Pyracantha Bonsai - A Seedling Journey

[sirstiv]

Hello Everyone.

Last November I became fascinated by some excellent photography of Pyracantha (Chinese fire thorn) bonsai that I had seen.

So I purchased some seeds on ebay... planted 5 (after soaking) and put them in the fridge for 90 days.

Only one emerged. I only needed one .

In preparation I also bought a nice little pot for it.

Hope you enjoy my progress.

The Seedling was born/grown/appeared on the 1st of March. (98-100 days time spent).

The plant currently lives indoors under LED lighting for approx 18hrs a day. (Red/Blue dominant)

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[Andreas]

I like this way of presentation

[Pearcy001]

That Link scene is truly amazing :tu:

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[kcpoole]

this is going to be a very cool story I think

Ken

[shibui]

A close up of the Sole seedling.

May 1st 2016 - 2 Months - Almost time to be fully outdoors . Happy and Healthy.

Pyracanthas have germinated and grown in quite a few pots in my nursery this year. I think it may have been a mistake to collect those ones from the side of the road
Maybe less TLC means more Pyracanthas

Have fun with your tree. It is a great experience developing bonsai right from the start.

[sirstiv]

Here is a picture I took last week... Dancing under the disco lights... Growing strong.

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[sirstiv]

Here we are at 3 months.

Drastic growth in the past month. I wonder when the berries start to occur?

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[sirstiv]

4months - Update.

Casually growing 4-5 extra branches. It still has the wobbles.

The height it has reached is 33cm. It almost feels too tall for its pot hehe.

[shibui]

That's about the same size as the 'weeds' I have growing in my pots. Ell done.
I'd expect a few years to get to flowering age. Seedlings need to mature enough to start breeding. Wisteria can take 10-20 years to flower but I think pyracantha should mature in 2-3.

[Boics]

Id consider getting some wire on at this stage.
You can usually get away with much better bends on smaller specimens. Younger trees bends will generally set in place quicker too.

[sirstiv]

I'll plan on straightening the main trunk a little bit. The current wire I have is too thick for it.

The branches may be 1-2 months away before I start on them. I'm worried it'll grow another 30% in height... I don't want to cut it... surely it'll reach an end height soon for its pot size.

[shibui]

surely it'll reach an end height soon for its pot size.

It does not seem to work like that. In small pots they will still grow tall but just take a bit longer. in the meantime they don't seem to grow many branches or get very thick trunk. Pruning stimulates more shoots making better branching. Pruning is very important to develop bonsai. You will need to prune at some stage.

I'll plan on straightening the main trunk a little bit.

What shape do you plan for this tree? Most people want a trunk with bends and curves that make it look like an older tree. I agree with Boics - wire and make some good bends soon before it gets too stiff.

[sirstiv]

What shape do you plan for this tree? Most people want a trunk with bends and curves that make it look like an older tree. I agree with Boics - wire and make some good bends soon before it gets too stiff.

At this point I'm only considering maintaining a slight curve for the trunk and then bringing all the branches down.

Initially I had a vision for this tree to be some sort of abstract christmas looking tree with all it's 'fruits' reminding me of bells.

Are there certain styles for pyracantha? Most of the google entries seem to not have an obvious style.

[kcpoole]

Are there certain styles for pyracantha? Most of the google entries seem to not have an obvious style.

Informal upright is by far the most common style used and next in order would be clump / multi trunk as they naturally shoot form low down and off the root.

Ken

[longd_au]

Pyracantha tends to grow branches right angle to the main trunk. In my opinion, a bend in the right place to point the new leader up is critical in the early stages.