Maximum growth technique

[Homer911]

Just wondering how everyone gains their maximum growth in their branches during the growing season?

I have read and watched on YouTube that I should leave a branch grow for as long as possible to get the maximum growth. See the branch on the right.



From my limited experience growing maples I have found the I get more growth if I let the initial branch grow a bit then cut. This produces a new twin set of branches. Thus doubling the amount of leaves thus doubling the quantity of energy created. I understand that when I cut the branch that the growth is stunted slightly but I feel this far out ways the growth created by the twin branches or oven quadruple branches if you cut again.



The main goal is to increase the size of branch 'A' by letting branches 'B' grow.

Let me know what you have experienced on your trees.

[Daluke]

My take is that you are correct with your theory.

If you allow the branches on the trunk to extend, you fatten the trunk. If you allow the secondary branches to extend, you fatten the branch.

ill wait for someone else to explain the science behind it.

[Kevin]

Hello Homer,

What are member's experiences in obtaining the Maximum Growth and how they achieve this with their Pruning Techniques is almost as variable as the clothes they are wearing. The considerations and variables of an individual plant can be and definitely not limited to:

Location
Climate
Topography
Rainfall - is different to watering. Plants will produce greater growth under natural rain
Plant Genus and Species and Cultivar
Genetic Variations within the plant Genus and Species and Cultivar
Microclimates
Soil Types
Plant Growth Medium
Season
Etc

Then there are The Plant Owners Considerations and Variables:

Style
Water
Fertilisation
Sun
Time
Etc

Then you have the tried and true generic growth / pruning methods which are described by all experienced growers of Bonsai. In a nutshell:

If you allow the branches on the trunk to extend, you fatten the trunk. If you allow the secondary branches to extend, you fatten the branch.

Or another experienced individuals methodologies as detailed here on WIKI are written by Brett Walston. Type his name into WIKI.

You need to learn everything Horticulturally regarding your plant first, specifically the plants Cultural Requirements and then the plants Physiological Characteristics.

Too much information at times can be detrimental in achieving the best results.

An approach which i endeavour in adhering to is called the KISS method, or in your senario KISH method.

Kevin

[Homer911]

Hello Homer,

What are member's experiences in obtaining the Maximum Growth and how they achieve this with their Pruning Techniques is almost as variable as the clothes they are wearing. The considerations and variables of an individual plant can be and definitely not limited to:

Location
Climate
Topography
Rainfall - is different to watering. Plants will produce greater growth under natural rain
Plant Genus and Species and Cultivar
Genetic Variations within the plant Genus and Species and Cultivar
Microclimates
Soil Types
Plant Growth Medium
Season
Etc

Then there are The Plant Owners Considerations and Variables:

Style
Water
Fertilisation
Sun
Time
Etc

Then you have the tried and true generic growth / pruning methods which are described by all experienced growers of Bonsai. In a nutshell:

If you allow the branches on the trunk to extend, you fatten the trunk. If you allow the secondary branches to extend, you fatten the branch.

Or another experienced individuals methodologies as detailed here on WIKI are written by Brett Walston. Type his name into WIKI.

You need to learn everything Horticulturally regarding your plant first, specifically the plants Cultural Requirements and then the plants Physiological Characteristics.

Too much information at times can be detrimental in achieving the best results.

An approach which i endeavour in adhering to is called the KISS method, or in your senario KISH method.

Kevin

Hi kevin,

Thanks for the indept reply regarding growth conditions.

I understand that all these conditions effect how fast/slow the tree grows. I am more interested in the fact that if i just let a branch grow will that single branch create the same branch thickening if i were to say cut after the first node and allow two new shoot to make two new branches as in the second diagram.

