AusBonsai

Well I’ve finally had the time to photograph a few of my trees, here is one which I’m really excited about- the very beginning of a progression series for this little tree.

I have owned a Kyoto Serissa for 2 ½ years now and it is growing really well, I repotted it this Autumn and notice the roots and nebari were quite amazing. The roots had thickened up nicely and some had even fused. As well, the flaky bark on the roots was similar to the trunk despite being underground- and that got me thinking... a serissa root over rock! I haven’t seen one done before but I’m sure you could, so I got started and here is the creation of the first one...

This will end up being a Mame size root over rock (ROR), most ROR I’ve seen tend to be quite big but I love all things small, so this Kyoto Serissa with its small leaves and compact growth should work nicely. (I guess we’ll see later down the track but )
Hope you enjoy- and may even be inspired to create your own!

Chipper5

Hi Chipper5

Very nice work like all the photo's good luck & keep us posted on the progress

Regard's The Hacker

I am a big fan of serissa's, good luck with this one, I'm sure it'll live.

Great stuff
This is very nice Howto on creating a Root over Rock, regardless of the result. The only thing I would add it that usually the roots should extend out past the Plastic wrap and into the soil in the pot, but we will see how it goes eh! Only time will tell.

I will link to this thread from the New Root over Rock wiki page

Ken

Very interesting, but a bit confused. I get the idea of the cling wrap, however without roots being able to grow out from under the cling wrap into the soil, it will have the same effect when doing an airlayer, all the roots contained in a ball under the cling wrap. What is the point of planting it in soil, if the roots cant get to the soil?

chris

chrisatrocky wrote:Very interesting, but a bit confused. I get the idea of the cling wrap, however without roots being able to grow out from under the cling wrap into the soil, it will have the same effect when doing an airlayer, all the roots contained in a ball under the cling wrap. What is the point of planting it in soil, if the roots cant get to the soil?

chris

I think that hopefully the roots will grow out and down into the soil. Be intersting to see if they do or just die back because they cannot get to the water in the pot. time will tell maybe

Sorry guys if it was a bit confusing,

Very interesting, but a bit confused. I get the idea of the cling wrap, however without roots being able to grow out from under the cling wrap into the soil, it will have the same effect when doing an airlayer, all the roots contained in a ball under the cling wrap. What is the point of planting it in soil, if the roots cant get to the soil?

Just to clarify- the roots extended far enough down the rock so when the tree was placed on the rock the roots were level with the bottom of the rock. I only wrapped the clingfilm around the top and sides of the rock (not the base) to hold the current roots and tree in place, the bottom of the roots have been left exposed (just held in place by muck) as you can see in picture 10. Ideally they would have been a bit longer so they could have been wrapped around the base of the rock to help hold them in place a little better. But as they grow they should extend past the bottom of the rock and out into the soil- because the base of the rock/tree/roots was placed on a mound of soil in the bottom of the pot, they're already in contact with it. The rest of the rock was then covered with soil up to the top.

I think that hopefully the roots will grow out and down into the soil. Be intersting to see if they do or just die back because they cannot get to the water in the pot. time will tell maybe

The clingfilm helps to keep the moisture in and the moisture will also come from the soil around and below the rock. The muck will stay moist as it's watered the same as any other bonsai- so if I water properly it wont dry out

Chipper5

Ive started using Raffia, the cheap white kind they sell in $2 shops. From what i can tell by the time the tree is ready to be dug up the raffia is all but degraded leaving just the rock and the tree. Does nothing for water retention so its food for thought next time.

Thanks for the tips look forward to it being unearthed and look forward to seeing how your muck turns out.