Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
Winter down here so I am working my way through the deciduous trees in the grow beds.
Here's a few pics of progress:
Growth: These tridents have put on around 2.5m of new growth over summer.
Most of you are aware that these tridents in the grow beds are dug, root pruned and chopped EVERY winter so the tape shows where the trees measures from where they were chopped last winter to the tip of the new shoots.
Roots: Years ago I noticed that 90% of new roots grow from the cut ends of roots so I now chop trident roots very hard each winter. They respond with lots of new roots to build nebari and the sort of growth in the pics above.
The roots of this trident were chopped close to the metal plate last winter. The lighter coloured roots are the new ones that grew over summer. Those new roots will also be chopped back just past the previous cut to encourage even more new roots.
A couple of 3-4 year old tridents dug recently
Underside of the root ball of the last above showing the flat area where it was grown over a piece of sheet metal.
Results of some trials:
fused trunk trident.
I only picked that one as fused trunk when I noticed the small section at the top but if you look closer at the trunk you may be able to pick up traces of the original trunks.
That trial was seedlings braided together so they held each other tight.
I'm still not convinced that trunk fusion is a viable technique. So many problems and failures. Much easier and just as quick to just grow a single trunk to size.
Here's a few pics of progress:
Growth: These tridents have put on around 2.5m of new growth over summer.
Most of you are aware that these tridents in the grow beds are dug, root pruned and chopped EVERY winter so the tape shows where the trees measures from where they were chopped last winter to the tip of the new shoots.
Roots: Years ago I noticed that 90% of new roots grow from the cut ends of roots so I now chop trident roots very hard each winter. They respond with lots of new roots to build nebari and the sort of growth in the pics above.
The roots of this trident were chopped close to the metal plate last winter. The lighter coloured roots are the new ones that grew over summer. Those new roots will also be chopped back just past the previous cut to encourage even more new roots.
A couple of 3-4 year old tridents dug recently
Underside of the root ball of the last above showing the flat area where it was grown over a piece of sheet metal.
Results of some trials:
fused trunk trident.
I only picked that one as fused trunk when I noticed the small section at the top but if you look closer at the trunk you may be able to pick up traces of the original trunks.
That trial was seedlings braided together so they held each other tight.
I'm still not convinced that trunk fusion is a viable technique. So many problems and failures. Much easier and just as quick to just grow a single trunk to size.