Hope this is a little clearer.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[Homer911]

Hello Homer,

What are member's experiences in obtaining the Maximum Growth and how they achieve this with their Pruning Techniques is almost as variable as the clothes they are wearing. The considerations and variables of an individual plant can be and definitely not limited to:

Location
Climate
Topography
Rainfall - is different to watering. Plants will produce greater growth under natural rain
Plant Genus and Species and Cultivar
Genetic Variations within the plant Genus and Species and Cultivar
Microclimates
Soil Types
Plant Growth Medium
Season
Etc

Then there are The Plant Owners Considerations and Variables:

Style
Water
Fertilisation
Sun
Time
Etc

Then you have the tried and true generic growth / pruning methods which are described by all experienced growers of Bonsai. In a nutshell:

If you allow the branches on the trunk to extend, you fatten the trunk. If you allow the secondary branches to extend, you fatten the branch.

Or another experienced individuals methodologies as detailed here on WIKI are written by Brett Walston. Type his name into WIKI.

You need to learn everything Horticulturally regarding your plant first, specifically the plants Cultural Requirements and then the plants Physiological Characteristics.

Too much information at times can be detrimental in achieving the best results.

An approach which i endeavour in adhering to is called the KISS method, or in your senario KISH method.

Kevin

Hi kevin,

Thanks for the indept reply regarding growth conditions.

I understand that all these conditions effect how fast/slow the tree grows. I am more interested in the fact that if i just let a branch grow will that single branch create the same branch thickening if i were to say cut after the first node and allow two new shoot to make two new branches as in the second diagram.

Hope this is a little clearer.

[treeman]

With all other factors (water sunlight nutrients etc.) being equal, the thickening is caused by the amount of leaves on the stem. Pruning of any kind will reduce the rate of thickening until the number of leaves reaches the number before pruning. And the thickening rate will thereafter increase as the number of leaves increase.

[GavinG]

One branch/trunk growing very long will thicken the trunk far more than two shorter, thinner branches or trunks. For serious thickening, two or three meters long is useful, repeated over quite a number of years. This is why ground-growing gives quick results.

Gavin

[Pearcy001]

Does anyone else remove any naturally occurring side shoots/sub-branches when you are growing for thickness?

I remove any sub-branches coming off the branch I'm growing long for thickness, but am now wondering if in the future I may be better off leaving them - more leaves equal more photosynthesis?

On the other hand if I remove them, it would be thought that energy would be more directly aimed at growing the branch long/thick.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Pearcy.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[wrcmad]

Does anyone else remove any naturally occurring side shoots/sub-branches when you are growing for thickness?

I remove any sub-branches coming off the branch I'm growing long for thickness, but am now wondering if in the future I may be better off leaving them - more leaves equal more photosynthesis?

On the other hand if I remove them, it would be thought that energy would be more directly aimed at growing the branch long/thick.

Thoughts?

In my experience, pruning of any kind slows growth and reduces foliage mass - effectively slowing the rate of thickening.
If all secondary shoots are let to grow, thickening is faster, and often more tapered.
In short, I agree with Treeman:

With all other factors (water sunlight nutrients etc.) being equal, the thickening is caused by the amount of leaves on the stem. Pruning of any kind will reduce the rate of thickening until the number of leaves reaches the number before pruning. And the thickening rate will thereafter increase as the number of leaves increase.

[bodhidharma]

One branch/trunk growing very long will thicken the trunk far more than two shorter, thinner branches or trunks. For serious thickening, two or three meters long is useful, repeated over quite a number of years. This is why ground-growing gives quick results.

Gavin

I agree here but you have to monitor it closely otherwise it can get too thick, too quickly.

[Paulneill]

If a singe trunk or branch is allowed to grow freely , it will have to thicken down the entire length before you get your desired thickness. Say you have a 5 meter branch or trunk and you just want to thicken the bottom 2 inches of it, the whole 5 meter length has to to thicken which takes longer as it has to create a lot more mass of wood that will be just cut off and thrown away, In most cases it is faster to cut it at the right time and encourage multiple sacrifice branches at that point. This will give you more branches doing to job that only one branch was doing before with the added benifit of all the energy and thickening being concentrated to we're you want it. I have found this to be a faster method and will increase shape and taper if done right.