misfit11
Omono
The trident volcanoes that are accomplished this way seem like cheating to me.......Shortcuts almost always end in shortcomings......Just my two cents
Why is this "cheating"? Bonsai is ALL about illusion. People often see tanuki as cheating as well. I disagree. Bonsai is about creating a miniature tree in a pot that mimics an ancient one in nature. Period. There are endless ways of getting there all the way from collecting an actual ancient tree from nature itself to growing one from seed and shaping its every feature. Is collecting an ancient tree from nature "cheating"? Certainly you didn't put all that character into that tree, mother nature did. Is grafting a branch in a place on a tree that it wasn't before "cheating"? Is grafting roots to improve nebari "cheating"? etc. You get my point...
As far as this technique of fusing seedlings around a cone to develop a very tapered tree resulting in shortcomings is concerned, that may be. I've yet to see one of the trident "volcanoes" (as you call them) so far along to be really convincing. BUT I do believe in time (as with all things bonsai) it could become so to great effect.
Just my two cents,
Cory