Ozz80's Chinese Quince #1

[Ozz80]

I have been an active follower of this forum for a year now, and I’ve learned a great deal from the progression threads shared here. I didn’t quite have the courage to start my own thread until I felt I had some grasp of the basic principles of bonsai.

I acquired this Chinese Quince from a fellow hobbyist in July 2025. The photo below shows how it looked when I first bought it; since then, I have done virtually nothing but focus on keeping it healthy. While there were several features I wasn't fond of at the time, I figured that, at the very least, it could serve as a mother tree for cuttings and air layers.



As the buds are breaking now, I need to decide how to address the issues that bother me:

- It has very little taper at the base.
- The trunk line looks unnatural to me with that curvature (likely due to wiring during its early development).
- There are several wounds that haven't healed properly or have created unsightly scars. The midsection, in particular, looks quite messy.
- The second branch has wire scars (yet remains strangely straight), and the first branch is quite weak and needs significant development.



I am still weighing my options, but one solution I’m considering is to regrow the trunk entirely from the first or second branch. To achieve this, my current plan involves:

- Slip potting it into a much larger container to boost vigor.
- Airlayering the trunk above the first or second branch to restart the tree with better taper.
- A second airlayer on the upper section to salvage a new tree while bypassing the "ugly" midsection.

Another option is to accept the tree as it it with its lack of taper and unnatural curvature. For that, there will br no need for a vigorous development, so no need for a large container as well. Branch and wound management will be required only. With this option I can airlayer from the red section and keep the trunk line as it is marked yellow at this photo below.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

This quince has potential…and I have a fondness for Chinese quince. Glad you started a progression thread so we can follow along for years. A few thoughts.
1. The base appears to have some roots appearing radially. If you cover those roots (plant it slightly deeper) the base will swell and those roots will improve in a few years, even in a bonsai pot.
2. If you do want to layer vs. keep the trunk as it is, you will add years to the project, but end up with a better tree. I’d suggest layering lower, at where I placed the blue line. Something will grow from/at the right branch just below the line which can become the next trunk section. If you go this route, you’ll want to perform the layer, and then pot it up to a much larger container to strengthen those low branches.
3. I can see the plan of air-layering at the red line too, so long as the taper and movement is appealing. It is hard to tell from the 2D photos. I would just think that if you are trying to improve the taper and movement, and are taking this route, you might as well be aggressive. Years later, you won’t regret going too short, only leaving too much.
4. CQ grows fast, but taper in branches comes through early wiring, and hard pruning.

 

[Gabler]

I'm looking forward to watching your progress over the years. Progression threads are the heart of Bonsai Nut.

 

[Ozz80]

This quince has potential…and I have a fondness for Chinese quince. Glad you started a progression thread so we can follow along for years. A few thoughts.
1. The base appears to have some roots appearing radially. If you cover those roots (plant it slightly deeper) the base will swell and those roots will improve in a few years, even in a bonsai pot.
2. If you do want to layer vs. keep the trunk as it is, you will add years to the project, but end up with a better tree. I’d suggest layering lower, at where I placed the blue line. Something will grow from/at the right branch just below the line which can become the next trunk section. If you go this route, you’ll want to perform the layer, and then pot it up to a much larger container to strengthen those low branches.
3. I can see the plan of air-layering at the red line too, so long as the taper and movement is appealing. It is hard to tell from the 2D photos. I would just think that if you are trying to improve the taper and movement, and are taking this route, you might as well be aggressive. Years later, you won’t regret going too short, only leaving too much.
4. CQ grows fast, but taper in branches comes through early wiring, and hard pruning.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will cover the roots as you mentioned. I am more inclined to choose the long way to get a better tree, as you advised. You mentioned that you marked a blue line for the optimal air layer location, but the photo seems to be missing in the post . Was it something like the photo below? (airlayer at the blue line, wait for a shoot at the apex and grow the new leader from there, something like the orange line).



I understand that it will be better to layer first, repot later. The idea is not stressing the tree with repotting this year, so that success chance of the airlayer will be higher, am I right?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Here…


And layering now (just) before repotting only so you don’t disturb the newly-repotted roots when you make the layer. You could do both in the same day.

 

[Ozz80]

During repotting to a larger pot, I realized that the akadama in the original soil mix is a bit broken and compacted at the base. I thought that, it will not be best to transfer to a pot adding a permeable mix while keeping the original compacted soil, so I barerooted it and get rid of the original soil. The I repotted it with %50 pumice, %20 lava, %10 akadama %10 zeolite mix. (Since I ran out of the mix, top layer is mostly pumice). I will decide airlayering this year after seeing how the tree responds to repotting. Probably I will postpone it to next year.

 

[ForrestW]

I am excited to watch this one progress as well. My quince is one of my favorite trees and they really get good with age. I agree with the air layer if you are patient . One general piece of advice is to be very careful as you develop it that the low branches will need time to grow, and you will want to really prune the apex back a lot. They tend to get very heavy course growth in the top. Even with the goal of air layering, I would reduce the top a lot so that those lower branches can get stronger.

 

[liltrees]

Brian gave you a great plan.
Looks like a good project. I look forward to following along.

 

[Ozz80]

I am excited to watch this one progress as well. My quince is one of my favorite trees and they really get good with age. I agree with the air layer if you are patient . One general piece of advice is to be very careful as you develop it that the low branches will need time to grow, and you will want to really prune the apex back a lot. They tend to get very heavy course growth in the top. Even with the goal of air layering, I would reduce the top a lot so that those lower branches can get stronger.

Thanks for the advice! I really like how the bark looks. They also have very beautiful flowers.

Does airlayering work for reducing apical dominance by inhibiting auxin movement? Can I just airlayer the top after first growth is hardened, instead of hard pruning? I will also reduce upward growing shoots at midsection.

Strangely, temperatures dropped from 23C (73F) to -1C (30 F) in 3 days here by the way. So I had to move it to an unheated glass enclosed balcony for protection

 

[namnhi]

The only think I want to add is.... if you are going with the air layer route, make sure you have enough gap in your cut or they will bridge. As wide as you can with the space available on the tree.