Baku's Kishu progression thread

[Baku1875]

Got this tiny kishu last year, it arrived the day after 4th of july, ordered it on an etsy store from central florida for 12 bucks if i remember correctly.

pumice, lava rock, coarse perlite, sphagnum top dress for summer only.
seems to be happy.

would you guys suggest carving a little shari on it or giving it a twist with wire this early?
been hitting it with full sun, vigoro all purpose pellets in autumn and adding more this week, dr earth in teabags.

I'll post a new pic tonight, the whip on the right is getting pretty long(green light for juniper abuse?? .)

 

[Shibui]

Be wary of bending juniper in spring. They have a tendency to die back if bent hard while active growing. Much safer to bend later in summer, autumn or through winter.
Early bending of juniper is recommended. Wood gets very hard as it ages. Much easier to get good bends on 1 year old and less shoots.
There's not a lot there to bend just yet but some longer runners starting to take off so later this season you should have something to work on.
Too early to start shari IMHO. Stems need to be around finger thick or you risk killing it completely by trying to strip bark of very thin shoots.

J. chinensis is a very long term project. I've worked on trees for 10 years before even thinking about bonsai pots but that will depend on what you want from your little tree.

 

[Baku1875]

Be wary of bending juniper in spring. They have a tendency to die back if bent hard while active growing. Much safer to bend later in summer, autumn or through winter.
Early bending of juniper is recommended. Wood gets very hard as it ages. Much easier to get good bends on 1 year old and less shoots.
There's not a lot there to bend just yet but some longer runners starting to take off so later this season you should have something to work on.
Too early to start shari IMHO. Stems need to be around finger thick or you risk killing it completely by trying to strip bark of very thin shoots.

J. chinensis is a very long term project. I've worked on trees for 10 years before even thinking about bonsai pots but that will depend on what you want from your little tree.

money on the advice, answered most of my questions.

So if i get some nice growth into november, I'll see if it's viable or not for a twist, if not i can wait another year (2024 autumn)