Cottonwood Ahead

[Backwardsvg]

I collected this cottonwood last spring and it is EXPLODING with growth this year. I have it in 100% field soil from where I collected it. I am wondering does anyone have any experience with transitioning these to bonsai soil?

How are they with root disturbance?

Any other advice would be great! Thank you and sorry for a horrible picture.

 

[Mikecheck123]

I collected this cottonwood last spring and it is EXPLODING with growth this year. I have it in 100% field soil from where I collected it. I am wondering does anyone have any experience with transitioning these to bonsai soil?

How are they with root disturbance?

Any other advice would be great! Thank you and sorry for a horrible picture.

Cottonwoods are horrible and unheard of in bonsai for good reason.

I played around with them for awhile, but not long!

In one of my first experiments, I did a standard hard chop on a five foot sapling to see how it would respond.

It didn't. It simply gave up and died.

 

[Backwardsvg]

@Mikecheck123 interesting I wonder why they are so bad? They just die easily? I cant kill this thing it seems like its a trooper. Interested to see how this goes..

Any tips you learned while messing with them?

 

[Mikecheck123]

@Mikecheck123 interesting I wonder why they are so bad? They just die easily? I cant kill this thing it seems like its a trooper. Interested to see how this goes..

Any tips you learned while messing with them?

I learned to just enjoy it as a patio tree. But starting bonsai stuff was never going to be a worthwhile use of time.

Life is too short to mess around with unsuitable material.

 

[Backwardsvg]

Haha good to know. Maybe I will just mess with it and see how things go. If noting else maybe I will just put it in a massive container and let it kind of grow out

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

Don't let the cottonwood haters discourage you. This is my native tree contest cottonwood in winter.
I'm having fun with this tree. Enjoy your hobby as you want to, it's not a waste of time if you enjoy it.

 

[Backwardsvg]

@Bonsaidoorguy very cool tree! Have any tips for them? How do they take root pruning and what soils do they like?

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

A very vigorous grower. Keep pinching for ramafication and to keep it short. I'm just using a basic soil mix, pumice,lava, bark nuggets and diatomaceous earth. I gave It a pretty good root pruning to get it into that pot and it didn't seem to mind. Good luck with your tree.

 

[Backwardsvg]

Very cool thank you! I’m excited to at least try. If nothing else I’ll just transfer it back to the ground and let it go.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Life is too short to mess around with unsuitable material.

However since this is tree and not "material" feel free to make attempt at Bonsaiing it.

 

[MaciekA]

Cottonwoods are horrible and unheard of in bonsai for good reason.

I have 50 black cottonwoods which have been collected from various locations spanning from the eastern slopes of the Cascades to here in the Willamette Valley. The largest one I've been taking to Andrew Robson at Rakuyo bonsai for occasional guidance and development every few months. I too was convinced for a while by naysayers when I had problems with basal suckers and waterspouts here and there. I overcame those problems, fully.

Please understand that I do not mean to disparage you or anything you do as a person and only seek to specifically call the above quote out, but I have to, because I enjoy this species, have success with it, and want to encourage others to try and be part of a community of people growing this species:

What you've said in this specific quote is 100% not true.

I humbly and respectfully suggest and guess that you specifically did not have luck with it and may not have been aware of nuances / techniques relating to this species. There's nothing laborious or magical about developing cottonwood as a bonsai, and on the contrary, it seems well-suited for bonsai and is very very strong. It straight up works if you are applying known-good deciduous broadleaf bonsai techniques, cut away basal or branch junction suckers/waterspouts if/when they happen, and otherwise follow good bonsai practices.

Apologies if that comes off strong, but can't really let this misinformation stand. Populus as a genus works in bonsai. Black cottonwood works for bonsai. Aspen works for bonsai. Some people can't get these to work. This does not mean that it doesn't work for bonsai or is "more trouble than it is worth" or has some laborious aspect associated with it. Cottonwood is far less laborious than japanese black pine. My two cents and hopefully will counteract what @Mikecheck123 has said here.

 

[Mikecheck123]

I have 50 black cottonwoods which have been collected from various locations spanning from the eastern slopes of the Cascades to here in the Willamette Valley. The largest one I've been taking to Andrew Robson at Rakuyo bonsai for occasional guidance and development every few months. I too was convinced for a while by naysayers when I had problems with basal suckers and waterspouts here and there. I overcame those problems, fully.

Please understand that I do not mean to disparage you or anything you do as a person and only seek to specifically call the above quote out, but I have to, because I enjoy this species, have success with it, and want to encourage others to try and be part of a community of people growing this species:

What you've said in this specific quote is 100% not true.

I humbly and respectfully suggest and guess that you specifically did not have luck with it and may not have been aware of nuances / techniques relating to this species. There's nothing laborious or magical about developing cottonwood as a bonsai, and on the contrary, it seems well-suited for bonsai and is very very strong. It straight up works if you are applying known-good deciduous broadleaf bonsai techniques, cut away basal or branch junction suckers/waterspouts if/when they happen, and otherwise follow good bonsai practices.

Apologies if that comes off strong, but can't really let this misinformation stand. Populus as a genus works in bonsai. Black cottonwood works for bonsai. Aspen works for bonsai. Some people can't get these to work. This does not mean that it doesn't work for bonsai or is "more trouble than it is worth" or has some laborious aspect associated with it. Cottonwood is far less laborious than japanese black pine. My two cents and hopefully will counteract what @Mikecheck123 has said here.

I've never tried any of the species you mention. Fremont cottonwoods are certainly worthless. I've heard the same with Eastern, but haven't tried them myself.

 

[Flowerhouse]

I have 50 black cottonwoods which have been collected from various locations spanning from the eastern slopes of the Cascades to here in the Willamette Valley. The largest one I've been taking to Andrew Robson at Rakuyo bonsai for occasional guidance and development every few months. I too was convinced for a while by naysayers when I had problems with basal suckers and waterspouts here and there. I overcame those problems, fully.

Please understand that I do not mean to disparage you or anything you do as a person and only seek to specifically call the above quote out, but I have to, because I enjoy this species, have success with it, and want to encourage others to try and be part of a community of people growing this species:

What you've said in this specific quote is 100% not true.

I humbly and respectfully suggest and guess that you specifically did not have luck with it and may not have been aware of nuances / techniques relating to this species. There's nothing laborious or magical about developing cottonwood as a bonsai, and on the contrary, it seems well-suited for bonsai and is very very strong. It straight up works if you are applying known-good deciduous broadleaf bonsai techniques, cut away basal or branch junction suckers/waterspouts if/when they happen, and otherwise follow good bonsai practices.

Apologies if that comes off strong, but can't really let this misinformation stand. Populus as a genus works in bonsai. Black cottonwood works for bonsai. Aspen works for bonsai. Some people can't get these to work. This does not mean that it doesn't work for bonsai or is "more trouble than it is worth" or has some laborious aspect associated with it. Cottonwood is far less laborious than japanese black pine. My two cents and hopefully will counteract what @Mikecheck123 has said here.

@MaciekA I would love to see a pic or two of your Black cottonwoods.