AusBonsai

These needed some serious root work and another layer . Using the tooth pick method that Bodhidharma showed a while back i decided with all my spare time to set a layer and improve the roots on the original base trunk and the middle layer .The bases and layer were treated exactly the same , drill the hole where required , insert a halved wet tooth pick dipped in hormone powder and back filled and/or potted up .The trunks were tilted slightly just enough to get the drill at the correct angle .Then a probe/chop stick was used to press the soil back around the base as per normal re-pot, watered and it all over . These 2 will be allowed to grow on for several months then cut back by 50 %,hopefully the full on growth will produce the roots required prior to clipping back

Cheers Alpineart

Couldn't help myself ,Time rich at the moment , i got sick and tired at looking at potted plants so it was out with the wire , yes electrical coated wire was used on the main branches .The side branches and shoots were wired with the earth wire section unraveled ,all up 10 m of red wire and 27 m of the thinner copper wire was used to shape this tree .Its got me beat how one could afford to buy bonsai wire when a tree like this eats close to 40 m of wire .Anyway after about 6 hours i think this informal upright Zelkova is well on its way to being a good Quality Bonsai in a relatively short period Finished height is a tad over 700mm and 500mm wide the base is 90mm , The cloth at the bottom is covering the sacrifice branches . Now i can focus on the next potted plant .

Cheers Alpineart

So if I understandcorrectly , you also used the toothpick method within the air-layer?

I like the idea, will be great to see how it pans out. Thanks for showing.

Well done Alpine I am guessing you know an electrician Copper is worth more on the market but electricians still leave a lot of it lying around after they finished a job.

Hi Number 13 , thats it in a nut shell , just had to try it out to see if it will work , can't see any reason why it won't .

Hi Bodhi , being in the trade helps and reno's are good for recycling unwanted material . I do buy old SEC wire rolls at scrap price when the opportunity arrives , still have 100's of meters of it in varying thicknesses that was purchased several years ago .

Cheers Guys .Alpine

Another season under its belt and a few changes taking place . I have allowed the 3 lower shoot to elongate and plaited them together last Spring hoping to produce a fused trunk Zelkova rather than waste the material . I un-wired all the branches and shoots , a 3 hours task that i don't particularly like but had to be done . Then a good hard trim back to continue the ramification and to begin the shaping process .

The lower braids are fusing slowly and have been rewired , strange but true all the tooth picks used in the base for root production have failed . Not a single root has been produced , for an elm that's very unusual and i cant figure out why they didn't produce the goods ???. The same method was used on the upper layered layer of this trunk and produced roots . The same medium was used on the layer as in this potted tree. I have re-potted the trunk back into the same pot after a root prune and a layer will probably be set on the braided trunk after it begins to leaf out . Due to the fact they are only 6-8mm thick i will ring bark and tourniquet the stems and place an open pot on the base . A little carving is required to the stub of the main trunk to improve the taper to the new apex

Cheers Alpineart

looking good so far.

fiveoffive wrote:looking good so far.

Hi Fiveoffive , it would have been nice if the root work had worked out , but its not the end of the world . Just can't figure out why the tooth picks failed on this trunk . .

Cheers Alpine

Alpine, would it work better if the toothpicks were done the whole way around the trunk, then a tourniquet applied below these? I would assume the sap flow would be somewhat restricted and therefore it would cause roots to shoot out a bit quicker.. Not 100% sure though.

Hi MoGanic , mate this particular test has me stumped . To work on a layer and not on a trunk is a mystery . I think a tourniquet would definitely produce a different result . I have re-potted quite a few tree's lately and i have notice 2 trunks with tooth picks haven't worked . Being so busy lately i have forgotten which species they were as i have worked Tridents , Japanese Maples , crab apples , Elms , Pines , Cedars , junipers and a lot of other bits and pieces . That will teach me to take more notes and pics as i work these plants over . Haven't got the time to re-do this particular trunk as plenty more await a work over .

Cheers Alpine

Stunning tree though, worth the work! Hopefully we'll see some updates soon hey? haha

Good luck mate.

-Mo

Time for a trim and definitely set the layer to hopefully double the stock again . This has bolted over the last 2 weeks so i have trimmed it back hard and set a pot layer on the fusing trunks/branches that were plaited together last season using a ring bark and wire combination . They appear to be slow to thicken but are very strong growers so we shall see how long it takes to throw out some roots .And its back to the bench .

Cheers Alpineart

You got me beat Alps, I cant figure out how you manage to do all that work and still manage to do regular posts Are you taking Steroids

Hi Bodhi , mate i did for a little while ,for medical reasons , that's whats buggered the bones . Seriously i have good time management and find it difficult to sit idle . Times a wasting and i have no time to waste . Even with a buggered leg i still manage to make good progress i simple move the stools to the plants , now with all the trolleys around the place , it makes for a good assembly line GMH would be proud of . If i don't do it , it won't get done .

Cheers Alpine