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First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 19th, 2014, 5:39 pm
by kez
Hey all,
I took a friend of mine up to bonsai south today and as usual walked away with some stock. I have been wanting to do a shohin tree for a little while now and when I saw this little twin trunk I jumped at the chance.
Here it is after initial styling/wiring
From the top
And one of the trunk
And lastly a shot of the tree with a ruler, currently at 22cm height
I really love the trunks and the taper, and hope to build ramification from here to fill it out and hopefully turn it into a squat little chunker! The only issue is maybe the front branch at the top right, I may remove this in favour of increasing the impact that the more mature branch behind it has but I will see what some more growth brings
Would love some advice or critique, or anybody's thoughts on where to from here
Cheers,
Kez
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 20th, 2014, 7:19 pm
by kez
Nobody has any thoughts?
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 20th, 2014, 7:35 pm
by Stu_my
looking good, just feed it up now
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 20th, 2014, 7:35 pm
by Isitangus
Hi kezi think it definately has the "building blocks" of a good shohin-look forward to seeing it fill out and ramify!!!
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 20th, 2014, 9:42 pm
by dansai
In time it will become a nice shohin. I agree with Isitangus that is a great building block.
As for where to from here, Feed, water, grow. Feed, water, grow. Feed, water, grow. Cut back. Feed, water, grow. Feed, water, grow. Feed, water, grow. Cut back............ ect.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 21st, 2014, 7:12 am
by kcpoole
Nice trunk movement, and good variation between the 2.
Like the others now to just build ramification and thus the canopy.
Ken
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 21st, 2014, 7:23 am
by kez
Thanks for the encouragement folks,
Really excited about this one, I see a great future for it

Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: January 24th, 2014, 5:54 pm
by Jag01
Looks like a great start, Personally I would prefer to see both apex's heading in the same direction, for more of a"Mother and Son" style. But that is the great part of this hobby, everyone has their own tastes and ideas.
cheers,
jeff
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: February 17th, 2014, 11:43 am
by kez
Thought I'd post up a little early update on this tree,
after a couple of feeds It has powered on, and It got a tip prune yesterday to start to work on the ramification, and as the leaves were starting to get a little large.
Here's the tree as it is now
and the view from the top
I am hoping to get this into a pot next season, here is the pot I have chosen for it
Love to hear any thoughts or opinions
Kez
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: February 27th, 2014, 10:45 am
by kez
Well my lack of patients got the better of me,
I decided that I was happy with the growth so far and was dying to get this into a pot to see if my vision matched my choice and design so today I put the guy into it's pot. I had to take a big chunk of solid root off the bottom so I hope it pulls through ok, but overall I am pretty happy with the result.
IMG_1385 (800x533).jpg
Cheers,
Kez
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: February 27th, 2014, 11:17 am
by Boics
Looks good to me.
Will only improve as the style you have chosen thickens and ramifies.
Keep us posted.
P.s. Nice pot.
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: March 2nd, 2014, 2:32 pm
by kez
I came home today to find this tree looking worse for wear, leaves are soft and limp.
I'm wondering what it could be, obviously something from the repot but what? And also what should I do? Is it just sulking or will I lose it?
Thanks in advance
Kez
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: March 2nd, 2014, 4:20 pm
by lackhand
kez wrote:I came home today to find this tree looking worse for wear, leaves are soft and limp.
I'm wondering what it could be, obviously something from the repot but what? And also what should I do? Is it just sulking or will I lose it?
Thanks in advance
Kez
kez wrote:Well my lack of patients got the better of me,
I decided that I was happy with the growth so far and was dying to get this into a pot to see if my vision matched my choice and design so today I put the guy into it's pot. I had to take a big chunk of solid root off the bottom so I hope it pulls through ok, but overall I am pretty happy with the result.
Cheers,
Kez
Well I think this is the answer. Removing a chunk of root can definitely make for a sad tree. But it is a fig, so it should be okay. Give it a good soak in Seasol and keep it protected from sun and wind, and

. Misting it may help a little too.
When you repotted, did you bare root, or is there still old dirt in the rootball? And what soil mix did you pot it up in? These factors can make a big difference too.
Hope it makes it, the tree and pot are a nice looking combo. Good luck, and let us know.
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: March 2nd, 2014, 4:42 pm
by Grant Bowie
Give it a misting lots of times per day for a few days, then a few times a day for the next few days then ease off.
Also next time pot it more to the left hand side of the pot, in my opinion.
Looking good.
Grant
Re: First go at shohin, PJ fig
Posted: March 2nd, 2014, 5:05 pm
by kez
Thanks for the info guys,
Yes it was somewhat barerooted but there wasn't a lot of root there, and due to the size of the pot the reduction needed was substantial. The potting mix was from bonsai south so no worries there.
The tree has received an awful lot of rain in the last 3 days, would that have had an impact?
Fingers definitely crossed here,
Kez