Itoigawa

[SuperBonSaiyan]

Got this Itoigawa from treeman last spring. It has put on a decent amount of growth since then.



My aim is to thicken it up quite a bit more before I try to make a bonsai out of it.

I cleaned off the bark to prevent spider mites, and I pulled down two sacrifice branches (the ones with the rubber tubing on them) to maximise light to the inner growth. That should help to build taper lower down.

It has some really nice bends in the lower section (I'm planning for something of Shohin size), so to keep the movement consistent I'm going to take off the top this coming summer (aiming to air layer a decent whip off of it). The remaining growth will be small enough to wire. Haven't decided on a front - but I'll likely bend the branch 10'oclock to the cut, back over that cut and continue the movement from there. I know this will slow down the growth, but I think it'll make for a better bonsai in the long run.

I like this mesh pot - in one year the roots have already started to grow out of the bottom.

My plan to thicken the trunk:
1) I'm thinking I'll continue to grow it in this mesh pot for the next 2-3 years
2) Nest the pot into a larger container to allow the roots to extend
3) Put some shari into it
4) After 2-3 years, put it into the ground

[shibui]

The plans sound viable. I use most of those techniques on the shimpaku I grow up here and it seems to work.
They are quite slow to grow and to thicken so don't get too frustrated if it takes more than a couple of years. They often start slow and gradually build up a head of steam after a few years.

[Daluke]

Itoigowa and me don’t work - they all fail.

As for other types kishu, blauw etc I have found I get good girth by leaving in pots.

It’s like it hits a point in time and explodes in girth. Probably gets adapted to the conditions, then says let’s go baby. Maybe it’s because there’s more ferts than of in ground?

Repotting involves next to no root trimming. It’s teasing out the old soil and putting in more. There’s always blackened roots which fall out and then the nice red brown and white tips which push through.

Everything (juniper wise) ground grown for me has little to no gains compared to pots.

[shibui]

Everything (juniper wise) ground grown for me has little to no gains compared to pots.

I also find that they take a long time (several years) to get growing fast.
I have also had better trunk growth in pots for at least the first 2-3 years.
After a couple of years sitting in the ground apparently doing very little growing they take off and quickly thicken and exceed growth of potted trees. Just need to get past the frustration of little growth for the first few years.

[treeman]

If you want junipers to thicken as quickly as possible in the ground (or pots) don't grow them in soil or potting mix, grow then in quartz sand beds around 8 inches (20mm) deep with maybe 10% organic mixed in. The sand should be a mix of 0.5-4mm particle size. They will respond to that quickly.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

If you want junipers to thicken as quickly as possible in the ground (or pots) don't grow them in soil or potting mix, grow then in quartz sand beds around 8 inches (20mm) deep with maybe 10% organic mixed in. The sand should be a mix of 0.5-4mm particle size. They will respond to that quickly.

Thanks, I'm planning to build some grow beds this winter for a variety of plants. I saw your post about ground growing azaleas and was going to do that (sand base, topped with partial organic) but I'll go with 90% sand for Itoigawa.

The mix it's in at the moment has a decent amount of sand as well (sand, pumice, scoria and pine bark).

[SuperBonSaiyan]

Itoigowa and me don’t work - they all fail.

As for other types kishu, blauw etc I have found I get good girth by leaving in pots.

It’s like it hits a point in time and explodes in girth. Probably gets adapted to the conditions, then says let’s go baby. Maybe it’s because there’s more ferts than of in ground?

Repotting involves next to no root trimming. It’s teasing out the old soil and putting in more. There’s always blackened roots which fall out and then the nice red brown and white tips which push through.

Everything (juniper wise) ground grown for me has little to no gains compared to pots.

How were you growing your Itoigawa? What mix? One of mine was over watered in the summer a little and it got weak so I slipped it into a mesh pot with sifted pumice and it did a lot better. Also sprayed with rose shield.

My Kishus seem to tolerate being a bit wetter.

I've been searching around for Blaaws but haven't found any in nurseries yet.

Also, how do they fail for you? The one which struggled for me I found the foliage turned brown and flaked off really easily.

I've taken a few cuttings so if they root and you're keen on trying again you're welcome to one.

[Daluke]

Open mix.

Full sun.

Lots of feed.

Tips browned and then it spread.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

This is how thick I'd like to have my Itoigawa eventually: https://www.instagram.com/p/CseUQ47uFkJ/?hl=en

I'm thinking 15-20 years before the trunk I have thickens into something like this.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

So I bought 40kg of sand and sifted it through the finest mesh on my sieve.

What I wound up with was around 2kg of 1mm+ granules.

I'm not sure where to get a sieve mesh of 0.5mm size.

Should I just scoop 2kg of the fine sand back in, making it an even mix of 1mm+ and 1mm-?

The rest of the 1mm- sand will go into the bottom of the grow bed as a filter I guess?

I'm still searching around for somewhere that stocks horticultural sand at the appropriate size but most places I've called or visited don't have quartz smaller than 20mm. Going for a drive to Ballarat tomorrow to see if they have some (sounded promising on the phone).

[Daluke]

1) go to daiso and check out the garden sieves. If they don’t have any, go to the kitchen section and look at a flour sieve. I was going to buy a set from Japan but then for $20 bought a range of different graded sieves from there - they weren’t designed for garden but work just the same. Get ones with reinforced rims

2) bastian river sand at bunnings contains good seized particles. Use the fines for propagating and the larger seizing for junipers

[SuperBonSaiyan]

1) go to daiso and check out the garden sieves. If they don’t have any, go to the kitchen section and look at a flour sieve. I was going to buy a set from Japan but then for $20 bought a range of different graded sieves from there - they weren’t designed for garden but work just the same. Get ones with reinforced rims

2) bastian river sand at bunnings contains good seized particles. Use the fines for propagating and the larger seizing for junipers

Thanks, but I've used garden sieves and flour sieves before. Ended up getting tired of it and bought two of the proper Japanese sieves, they make the process much quicker.

Also - The Bastian river sand is the one that I sifted and wound up with ~2kg of usable-sized particles. The rest of the finer sand went into the garden. (I also keep some around for propagating, but didn't need that much).



I'm after this stuff:



I found it in Ballarat, but unfortunately, they wouldn't sell it to me. They also wouldn't tell me where they got it... (Found it at a nursery, not a soil & sand supplier).

I'm after a larger quantity (~3-5 cubic metres), so the Bastion River sand would require way too much sifting and cost too much as well.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

I have an Itoigawa that's doing a bit poorly compared to the others.

I checked the soil today and sip potted it into 100% sand because the other soil had fungus growing out the side of the pot. I didn't comb the roots, just did a light shake then into the sand. Plenty of white root tips, but also some dark roots with dirt caked onto them (where I suspect the issue is originating).

I sifted the old mix and lost around 50% of it (a lot of pumice fines, causing a damp slurry where no roots were growing).

Might give it a quick spray with Rose Shield just to prevent any further issues - but welcome any suggestions (avoid spraying? spray with something else? full sun? shade?)

Didn't take a before picture, but the old mix had a bunch of brown foliage littered along the surface.

[Daluke]

This has happened with mine. They slowly died.

I live in the northwest of Melbourne.

My sample size was only two though. Hopefully yours pull through.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

Did you spray with mancozeb? That's what I'm planning to try best based on what I've read (I believe it's blight, but remain open to other suggestions).