New Juniper Pre-Bonsai Material

[miker]

Good evening all,

I haven't posted in a couple years. I was living in SE Pennsylvania but I relocated back to the Orlando area in 2019. I have a couple tropical bonsai in desperate need of work but when I visited a local nursery a couple weeks ago, Green's Nursery, they had some nice juniper in stock and this was the nicest of the bunch. One of the staff had been eyeing the available material and pointed this one out to me as the most promising of the bunch as pre-bonsai material. At $25, I thought it was more than reasonable.

I believe it to be Juniperus chinensis but I would like to get a positive ID on the species both for my information and so I have a better idea how to meet its specific cultural needs here in Florida.

I moved the tree to a position in full, all day sun last week and gave it a healthy dose of Nutricote fertilizer to get it strong and healthy.

I then figured this was the perfect time to get it potted into its training pot so I took a couple hours this afternoon and did so. I made sure to wire the plant securely into the pot, particularly since it will be residing in a windy location. I also poured the Nutricote off the top of the soil before I started and mixed it in with the final substrate. I figure, as a time-release fertilizer mixed in homogeneously, the risk of burn on the freshly pruned roots should be minimal.

The substrate consisted of a mix of stone shards, Akadama (or similar) and coarse Vermiculite for the bottom inch (with a touch of the original soil mixed in to inoculate the substrate with the microbiota extant in the original soil. The remainder of the substrate is pure coarse Vermiculite, again with a bit of the original soil for the beneficial microbes that existed in the original soil.

Tomorrow, I will be giving this tree a haircut to roughly match the amount of mass taken away from the rootball. I would have done this tonight, but I both ran out of daylight and did not have any wood glue (wound sealant on hand).

I plan to fertilize, keep the tree in full sun and keep it generously watered (but not wet) this year to get it nice and strong and will begin training the tree early next season, in the season(s) during which it is appropriate to do so for juniper.

What does everybody think of its potential as bonsai material? Any recommendations from the experts on here regarding styling/training, culture or anything else?

This thread will mark the beginning of this tree's journey toward becoming (hopefully) a nice specimen someday.

-Michael

 

[miker]

Two more photos as I worked with the root ball...

 

[Housguy]

Nice material, like the movement! Enjoy!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm not a big fan of vermiculite. It compacts over time and breaks down into those shiny flakes that end up being tree glitter. It can also stay wet for too long.
For your other trees, consider using other soil components with a bit more long lasting properties. Perlite for instance.

 

[miker]

Thank you for the input on substrate Wires_Guy_wires.

Yeah, I was going to order a bag of hard-fired Akadama but cheaped out. I will make sure to repot this tree in February-ish of 2023 so the Vermiculite hopefully won't have time to break down. I switched from Perlite to Vermiculite last Spring for my palms, Nepenthes and everything else actually because in the substantial ratios I use it in, Perlite floats to the top and washes away and Vermiculite does not. I also like how Vermiculite particles retain some moisture (and I would guess nutrients) and have simply adjusted my watering regimen accordingly. That said, I will definitely spring for hard-fired Akadama for my coniferous bonsai and probably non-fired for deciduous.

Another point to mention, this regarding the shape of my new tree. Though I have been out of the scene for quite some time, I have a pretty good understanding of the rules when it comes to bonsai styling so I am aware that one should avoid the dreaded S-curve when determining the overall shape of a tree. That said, I may be (and am often) mistaken, but, I have noticed that junipers in particular are allowed a "pass" when it comes to this rule and I have seen some excellent trees with what I would consider an S-curve. It might even be considered (and again I might be wrong, I am just getting back) that Juniperus have a tendency to grow this way naturally. It is obvious mine did, for example. It came as one of a couple hundred nursery stock in big black pots at a wholesale landscape nursery in rural Mount Dora, FL. This is in contrast to a mallsai vendor taking a privet sapling trunk and wiring it into the shape of an "S".

