[craigw60]

Hi Tony, I am surprised to see you growing this species. I have a group of them here and while its a nice group I so wish they were tridents. having said that despite the species you are doing a great job of growing them.
Craigw

[anttal63]

Hi Tony, I am surprised to see you growing this species. I have a group of them here and while its a nice group I so wish they were tridents. having said that despite the species you are doing a great job of growing them.
Craigw

Hello mate Oh Craig how many tridents can one have Never bloody enough Mate i fell in love with these in my 1st year of bonsai after seeing Brian Samsons. He hasnt and doesnt push his hard so i knew i could get more out of it. The autumn reds and purples are just amazing against the grey bark. It has really responded well to my treatment of it and therefor a winner in my eyes. The leaves do reduce and it pops as good as any. Slow but sure ! I would like to grow more.

[ADO]

Hi mate, nice progression. I have a Liquid Ambar ready for chopping in Spring. Can’t wait.
Looking great!

[anttal63]

Hi mate, nice progression. I have a Liquid Ambar ready for chopping in Spring. Can’t wait.
Looking great!

Thanks mate i do my chops the minute they drop their leaves! If they dont there then defoliate in the middle of june and just do it! Good luck mate!

[kcpoole]

Nice Ant
I have one from seed Last year? that I have in the ground for growing on. It has only just started to colour up here so a few weeks behind yours. It is a Straight trunk at the moment so will get a chop soon
I love the colour of Liquid ambar and mine wil be a larger tree to match the leaves as they do not reduce much. How big ( what diameter) is the trunk of yours?

Ado, I also agree that major deciduous chops not be done in spring, see the wiki.
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... hould_I%3F

I will chop mine in a month or so and possibly lift and replant this winter too to ensure the nebari develops well

Ken

[anttal63]

Nice Ant
I have one from seed Last year? that I have in the ground for growing on. It has only just started to colour up here so a few weeks behind yours. It is a Straight trunk at the moment so will get a chop soon
I love the colour of Liquid ambar and mine wil be a larger tree to match the leaves as they do not reduce much. How big ( what diameter) is the trunk of yours?

Ado, I also agree that major deciduous chops not be done in spring, see the wiki.
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... hould_I%3F

I will chop mine in a month or so and possibly lift and replant this winter too to ensure the nebari develops well

Ken

Thanks Ken ! The diameter just above the nebari is 30mm. I too hope to get it in the ground in the next few years, i aleady have a couple similar to this in the ground at the growing fields goin strong. This one i just choose to nuture it along for now. I have seen them reduce leaves very well, the trick is when time to refine, to build up ramification by 1) taking out the terminal buds in Autumn as they drop their leaves and 2) to defoliate in summer every second year by Brian's instructions. However i aim to see if i can push the defoliation envelope a little harder than that!

[ADO]

Nice Ant
I have one from seed Last year? that I have in the ground for growing on. It has only just started to colour up here so a few weeks behind yours. It is a Straight trunk at the moment so will get a chop soon
I love the colour of Liquid ambar and mine wil be a larger tree to match the leaves as they do not reduce much. How big ( what diameter) is the trunk of yours?

Ado, I also agree that major deciduous chops not be done in spring, see the wiki.
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... hould_I%3F

I will chop mine in a month or so and possibly lift and replant this winter too to ensure the nebari develops well

Ken

Hi Ken, thanks for the info/heads up on this. My liquid amber has a great base but lacks taper for most of its length. I will follow suite and chop soon as leaves have dropped ( which is not long now).

cheers

Adrian

[matlea]

Looking good! Put a couple of small starters in the ground a few weeks back. Colour is a bright red. Good to see the time it took to get to the current stage. Guessing around 5 yrs and I might have something worthwhile. Maybe longer as I might go bigger?! I think the leaves do reduce... Leaves on the two in the ground are about3cm. Anyhow good luck and look forward to more updates!

[anttal63]

Looking good! Put a couple of small starters in the ground a few weeks back. Colour is a bright red. Good to see the time it took to get to the current stage. Guessing around 5 yrs and I might have something worthwhile. Maybe longer as I might go bigger?! I think the leaves do reduce... Leaves on the two in the ground are about3cm. Anyhow good luck and look forward to more updates!

Thanks Mat yeah well its 5 yrs in a pot so the same time in the ground should be 3 times this size good luck gives us look at some stage.

[craigw60]

Tony I can easily defoliate my group twice in a season, they are the last deciduous trees to drop their leaves so the growing season is quite long. The bark on a couple of the trees in the group is just starting to crack after many years in a pot.
I field grew quite a lot of them for around 6 years and had a lot of problems. The roots develop very quickly into strong straight and very coarse roots, when I removed the really strong roots as is my habit with all field grown trees many of the LAs rotted back into the trunk, I also had problems with large scars on the trunk dying back as you would see on kurume azalea. The trees in my group shed branches from time to time a habit which also occurs on my big tree in the garden. It often sheds quite large branches. I have also seen lovely LA bonsai around but they are not without problems.
Craigw

[anttal63]

Tony I can easily defoliate my group twice in a season, they are the last deciduous trees to drop their leaves so the growing season is quite long. The bark on a couple of the trees in the group is just starting to crack after many years in a pot.
I field grew quite a lot of them for around 6 years and had a lot of problems. The roots develop very quickly into strong straight and very coarse roots, when I removed the really strong roots as is my habit with all field grown trees many of the LAs rotted back into the trunk, I also had problems with large scars on the trunk dying back as you would see on kurume azalea. The trees in my group shed branches from time to time a habit which also occurs on my big tree in the garden. It often sheds quite large branches. I have also seen lovely LA bonsai around but they are not without problems.
Craigw

I see Craig, all very valuable info thanks mate. realisticly it sounds like it may pay to grow them slower in a pot to minimise the impacts to them. That is good news about the defoliation twice a year! I appreciate your observations very much ! thanks my man !

[craigw60]

Yep I think pot growing would be more viable but will take years if you want to grow big trees. It may be that in a different climate you have better luck field growing. Only one way to find out.
Craigw