AusBonsai

Brett I have mine potted in a tray with holes all around it. I have my swampy submerged to the base of the tree. Think of a tree in a swamp, and that's exactly what i have tried to re create. When I prune, i throw the scraps into the water, I even have a few small fish that seem to survive in there as well. I lift the tree out every month and cut the roots coming out of the bottom and sides.

hey brett

got an update on this beast for us?


would love to see some changes and or results, whether you tried the power feed system alpine has explained? or the vertical slicing method? i know that it will work as i had successfully had it work for me back when i didnt understand much, unfortunately no pics as i didnt photograph trees back then and then went away for a couple of weeks leaving my trees in the care of the mother in law (we were living there at the time) who didnt water my trees, i lost a fair few. and it wasnt that she just forgot, she just didnt do it...

anyways, any chance of an update?

cheers


jamie

No big news Jamie. Has been a happy camper so far but the growth has not been where I want it.
It has been interesting considering the ability of trees to shoot back between inter nodes. You could see that the section where I wanted a branch to grow had never had any growth before. It is said that once a branch or trunk is thick enough you need not worry about inter nodes when considering back budding. I was discussing this with Grant and we didn't really come up with an answer.
I just could not see the tree back budding to this area so I thread grafted a branch there a few weeks ago which was not easy with the largish buds on the young branches.
An annoying thing at the moment is that the existing branches that where left (first right) which need thickening and the most growth are holding back while advantageous growth takes off. So most of the growth has had to be removed. I gave it another trim yesterday trying to push the growth into the graft. It will need another graft or two. Might have to wait till next season though.

I pulled a couple of the bigger weeds for the picture

thanks for the updates mate

i see what ya mean by the need for buds on the left, have you tried any of the thickening ideas that were given to you? i am thinking of using it myself on a young starter i have


jamie

Na like I said apart from improving the roots I don't want any more flare. Just want to improve the root spread.

I think thats shaping up very well bretts. nice flare and taper. Have you checked the roots? Speaking with Quentin earlier to pick his brain. He said some people down here repot twice a year to keep them pumping. Now in summer being the second time. Just wondering wether your pots full of roots.

I bought 2 swampys a week and a bit ago. Was told to cut the roots growing out the bottom and sit in a water tray for a week. I repotted them into bigger pots, probably double the size. They have plenty of new shoots, i have tried an air layer on one. The other has a twin trunk, one trunk got snapped somehow but i think it will be alright. It has a big crack in one side and is a bit flimsy at that point. I was just going to leave it and hope for the best. The cracked one is still sitting in the water tray hoping it will help the tree recover. I left the one with the air layer out of the tray hoping it will send out shoots from the layer..Do you think i should use your diluting DL into the water at this stage? for either tree?

Cheers.

I will check it out Antonio but I doubt it as I have not let much grow as nothing came out where I wanted it so no top growth means little bottom growth I am guessing.

I am guessing what you have is pretty small Onlyone and it is hard to give general advice. Remember that they where growing fine where you got them from so there is no need to rush. Maybe you could try some of the above techniques if only to ensure that the tree is in peak condition to work it hard come spring.

true true bretts. im in no hurry for the new one so instead i butcered up my one and only smaller, younger one. I will post soon.