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Man, I'm not a big fan of akadama either!
But thag's because of my climate; we get multiple freeze and thaw cycles every winter. Akadama turns to mud in less than two years.

If you can do the watering right, vermiculite might not give you much issues. But due to the flat nature of the material, it tends to stack in layers, and expand and retract quite a bit.

As for the S curves, the more they look like a Z, the better they look IMHO. Change the front or bring dowm an apex and one might be able to hide it entirely. I believe there are gradations in curvy S'es, I'm a big fan of the human ones.

 

[miker]

When I resided in Pennsylvania, I had the same issue with Akadama; it turned to VERY finely particled clay and dust after one season. The problem was, more than once I thought I had ordered (my mom ordered it for me once too) hard-fired Double Red Line Akadama and it was not actually the hard-fired Double Red Line stuff I wanted. The one time I actually managed to source and afford the hard-fired Double Red Line it came through winter just fine. If I still lived up there and could afford the aforementioned brand and type of Akadama, I would use it on all of my trees. Alas, I can neither afford to do so here nor there.

I will indeed water my juniper with caution so I don't rot the roots and will repot it after two years no more so I hopefully don't have the substrate compact too much and break down. I think it will help that the bottom inch is this cactus soil mix I originally bought thinking it would work for Nepenthes that looks like something a rover scaped off the surface of the moon. Just sharp little stones.

As for S-curves, yes they can be a plus in some contexts, haha and as for the tree in question, I may end up taking the top off above the first branch on the right to create a sinewy slanting style. Alternatively, I may take the top off above the second branch on the right to create (perhaps) a more natural apoearing S-curve. There are lots of options and I am in no hurry to style the tree.

All I need to do right away is, again, give the tree a hair cut to minimize the stress I have imposed on it by removing two-thirds of the root mass yesterday. I plan to keep it in partial shade for a couple weeks then it should be good to grow for the season.

One way I did (and do as a practice, for better or worse) depart from conventional wisdom is by mixing the Nutricote pellets in with the fresh substrate and in so doing, fertilizing a freshly reported and root-pruned tree. Since I am a bit more of a conformist now and want to do things the right way (not fast and half-assed) I would have waited in this instance but I have had excellent luck with Nutricote and have never damaged let alone lost a plant to over-fertilizing since I have begun using Nutricote (lately I just get the tubes of "Dynamite" brand Nutricote at the Home Depot).

So, with that all said, I would love to get some input for experts and novices alike on which direction this tree should go styling/training wise. Thank you for reading.

-Michael

 

[miker]

After removing 2/3 of the root system during repotting, should I remove some of the top growth to balance things out or would it be better to leave the tree alone this year and let it recover in the shade for a couple weeks(without removing any growth)?

 

[miker]

After removing 2/3 of the root system during repotting, should I remove some of the top growth to balance things out or would it be better to leave the tree alone this year and let it recover in the shade for a couple weeks(without removing any growth)?

Bump...

If this is recommended, I would like to do this work tomorrow. Thank you in advance.

-Michael

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Junipers get their strength from their foliage. You can probably get away with removing parts, but I'd wait it out until spring and see how it performs.
If there's too much foliage, it will drop some naturally. If it's the right amount, you'll get a growth boost compared to if you would have cut it off. That's the logic I apply.

If you're not dealing with warm weather or high temperatures, I believe full sun is better than shade. With low temps there's little evaporation. Keep in mind that plants only recover during a growing period, not during dormancy.

I think it's a hollywood juniper, due to the long strands of scale foliage. I don't know that type since it isn't sold anywhere around here in Europe. I only know them from pictures and posts.

 

[miker]

In that case I will erect a bench in full sun by the lake (the only truly all-day, full-sun location I have in my grandma's yard, I live in an apartment) and put it there today, anchor the pot in place because it gets windy and let my juniper recover there.

I have read before that in fresh Akadama, it is impossible to over water a tree and I will see if that is the case with Vermiculite too, since both types of substrates are large particles with ample air spaces throughout the mix.

