[NoUpdate] [matlea] Muraya

[matlea]

Species: Muraya
Height: 35cm
Source: Nursery
Cost: $10

Again from nursery that was closing down. May have gone past this but it had some attractive red fruit / seed on it. Its a miniature type ...not sure how quickly (or otherwise) it will grow.

[matlea]

Well I got a small window of time to start on this one. Currently it has been putting out a mass of flowers...so chop, trim and off they go.

I was originally thinking to create an informal upright but there were a number of branches that had long straight sections, and the branches are very brittle.... so without chopping right down to the base I thought I'd try a semi cascade. Root spread should allow for the repositioning with some work.

Next step will be to sort out the top but for now I will let it grow and maintain strength. Fingers crossed!

[xtolord]

Interesting...

[matlea]

Will wait and see how we'll it shoots out from the chop.... If well, then I'll look at reducing more of the top and re growing.... If not then I'll be more selective. Have to give it time as I split the trunk at two of the branch/ trunk forks ( which I have sealed.. Shot taken before sealed) as always fingers crossed!

[Steve B]

Hi matlea, I've spent a bit of time with these mini murrayas (I dug a bunch out of the garden for my first attempts at bonsai). Surprised they don't get more airtime as a starter bonsai as they look good and are quite bullet proof, although saying that I've killed half of mine off so far.... over 6 years though and plenty of mistreatment

They are a bit slow compared to their bigger cuzzies, but seem to do pretty well in good sun with lots of water in Sydney. I've never tried them in one of the open mixes though - always kept a majority of potting mix with a bit of coarse sand (like a cactus mix). Given the small pots they end up in I'm worried I lack the discipline/attention to keep the water up to them hence favouring wetter, less porous mix.

They shoot back pretty well from branches that have formed some bark - when I've pruned on the younger green stems they just seem to shoot from the next lowest node and generally end up growing at the same straight-ish angle again rather than getting any real change of direction happening - that's my clip and grow approach, fine wire might get some better angles but I haven't tried and wonder whether new shoots might be too delicate? I normally retain a leaf or two higher up to keep the sap running after pruning.

You can also cut the leaves back to just one set of opposing leaves per bract which helps to scale the leaf size down and get the foliage a bit denser. When I've split/cracked branches in the past I've generally lost one half of the branch above the split area - although I haven't tried your approach of sealing them up after the event so be interested to see the results.

Good luck with this one - be good to see it progress!

[matlea]

Steve thanks for the information... I hope it progresses too!! As with having a porous mix you can always place them in a shallow tray of water and gravel to get them through the warmer months. Just enough.Water to last the day ( or most of the day) I do this with some of my thirstier trees...