Fused trunk trident trials

[Shibui]

Some examples of trident maples developed by fusing several seedlings to get a thicker trunk.

This one has been in the grow beds for a couple of years now trying to get the main trunk to fuse properly. The second trunk has united well but there's still gaps in the larger trunk.


Roots trimmed. The mass of fine roots is the result of annual hard root pruning. Even when they are in the grow bed tridents are dug every winter and root pruned. This not only results in mass of lateral feeder roots but also makes digging so much easier than having to saw through thick roots and chop lots of thick vertical roots.


Preliminary top prune.


Shots showing the gaps between the individual seedlings where they have not fused. Not sure whether to give it a few more years or to throw this one away.


Final pruning. I've decided to give it another chance. I'll let the trunks that need to thicken to fuse free run next summer but try to keep the rest more contained.


There are more of these trial trees in the grow beds. I'll try to remember to take photos as I dig them and add here.
Others are welcome to add similar fused trunk bonsai - successful or not.

 

[Colorado]

Cool! The twisting effect is very interesting.

 

[PonderingSage:]

Once l get some land l’m definitely going to try a project like this.
How many did you bundle? Did you bind them in any way, or just plant them close?

 

[Shibui]

This one was definitely bound with duct tape for a couple of years. Without something to hold the trunks close they just push each other away as they grow as you can see on the main trunk pictured.
There's a couple of things to be aware of when trying fusions:

• Tying a whole bunch of seedlings together results in a straight fused trunk with no taper. Here I've tried to leave out odd trunks as the cluster got higher so there would be taper. It appears to have worked well on the smaller trunk but not so good with the larger one.
• The binding needs to be tight enough to force the trunks to fuse as they grow but not so tight that the trunks swell above and below the bindings.
• You need branches on fused trunks which can be difficult when they've been bound up tightly. I was hoping the trunks that were left out of the wrap would become branches. Still waiting to see the full effectiveness of that strategy.

As mentioned I have other trials going on. More to post as I get to them.

Today I dug a braided fused trunk. This form of fusion does not use bindings so there's no problem withs welling above and below. Thin, flexible seedlings are braided together to form the thicker trunk. The braiding holds them tight together and they cannot push away so must fuse as they thicken. Still a problem with untapered trunk and lack of branching on the thicker part. I've adapted the technique a little to try to overcome those drawbacks. Instead of braiding 3 trunks I started with 12, 15 and more. Every few turns I'd leave out 1 or 2 stems so the main trunk got progressively thinner and the stems sticking out the sides could become branches. See what you think.



After pruning the roots


Closer look at the fused trunk. you can still see signs of the original stems which give some unusual texture to the trunk.


After pruning the branches. I seem to have managed some taper in the trunk with the modified braiding technique.


More as I get to them

 

[Shibui]

Rain stopped long enough for the grow beds to dry out enough to dig a few more tridents today.

A couple more braid trunk tridents.

This one used many seedlings, probably around 20 and I guess used a round braid pattern as the trunk is not flat as in typical flat braiding. Every few turns a few trunks were dropped out of the braid to give possible branches and allow for taper. This one appears to have worked better than most.


Another multi seedling braid leaving some out as the braid progresses. I'm thinking of chopping the last braided section and use the thicker upper section as a new trunk. maybe anbother year of growth before making that decision.


This one shows the problem with 3 braid. Trunk is very oval shaped, wider than thick.

 

[Shibui]

Also a couple I grew only in pots to see if there's any difference in fast/ slow grow.
Apologies for the fuzzy photos - light too low for the stabilization to cope with. Hope you can make out enough details.

This is probably the worst of the lot. 3 seedlings braided full length = trunk with very little taper and no side branches.


9 trunks braided in 3 braid leaving one out every turn.


3 braid but with trunks bent as I braided. I think I may have wired after to maintain the bent trunk. These seedlings must have had some side branches as it has developed many branches and some taper.

Interesting to note that any low side shoots have grown stronger than the braided main trunk they are growing from. Obviously some constriction of nutrient flow through the braided trunks that limits growth and allows unrestricted shoots to grow better - adds to trunk taper and they can always be chopped if not required in future.

 

[SeanS]

@Shibui how long does it take for fusing to start?

 

[Shibui]

@Shibui how long does it take for fusing to start?

So much depends on how the trees grow after putting them together.
The pictures show braids I did 2 and 3 years ago. Obviously the ones in the grow beds have grown faster and fused much quicker than the ones in pots. Potted trees are the same age as the ones dug from the grow beds.
I've seen some posts from growers who had good fusion in just a single summer but obviously I don't look after my trees in pots well enough.

Fusion also depends how well the trunks are held together. The braided trunks cannot move away without breaking themselves so they fuse relatively quick. Any that I've held together with tape have taken a few years more before there's appreciable fusing between trunks.

Here's one, probably just a handful of seedlings left over last winter, taped with duct tape and planted in the ground. No obvious fusing yet and I don't want to undo the tape to check because any new tie will be lose until the trunks grow some more and take up any stretch. I think you can probably see this one is not going to be particularly useful for bonsai. A thick trunk yes but no taper, possibly even reverse taper as the upper trunks expand. I may be able to get some branches from dormant buds on the outer trunks as I start pruning but not much to show for a whole year.