I agree, I think my tree is a Hollywood juniper, Juniperus chinensis 'Kaizuka'. Hopefully this cultivar will perform well where I am located, as the nursery I purchased it from is located well northwest of the Orlando area and as such, gets significantly more chill hours than my location. The nursery carries stuff like black walnut, Japanese maples, peach, pear, apple and other stuff that I know would be a no-go in Orlando proper. Just not enough winter chill.

Lastly, I won't make any cuts or do any minor trimming until next spring. Is spring the best time to do such work on junipers?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

In general, we let junipers extend in spring. Then "chase back the foliage" when they stop extending. The freshly shooting shoots produce a bunch of auxins that revamp the root system, so the idea is to let those run until they stop on their own. Then in summer - or whenever they stop extending - we cut back to where we want the foliage to stay, in order to keep a compact shape. In most of my own junipers, skipping this technique for a year or two doesn't do much harm and does contribute to the health of the root system. People are afraid to lose their design, I'm not. Not just because I suck at designing trees.
This is also because I have a different design starting point than broadly advised; I wire first and keep all weak and crotch growth. The logic I apply is that the tree will tell me what it wants to be after I've amateuristically wired it. I can then decide which branches need to be removed, which weak parts I want to grow strong and whatever's needed to get to a finalized design in the future. It looks scruffy for two years longer compared to the traditional approach, but I have hundreds of options to pick from whereas the regular approach has a hand full.

I do the wiring in winter, because the bark doesn't slip off the trunk like it does in summer. I do major cuts and stuff like that whenever I need to IF the tree is healthy and vigorous. If you do it too soon, you'll probably have to wait another year for them to recover. There are exceptions like Sabina, media/pfizer that have enough vigor to survive this kind of stuff, but other junipers can go belly up. I don't know about the kaizuka.

Now if your juniper shoots don't extend a whole lot this spring, you know that you've been a bit rough on the roots in hindsight - I don't expect that to be the case but you never know, always good to mention. If that's the case, some tip browning can be expected, maybe some branches drop off, that's usually not that big of a deal if it happens right after the start of the growing season. Unless the issue keeps expanding (doesn't stop) way into summer; then you'll know there's something wrong with the soil or root system. If the plant turns a greyish color, or an overall pale hue like people who smoke a pack of cigarettes in an hour, then it's time to ring the alarm. So make sure you keep an eye on it and start a thread if that's the case. When noticed in time, it can sometimes be saved.

 

[miker]

Thank you Wires_Guy_wires, the above provides me with a lot of helpful information on junipers in particular, which is exactly what I am looking for.

I am going to give my tree a prophylactic fungicide (propaconazole) treatment today with some fish emulsion to give it a gentle boost. I assume a reasonable dose of fish emulsion should not risk burning freshly cut roots.

Further, I am not going to make a single cut on the tree until it has produced its flush of growth next spring. One insult per season, as they say. For now, the focus will be on getting the tree as healthy as possible following the removal of 2/3 of the root mass. By next year, with proper culture, it should be in perfect health and ready for trimming and styling.

I am torn regarding whether to leave my tree in the shade for about 12 more days (ending up at two weeks total) or just putting it out in full sun now. As long as I get it back in full sun in the near future, I don't see such a short time in the shade causing the tree any harm. I guess as you said, it might possibly slow down the progress of recovery.

I will post updates every couple months.

-Michael

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I am going to give my tree a prophylactic fungicide (propaconazole) treatment today

Why?
Propiconazole doesn't seem to affect most of the issues junipers deal with like blight and rust. It's comparable to giving paracetamol to a pet rock; it doesn't cure its headache because it can't get one. A tree on antibiotics doesn't perform better than one without, I've seen more evidence of plants performing worse.
I'm careful with antibiotics because they can and will affect the soil microbiome a lot, and I prefer not to use antibiotics if there's nothing to treat. They should be a last effort solution, in fact.. They are the last effort solution.
Prophylactic fungicide use has lead to world wide resistance of fungi against a broad range of "azoles" one of which is propiconazole.
This can have huge implications for healthcare when it affects aspergillus or candida strains, but it can also disarm us as gardeners; if antibiotics stop working, all we have left is fire.

