AusBonsai

Nice work, looks like you got the extra roots your wanted.

May have to give this a go with one of mine.

Adam

Fly, looking good mate ,did the toothpicks help at all ,or they didn't do much, i don't expect you'll answer, so i'll say NO.

Hey Mate

Excellent job there i really like this tree. Next photos you take try and get front, side and back views.
And i know this is out of species but relating to the toothpick method and getting a nice root base to work with. I have a little olive that is soon to be worked on to start to develop it into a nice sumo shohin, and i want it to have one of those nice equall root flares, is it a good idea to try this method and also ringbark it as i would if i were going to airlayer it?
I will be posting its progression up asap.

Cheers Pat

corko wrote:Nice work, looks like you got the extra roots your wanted.

Craig wrote: Fly, looking good mate ,did the toothpicks help at all ,or they didn't do much.

Gday Corko & Craig!

It's difficult to say whether or not the skewers/toothpicks had any real effect on the formation of the new roots - I guess maybe half of the skewer wounds sprouted roots, and a lot of other roots grew from uninjured part of the trunk. This Lilly Pilly is so ready to set roots that I suspect the skewers were a waste of time. The original soil had "collapsed" and turned to mud, so the fresh mix around the trunk was a welcome addition, and the tree responded well.

Pat093 wrote:Next photos you take try and get front, side and back views.

Gday Pat!

You've caught me out - I have been deliberately avoiding showing the sides of this tree, as it is almost dead-flat in profile... I'll try to get some pics later to show you what I mean.

Pat093 wrote:And i know this is out of species but relating to the toothpick method and getting a nice root base to work with. I have a little olive that is soon to be worked on to start to develop it into a nice sumo shohin, and i want it to have one of those nice equall root flares, is it a good idea to try this method and also ringbark it as i would if i were going to airlayer it?

Sorry to say that I don't know much (anything) about Olives, but my thoughts are thus: if a species can be air-layered, I expect that it can also be ground-layered to achieve a new/better root base. Let us know ho you go.

Thanks all!

Fly.

PS: Apologies for my tardy reply. Sometimes real life gets in the way of my commitments here.

Sorry mate, i didn't mean to
But im sure it would look fine anyway.
And i will keep you posted on my experiments

Pat

FlyBri wrote:Gday Corko & Craig!

It's difficult to say whether or not the skewers/toothpicks had any real effect on the formation of the new roots - I guess maybe half of the skewer wounds sprouted roots, and a lot of other roots grew from uninjured part of the trunk. This Lilly Pilly is so ready to set roots that I suspect the skewers were a waste of time. The original soil had "collapsed" and turned to mud, so the fresh mix around the trunk was a welcome addition, and the tree responded well.

Thanks Fly, i'm always keen to know about peoples success/failures with the old toothpick technique, ,