Just to be clear, I don't think trident fusion is particularly useful to create bonsai. I can grow a single trunk to around the same thickness in a similar timeframe but have much better control over branches, trunk bends and trunk taper. This thread is more about the problems encountered and some attempts to overcome those.
It appears the only advantage of fused trunks so far is the interesting bumps and hollows on the trunks of fused trees.

 

[Ben in Kzoo]

Interested in your thread as I have a similar project going on - about 20 seedlings tied together in a rotating fashion around a cone to create taper.
One question I had regarding the project you describe where the trunks have not fused - would scaring them where there is that gap be helpful? Any past experiences doing this?

 

[Shibui]

One question I had regarding the project you describe where the trunks have not fused - would scaring them where there is that gap be helpful? Any past experiences doing this?

I have not yet got desperate enough to try removing bark to help fusion. One of the problems with that is getting into the small spaces to do so. If the space is wide enough to remove bark it's unlikely the trunks will be close enough to fuse. If they are close enough it is difficult to make the cuts.
If you can manage it, removing bark is a good way to encourage fusion.

I'll look for some possible candidates and give it a try. Let you know in a year or 2........
Anyone else tried anything similar?

 

[Shibui]

Today I dug one of the earlier trident fusion test subjects.
This one is around 8 years old now. It has been in the ground for 3 or 4 years in an attempt to get remaining trunks to fuse.


A look at 4 sides. Lower trunk has fused solid but the upper part is still separate trunks.



Some people seem to love thick trunks no matter how ugly. I've only kept going with this one out of sheer stubbornness but I think it's finally time to throw in the towel.


Like most of my tridents, this one has had annual root pruning which promotes a mass of fine feeder roots.


Base part of the trunk and roots turned out really good. Pity about the top section.

 

[namnhi]

It is safe to say, it is a BAD method based on the trials. I don't like any of them.... compare to what you have produced from planting as individual.

 

[dbonsaiw]

So cool.

 

[Shibui]

It is safe to say, it is a BAD method based on the trials. I don't like any of them.... compare to what you have produced from planting as individual.

That's pretty much what I intended to convey with this thread.

Fused trunks is often shown as a quick way to achieve monster trunks and it sounds really believable. Turns out that it still takes years for the individual trunks to fuse so it isn't really a quick way and there's still lots of ways for it to go wrong.
Occasionally a few work out really well but many failures along the way don't really make it a viable option.

If anyone has any good results or can tell us where I've gone wrong with the fusion trials please let us know.

 

[19Mateo83]

That's pretty much what I intended to convey with this thread.

Fused trunks is often shown as a quick way to achieve monster trunks and it sounds really believable. Turns out that it still takes years for the individual trunks to fuse so it isn't really a quick way and there's still lots of ways for it to go wrong.
Occasionally a few work out really well but many failures along the way don't really make it a viable option.

If anyone has any good results or can tell us where I've gone wrong with the fusion trials please let us know.

Coming from a person that likes gnarley twisted trees I love them. If you was to trim all those trunks down to one or two leaders and give it enough time for chops to heal there is potential there. I’d love to have any of those. Especially the first one in post #11.

 

[one_bonsai]

I don't think trident fusion is particularly useful to create bonsai.

What about Japanese Maples?

 

[Shibui]

What about Japanese Maples?

Slower to grow, slower to fuse.
Will a Japanese Maple with a really lumpy trunk look great?

 

[one_bonsai]

Slower to grow, slower to fuse.
Will a Japanese Maple with a really lumpy trunk look great?

So basically not worth it either, just grow a single trunk.

I was going to do one after seeing Bjorn's video, his looked really nice

 

[Shibui]

I was going to do one after seeing Bjorn's video, his looked really nice

My apologies. Fusing at the base to create a multi trunk bonsai is a different case to the trees in this thread.
Fusing for multi trunk bonsai is definitely a great way to go. I have several multi trunk JM created by fusing a number of trunks together at the base. There are a number of ways you can go about fusing them.

Something to consider before you start:
Be sure that your individual trees are similar. You'll want the entire bonsai to have similar shaped and colored leaves. Differences stand out. Consider a multi trunk tree where one trunk has red leaves and the others are green???? One weeping trunk when the others are upright??????
One of mine looks uniform except right at the start and end of the season. One trunk comes into leaf later than the others so one trunk is still bare while the others have fresh new leaves. In fall that trunk still has leaves for a couple of weeks when the others are bare.
Either use clones (cuttings/grafts/layers) or grow seedlings then select the most uniform ones for your multi trunk project.

 

[SeanS]

So basically not worth it either, just grow a single trunk.

I was going to do one after seeing Bjorn's video, his looked really nice

There's a difference between a clump like in Bjorn's video and a fused trunk tree like @Shibui is creating. A clump only fuses at the base where the trunks are bound together (or where they touch if not bound together and left long enough).