I'm not pointing fingers, I'm not judging either. I just want people to be careful and think about why they do what they do. With a raging infection going on, on a highly valued tree (and to me it really doesn't matter if that's emotional or monetary value) I'm completely for the use of proper antibiotics; the ones that work on that kind of infection, at the right dose and the right time. But smoking out an entire village with mustard gas because there might be a thief wearing a gas mask hidden in a barn somewhere is something I'm generally against. Because you kill the good guys, and you don't necessarily kill the bad ones.

Copper sulphate, other sulfur mixtures, peroxide solutions, highly diluted lime sulphur, trace-element sprays and even biological protective fungi are all safer options on the long run that can be just as effective. Copper sulphate is cheap, a couple bucks will give you a lifetime supply. Some 3% peroxide will go a long way too. And trace-element mixtures containing all sorts of metals have a double mode of action; they provide a growth and health boost, improve color and they kill emerging spores.

Again, no judgment from my side. Just a few words of caution ;-)

 

[miker]

As a general systemic fungicide, propaconazole has been my go-to in treating fungal infections in palms, orchids, bromeliads and other plants so I figured it might work to prevent a fungal infection in a juniper as well.

I will take your recommendations and try the safer options you mention as preventative, but may use propaconazole in the event an infection presents itself. Thank you for the input.

Are you saying it would be beneficial to treat or use as a preventative straight 3% hydrogen peroxide in this case (would probably need three bottles to wet the entire soil mass)? I have used undiluted H2O2 for Nepenthes, palms and orchids I'm the past.

With the rain we are having, starting last night it doesn't matter anyhow, it would have washed through the fish emulsion and fungicide I watered in yesterday evening. I will wait until the forecast is dry later this week, give some fish emulsion (sans fungicide) and move the plant into full sun.

I plan on waiting until after the flush of growth next spring to do any styling, but with all of the below pictures at different angles for reference, does anyone have any ideas on the direction I should go with this tree?

Here are some better photos of my tree taken from different angles and some close-ups of the trunk, foliage, berries and the substrate.

 

[miker]

A few more photos of the tree, it's foliage and berries.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Looks like Torulosa, Hollywood juniper

 

[miker]

I concur Arnold, thank you.

Any thoughts on styling?

-Michael

 

[girv]

@miker I have a hollywood I have been working on for a few years, and the general feedback I received was they are better suited for a larger tree due to the less compact foliage. I will try to dig up some of the best examples I found and will post an update on my tree as well soon. Cascade had a tree thread posted a while back that I remember being very helpful, and I took note that she suggested wiring up the end of the foliage like a pine.

edit - found the tree thread I was talking about, not on Bnut https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t1662p25-torulosa-juniper

 

[Millard B.]

Michael,
A belated Welcome to the Sunshine State! You bought a tree with a lot of potential for $25! It has many choices. Don't rush into it too fast, live with it a while. I think it would look better in a shallower recurved dark unglazed round or oval. My girlfriend and I flew to Oregon to buy a RV Dec 2018, I bought a Juniper "San Jose" from a roadside vendor on the 21 day ride back to WPB, I've been slowly cutting it back to a hard line, got to remove it from the California clay "soil" it has been growing in, remember, Only one insult at a time! I just threw a textured 2" x 12" oval for it. A friend of mine has a 12 acre bonsai nursery west of Deland, less than a hour from Orlando, Schley Bonsai, a good resource, fair prices- good material. The Kawa Club meets there. A dangerous place if you have cash to spend! I'm looking at an old Lorapetalum there from Jason - excellent customer service. I will be a vendor selling pots from my studio on Fri, Sat, and Sun Memorial Weekend at the Florida Hotel.
Be Safe, Millard