Brazilian Raintree Advice

[Klaus89]

New to this forum, but not to bonsai (off and on for almost 10 yrs with mostly subtropicals). Would like opinions about styling this Brazilian Raintree, that I have bought recently, as I like the trunk movement and foliage.

I thought to bring the lower rear branch to left a little to fill gap where no branch is and branch at middle of trunk to rear a little more. For lowest branch, I think either train as twin "trunk", as branch or remove completely. Twin trunk would probably look best - will need to remove branch on front and develop branch structure better. Not sure where to start on crown, but definitely need to thin it. Also has large dead branch stump on middle of trunk and not sure, how to improve this - hollow it out (if that possible on raintrees)?

Other question is about pruning Brazilian Raintrees in general. I know that the twigs have dieback problems, so I left some space. However, I pruned some stumps from old branches with concave cutters before I know, that old wood can also dieback? Some stumps were dead areas, but some still had cambium layer. Will this kill area around cut or entire branch die? Never worked with this species before, so still learn...

Here is photo of front for now. I have more photos, but cannot load attachments or thumbnails - it is too slow, so only these large photos from photobucket unfortunately.

 

[Poink88]

Welcome to B-Nut!!!

If this is mine, I will cut at the marked areas. They are very fast growers (at least here, not sure in PA). I tried wiring them and find the bark to scar easily so I do mostly clip and grow with mine.

View attachment 36726

 

[Klaus89]

Thanks! Seems a little more drastic, than what I planned, but I get variety of opinions, before I do anything. Seem to be good option, if I want a larger bonsai. The current upper crown structure is good. I have heard, that green shoots are easier to train than older ones.

Do you think dieback will be problem with branch stumps that I removed accidentally with concave cutters?

 

[thailand-steve]

i assume you found this by yourself but just in case, this is an excellent video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDpIc5nETg

 

[Klaus89]

No I have not seen video. Thanks - will watch later, when I have more time. The dieback has been very minimal so far (after a couple weeks). Pruned some top branches, but careful to not take too much off. Only worried about those, that I cut with concave cutters. Will probably repot soon to let trunk thicken more.

 

[Klaus89]

Here is progress of my Brazilian Raintree, if it interest. No dieback on branches - large wounds heal very nice. On twig tips is some dieback, but I find that can be cut back to next branch after initial dieback. They can also be trained with wire, despite some reports in internet. The young shoots (before they become woody) are very easy, older ones only bend so much. But I only use wire to train some shoots where I want - otherwise clip and grow. Only problem is nebari are very poor - only 2 on opposite sides of trunk.

Early July after cut back. Then let grown some more. Trained back branch to left side for balance and successfully lowered the large right branch over 2 months.


Late August. After I cut back again at end of July and repot, no trimming for last month and placed in full sun (8+ hrs). Will let grow several years to thicken trunk. Inspiration is for spreading crown tree in a field (like an old Albizzia or some Acacia). Some dead wood on trunk still need to be hollowed out.

 

[JudyB]

You did a great job with this, I really like the direction you took with it. I have one, and it's grown a lot this year. I think mine is a bit more feminine of a feel than yours, but I keep it in a shallower pot, so it will probably never thicken like that one.

I don't know about hollowing out these trunks, I know they do not heal well, I'm wondering if they would rot easily. How is the nebari coming? I found that putting it in a shallow pot does good things for that... I think I'd do a bit more shortening of the top, but I do like it. What do you do for winter protection? Mine is in the house in the winter.

 

[Klaus89]

The trunk thickens very slowly. It will take much growth before it is where I want, so I will cut back later of course. The lower trunk has some dead wood that look bad, so that is reason to hollow it a little. To increase root formation, I have tried some rooting hormone and sphagnum around base to encourage more roots, but not sure if it will work. There are literally no roots on underside of trunk base - the extensive fibrous root formation is attached to 2 surface roots. I will slowly acclimate it and take in when too cold (living room is very bright south-facing). I move outside as soon as not too cold (May or late April with night protection).