Bald Cypress Repot and Trim

[SU2]

The large roll of callous is just the nature of the beast. I use concave cutters and go in pretty deep and make sure that the edges of the depression are smooth. Once they completely heal, it isn't too bad and when the trunk grows it kinda evens out.

That's what I'd been figuring...I just see things like this guy's 11yrs-in-training BC and can't help but wonder if the owner/stylist wanted the scars for 'character' or what:

[gotta say it was pics like ^that of "good standard style" BC's that changed my mind, I'd originally thought "christmas tree style" was for me but am now dead-set on flat-tops for any BC's I have or will get!]

As far as trunk chops go, the large callous is what helps to blend the transitions. Just make sure that the wound is clean and smooth. Some say to make a 45 degree slant, but I find a little steeper to work better.

I'd heard no slant from enough people that I did that on my 2nd BC (the first got a 45deg cut and budded right on the top of the high-point of the cut, thankfully, so I actually used my knob cutters to nip-out a little bit of the top of the slanted-top so I could force that shoot inward:

^you're not joking about that callousing eh? This branch is splitting the bark around it I'm thinking I may nip just a little more to make room for the collar to roll-over best (the pic doesn't show it but there's still 'high points' on the top of the trunk-line that'll force the roll-over to bulge)
Likewise, I've been considering some precision carving to the trunk-line of the one I'd cut flat (my big one), am not in a rush here obviously so have just been thinking about it but, based on where it's two top primaries are (~1/2-->1" below the height of the trunk-line / trunk-chop), I've been thinking to turn that flat trunk-line into an angled one (and perhaps even nip-out some of it to get rid of the deadwood that's "in the way" of a smooth callous roll-over), am just watching & waiting but if the two top primaries this one start to callous upward and over to get-over that tall trunk-line, thinking to grind just a little to 'make room' for a smooth roll-over here (as-if I'd originally done a right-ward down-slope 45 cut:
BTW since your BC's are just epic, do you think I'm making a dumb move with the top of that, in that I have 2 top primaries? I've got it setup so one is straight-upward, and the other is wired sideways:
, with the idea being that the upright will be my 'top leader' for vertical growth (eventually becoming the top of two 'main pads' in my 'generic' flat-top design), and the sideways one will be the lower of the two main flat-top pads (I'll be growing the upright one with a slight rightward angle so that its eventual pad will be opposite of the wired-sideways branch in this pic, of course!), I think that having the two branch-collars there at the cut-line will reallly help speed-up the closure of the trunk-chop but just can't shake the feeling that busting out the die-grinder & rasps is a good idea to help make that happen cleaner&smooother, so that there's more of a cavity in the direction their branch collars will roll, otherwise they'll have to roll up & over that ~1" deadwood 'plug' on top!
[edit: in the pic it almost looks like several sideways branches at the top, those are all just secondary branches off that 1 horizontal top leader, the middle of the 3 sideways, purple-wired branches is the central branch and the top/bottom ones are its secondaries ]

As soon as the rains start the frogs start laying eggs and they hatch out, eat the mosquito larva and then turtles hatch out and feed on the tadpole masses. If my turtles lay eggs, then I have a ready food source for them.

How did you start-up the turtle thing? Or were they just in your yard/property to begin with? That is the coolest thing ever, I totally want little turtles!!!

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Warning, this post contains nudity. Here is this one naked, I think it has come a long way. Still working on the ramification and building an apex. I went ahead and shortened the jin (and cleaned/ lime-sulfured it) for @rockm , so Happy New Year, lol. This one is getting a repot in March, I want to get it to sit a little lower in the pot.
Here she is, before:



After:

 

[Timbo]

Man, that's a lot of growth...wish i could get half that on my BC up here.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I think you posted the same picture twice?

 

[Cajunrider]

I think you posted the same picture twice?

No. The second one has much shorter jin.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Ah. Subtle.

 

[Wilson]

This one is coming along great! It is really nice to have a well documented thread on growing BC in a container. So many are huge collected stumps, so this is a nice change. I have been growing one up here in Québec, and love how strong they are. I followed your advice on leaving them in water, and mine exploded with growth. The gentleman I bought the seedling from didn't even think it was one of his trees! I had my trunk looking almost double what his of the same batch had, at the end of summer. I have also starting taking cuttings, since they are harder to come by up here. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Cajunrider]

Warning, this post contains nudity. Here is this one naked, I think it has come a long way. Still working on the ramification and building an apex. I went ahead and shortened the jin (and cleaned/ lime-sulfured it) for @rockm , so Happy New Year, lol. This one is getting a repot in March, I want to get it to sit a little lower in the pot.
Here she is, before:

View attachment 222069

After:
View attachment 222070

Very nice John. The buttress on the left is what I am hoping to get with my BC. Mine are bare now. I can't wait for the growth in the spring.

