Little Jim Picea abies Ultra Dwarf

[Japonicus]

A little "rain and wane" and expected warmer than usual April
I went ahead with its' 1st potting up.

I removed way more soil than anticipated because most of the roots were so minor and felt "insignificant".
Very airy limited root system, I took it back like a juniper trying to find a good nucleus.
I found 2 roots as big as a pencil lead.

The pot makes me want to purge my gut and start over. Wish I had waited on a new mica pot
like the 2 on either side of it. I still may move it over to a mica pot mid week if it gets here by then.

 

[Japonicus]

I hope I got the planting angle right on this, but main thin is it's underway to transition to bonsai soil and bonsai life if it survives this year.
I ordered an REB-10 mica pot but would have needed too much MORE root work to fit in, so a 12 was used.
Should've used this one from the get go.
Still in some of @sorce s' "Rain-n-Wane" mode and 1st day of Spring is upon us.
The branching is utterly confusing my brain on styling ideas, and it won't get anything beyond some thinning
and beginnings of cutting back in the next year. I'm just having issues removing either right branches in my mind
so thinning and cleaning up later on, hopefully will lend me a hand there.

 

[just.wing.it]

Re-repotted?

Before I read the whole post from Sunday, I was like, "man, that a strange looking pot....."

Nice bench BTW.

 

[Japonicus]

Re-repotted?

Before I read the whole post from Sunday, I was like, "man, that a strange looking pot....."

Nice bench BTW.

Yup, re-repotted, now or next year, and lose yet another year of training.
The odd pot looked cool on the shelf, I drilled and screened it adding drainage
then once potted it made me want to barf. Envision-ment took the day off I guess.
Size was spot on, but hey size aint everything is it? 4 days apart, and all the root work
was done Sunday. I just transferred it over. This was an awesome week for a new potting
given the proximity to the waning moon, rain, bright cloud cover, equinox...you get the picture
now not so close to the lunar state we had last Sunday.

This mica pot was to be a back up in case the one I got for my shimpakus 1st potting failed to fit.
I never have enough pots. I have a Pfitzer juniper that's ripe for digging with a good trunk if you want to dig it.
I've had it in grounds over 10 years, but am particularly allergic to this cultivar. It was urban yamadori when I 1st dug it.

Thanks, I need to stain the bench this year. There's pics of it here post 182

Show Us Your Bonsai Benches

any examples of curved, "flowing" benches? I would like to complement the curved planting beds in the backyard of my new house, and I have some ideas about how to construct a "snaking" bench from wood. Casting concrete tops above upright supports would make several aspects of execution simpler...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Japonicus]

Today it's been over 3 weeks since repotting and I'm sorting through the branches cleaning off dead needles
and just starting some decluttering. I dead headed all of the brown tips either by pinching the dead needles out or by sheers.

It feels like it's going to be a 5-7 year project just selecting branches and cutting back slowly over time.
It also looks like I need to change the planting angle to the opposite side, but same tilt of the trunk.



This is certainly one I would have liked to have had my hands on 5 years before this point in time.
The growth rate, needle size and amount of exterior foliage, needed a bit of earlier direction if you ask me.
Pot is oversized for development stage. Hopefully that is a good plan for now.

I can say this however. I would no longer feel the plant would support a 14# bowling ball as it would when I got it
and that's a good thing as I open it up little bit at a time.

 

[Lazylightningny]

I can only say what worked for me. This little guy is the same cultivar as yours. I purchased it in 2018, completely bare rooted it, and potted up in a pond basket with lava/pumice/composted pine bark. Didn't prune any foliage, to fuel root recovery. Didn't touch it again until the following late spring when the new growth hardened off. Then I pruned the branches back to lower, viable new growth, and pruned all bifurcations to two. I also removed all twigs that had no buds on them. Then left alone for another year, fertilizing heavily. Today I again removed all twigs with no buds, to open it up to the light a little. When this new growth hardens off, I'll prune back same as last year, then leave it alone. I'll keep doing this until I bring the growth in and get some ramification. At some point, I'll put some wire on it also. It will eventually be a broom. I don't know if a broom spruce will look ok or goofy, but I'm going to try.

Best of luck with yours. Looks like it's making a recovery!

 

[Japonicus]

@Lazylightningny yours has much better evenly placed branches from the getgo.
Looking robust in your pond basket. I have a divided mugo in one, and mixed feelings
on the mechanics. I like the air pruning and spaciousness, but it dries too fast for my schedule.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience

 

[Japonicus]

I hate this Spruce.

Every time I touch it, it spits in my face and balks.
With all the back buds as proliferous as they are, it sheds inches of good branches
and hoards of die off occurs.
It did ok with the repotting I think, but after I did a little branch selection
and some light pruning it just started shedding good growth.

Maybe it's timing of the pruning. I mean what else could it be?
So since I have discord with this tree, because it doesn't like me working on it...
what do I do? I start cleaning the dead rubbish out and did it again...

If it balks at me this time...it's in deep doo, not me. I could use the pot for something more useful.

 

[barrosinc]

I love spruce's but I feel your pain! I have had some tough times too

 

[Japonicus]

I love spruce's but I feel your pain! I have had some tough times too

I could use the pot for something more useful.

I can be wicked back at it. I mean that's pretty harsh words for my own project.

I really thought the premium amount of back buds was a no brainer, and this would be a synch.
Supple branches, a multitude of good cut back points, thought I might be going shohin...not!
If it makes it I know to wait till July/August to prune some. We shall see.

 

[BonjourBonsai]

Repot in May and then pruning? That may be too much for it. I would treat it kindly through the rest of the season and see if it comes back next spring. You've started a good form but it's time to let the tree grow into it, IMHO.

 

[Japonicus]

Repot in May and then pruning? That may be too much for it. I would treat it kindly through the rest of the season and see if it comes back next spring. You've started a good form but it's time to let the tree grow into it, IMHO.

Repotted mid March. The pruning just consisted of cleaning out dead withered growth and
some minor branch selection/removal. Even in the nursery pot it shed growth when the sheers
touched it at all. Do you know what time of year this dwarf will respond in a positive way to any pruning?

 

[BonjourBonsai]

Huh. I'm not sure what the optimal time would be but i can tell you what I've done with my birds nest picea - I bought it in October of '19. I did a major prune in February but no repot. As it woke up in the spring, I started feeding it. It sprouted new growth in late March, then a second, smaller flush of growth in July. My plan is to let it grow and recover this year then look to repot and root prune next summer. I'll post some photos when I can.