MrBonsai's Brazilian Rain Tree Raft

[MrBonsai19]

I bought this tree in January 2025 from a small plant nursery in Miami, FL for $50. I shipped it back to myself in California, and almost lost the tree in transit. It did recover and resumed growing well after a few months; but then the design challenges started to really stump me.

There was a very straight and boring low-section of trunk, followed by a big whorl of branches that I could not find an aesthetic solution for. So I decided to make it into a raft over the summer of 2025.

Very serendipitous to discover this contest with just a few days left to make my entry:

Purchased in Miami and shipped in early 2025:

 

[MrBonsai19]

The crux of the problem I could not solve was the primary junction of branching:

 

[MrBonsai19]

August 2025 I created a box and transplanted the tree to begin the formation of a raft style, Also applied some wire to put some of the branches into the right space and orientation. FInally I stabbed the trunk many many times with a small poker and then applied rooting hormone at various locations all over the trunk:

 

[MrBonsai19]

I created the box with two separate sections expecting that the raft area would take longer to root and need a different watering cadence than the root area. Ultimately I do plan to separate the original root ball from the raft or at least leave myself the option to do that. But I was surprised to see that the raft area of the box was drying out equally as fast as the old rootball, and I started poking around to find that many sections of the trunk had already produced numerous roots after only two months:

 

[MrBonsai19]

I decided to experiment with a grow tent and grow light combined with a heat mat for the winter months. My wife loves putting our christmas tree in the window where this tree usually lives and I did not have any other home for it except to get this grow tent set up.

Will be interesting to see if the tree does well in this set up, although just two weeks in and the tree is drying out and using up water at about the normal rate at least so far:

 

[Russ1]

I bought this tree in January 2025 from a small plant nursery in Miami, FL for $50

Wow, that would go for at least 3-4 times that here.

 

[leatherback]

Nice work.

I am struggling with the Q whether this still firts in the contest. This tree already had nearly a year worth of work done on it before the start of the contest.
Not sure that is what I had in mind.

 

[MrBonsai19]

Aw shoot i didn’t pay close enough attention and I just thought the contest was open for all of 2025. Definitely don’t want to have gotten such a big head start on everyone so I will withdraw

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I hate to delete any content from the site - particularly a cool-looking BRT. I will move this over into the tropicals forum (for now). If the OP wants it deleted, just post here.

 

[MrBonsai19]

Thanks @Bonsai Nut happy to leave this up and update it as a normal progression