 

[rockm]

Warning, this post contains nudity. Here is this one naked, I think it has come a long way. Still working on the ramification and building an apex. I went ahead and shortened the jin (and cleaned/ lime-sulfured it) for @rockm , so Happy New Year, lol. This one is getting a repot in March, I want to get it to sit a little lower in the pot.
Here she is, before:

View attachment 222069

After:
View attachment 222070

Still not short enough -- the end of the jin emphasizes the trunk chop bulge on the opposite trunk...for that reason and a few others, I'd go half as short...

 

[GGB]

Man, that's a lot of growth...wish i could get half that on my BC up here.

damn! zone 4 bald cypress? that thing must come out of dormancy in late July and go dormant by september 1st haha. I thought I was was fighting up hill with mine in zone 6

 

[Wilson]

damn! zone 4 bald cypress? that thing must come out of dormancy in late July and go dormant by september 1st haha. I thought I was was fighting up hill with mine in zone 6

We keep them in greenhouses for the winter, and they grow like crazy up here. Between the liquid kelp, fish, and miracle grow, they got no choice but to grow!

 

[Cajunrider]

We keep them in greenhouses for the winter, and they grow like crazy up here. Between the liquid kelp, fish, and miracle grow, they got no choice but to grow!

Sound like y'all feed your BCs the way you feed young ducks. Whenever I'm in a pinch and had to buy a Canadian duck for gumbo, I always find them very very fat.

 

[Timbo]

damn! zone 4 bald cypress? that thing must come out of dormancy in late July and go dormant by september 1st haha. I thought I was was fighting up hill with mine in zone 6

They bud out very late here, I think they are the last tree to bud out. You worry for awhile they are so late....I think my Ginkgo is out before. It's like middle/late May i think. Of course depending on the year.
I haven't had much luck with mine. We have had pretty mild winter temps the last few years, i've lost a air layer and had dieback last year on it. TBH, i don't think i'm keeping it wet enough. I also bought it from a seller at a Bonsai show who was from Ohio...so it's not use to it up here.

We keep them in greenhouses for the winter, and they grow like crazy up here. Between the liquid kelp, fish, and miracle grow, they got no choice but to grow!

I haven't used a Greenhouse for it yet. We get so much snow, by the time temps would get close to dangerous it's buried.
I gotta use more liquid fish/guano this year. It just stinks and draws yellow jackets.

 

[GGB]

Mine didn't pop til June this year, but that was after a root prune and repot. And they certainly gorw fast once they wake up. I just wish I had a larger window

 

[Timbo]

Mine didn't pop til June this year, but that was after a root prune and repot. And they certainly gorw fast once they wake up. I just wish I had a larger window

6b seems like a good growing zone. You can grow just about anything there can't you?

 

[GGB]

6b seems like a good growing zone. You can grow just about anything there can't you?

oh yeah, my jack pines and larch are on a bench with loblolly and tridents. the weather here is a little extreme though, in both directions

 

[Timbo]

I suppose i could leave my larches/spruces on the bench...don't really wanna risk it when it gets -35 F, That said we had -1 f on Wed but it's suppose to be mild temps the rest of Jan...we will see.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

This one is coming along great! It is really nice to have a well documented thread on growing BC in a container. So many are huge collected stumps, so this is a nice change. I have been growing one up here in Québec, and love how strong they are. I followed your advice on leaving them in water, and mine exploded with growth. The gentleman I bought the seedling from didn't even think it was one of his trees! I had my trunk looking almost double what his of the same batch had, at the end of summer. I have also starting taking cuttings, since they are harder to come by up here. Thanks again for the help!

Dunkin' them really works!

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Still not short enough -- the end of the jin emphasizes the trunk chop bulge on the opposite trunk...for that reason and a few others, I'd go half as short...

I figured you'd say that! I will most likely shorten it little more, just want to wait and see how it looks with foliage.

John

 

[rockm]

I figured you'd say that! I will most likely shorten it little more, just want to wait and see how it looks with foliage.

John

I would also not make the jin sharpened at the end. That kind of tapered ending isn't really all that natural looking. With BC, you can let deadwood dry out for a year or two, then go back and make breaks and snags that can look more natural, enhanced by a bit (not too much) carving. For instance, I'd break that jin off halfway down, trying to get a more or less even break in the wood, that leaves a jagged broken surface on the remainder. I would then, try to carve out the END of that break, leaving as much of the jagged edges around the perimeter of the break--in other words, hollow it out. That hollowing can include "window" sections on the jin further down. That window or smaller windows can also double as drainage holes to keep the jin from rotting--yes BC deadwood will rot over time.