Rubiginosa seedling trunk development

Ces · Post by **Ces** » July 2nd, 2012, 3:52 pm

Hi guys,

A newb question for the ficus lovers here... I have recently rescued a port jackson fig bonsai starter from a local nursery and have a couple of questions about trunk development. i would like to eventually develop this seedling into a ROR or informal upright and i'm not going for the sumo look, so my question is this... i noticed the bonsai nursery that had the plant before my local had been removing the shoots below the main growing tip, do i continue to do this to encourage a more upright gradual taper? or should i allow the low shoots (see in attached photos) to grow out now?

2012-07-02 15.08.35 weird box.jpg

the seedling has taken off well since repotting. the new leaves are much healthier than the shoots that were present when i bought it

2012-07-02 15.09.00 small.jpg

the new shoots low down on the tree

2012-07-02 15.09.26 arrow.jpg

arrow shows position of new bud. this picture also shows the where the bonsai nursery had removed old leaves.

appreciate any help guys.

Ces · Post by **Ces** » July 2nd, 2012, 3:55 pm

wow... that post doesn't look how i expected. is there an edit function?

Ces · Post by **Ces** » July 2nd, 2012, 3:56 pm

found it.

Chris H · Post by **Chris H** » July 2nd, 2012, 4:36 pm

Ces.
You've got a long way to go before you get to a sumo trunk.
Let it grow
And go find your rock. You may as well plant it on the rock now the longer it's there the better.

bodhidharma · Post by **bodhidharma** » July 2nd, 2012, 4:39 pm

Hartos wrote:And go find your rock. You may as well plant it on the rock now the longer it's there the better.

agreed, but get a bigger rock than you think and allow for the trees growth.

Ces · Post by **Ces** » July 2nd, 2012, 6:12 pm

Hartos wrote:Ces.
You've got a long way to go before you get to a sumo trunk.
Let it grow
And go find your rock. You may as well plant it on the rock now the longer it's there the better.

hey hartos,
yeah i realise i have a long way to go with this plant before it becomes anything, just wondering if there were any special pruning techniques to follow whilst letting it grow to encourage the trunk shape i want. so i take it the advice is... just let it go and see what the trunk suggests?

in terms of the rock, its only been in the current pot for about two weeks and i'd like to let it establish a little larger root system before repotting again onto a rock.

thanks for the advice.

Chris H · Post by **Chris H** » July 2nd, 2012, 6:21 pm

Yep. At this point it's a bit early to be selecting branches.
I've got a few root over rock figs. I usually start them as soon as possible and plant at an odd angle to create an interesting trunk.

AusBonsai