Prunus mume questions

[Nybonsai12]

Quick shot in the new pot As it continues to leaf out.

 

[Trueblackpercula]

What an awesome tree and the pot is flawless very well done.

i like the soil selection you used as well is i to have what appears to be the same mix. is that akadama ,pumic and red lave rocks but what are the black stones? carbon for filtration?

 

[Nybonsai12]

What an awesome tree and the pot is flawless very well done.

i like the soil selection you used as well is i to have what appears to be the same mix. is that akadama ,pumic and red lave rocks but what are the black stones? carbon for filtration?

thanks, the black chunks are bio gold fertilizer. I pretty much use akadama, lava and pumice on all my trees 1:1:1 ratio.

 

[Trueblackpercula]

thanks, the black chunks are bio gold fertilizer. I pretty much use akadama, lava and pumice on all my trees 1:1:1 ratio.

Thanks for that. How do you Rilke the bio gold ?

 

[Nybonsai12]

Thanks for that. How do you Rilke the bio gold ?

i think it works very well And keeps plants happy. Only complaint would be price. In addition to bio gold I use Neptune’s liquid fish/seaweed.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Ramifying continues to be a challenge on this one And I want to try and keep the canopy in check as much as possible before it gets too leggy. For whatever reason the buds on a branch in the top right did not open, just dried up.

Other areas along the main trunk up top grew flower buds but no leaf buds. I’m now thinking its too tall with no branching at the top and it should be cut down to the next leader To avoid bare spots. It’s now the time I would wire new growth and cut off the first pair of leaves to try and promote leaf buds for next year. Question is, would you cut back top trunk and long extensions to closer branches now in conjunction with wiring removing leaves on the usable new growth?

 

[River's Edge]

Question is, would you cut back top trunk and long extensions to closer branches now in conjunction with wiring removing leaves on the usable new growth?

I think the timing is pretty good. I have found the best way to encourage lateral growth is to combine cut back with defoliation in the areas where additional lateral growth is desired. Treating each branch individually as some still require thickening or extension while others could use more ramification. I find that I need to be very careful with wiring and apply it sooner rather than later.

 

[Trueblackpercula]

It looks super healthy but to answer your question above I would let it grow and than prune back. Maybe this will help the tree grow stronger and allow the flowers to bloom next season. I know you mention bio gold maybe change it up a little and see how that goes. From what I have been told from a others the NPK ratios are a little off with bio gold but I am no expert and still learning.
Michael

 

[Nybonsai12]

Fall color

 

[Trueblackpercula]

It looks fantastic

 

[leatherback]

This is growing into a nice mume, well done!

Did the hard cutback give you what you were looking for:

Ramifying continues to be a challenge on this one

Otherwise.. @Brian Van Fleet has a thread on his mume and he gives details on how he (And me too) gets ramification. Effectively it comes down to clipping of the first 2 leaves that emerge on each branch early in the season, in combination with a mid-spring trim session. Nodes where you remove the leaves in spring tend to grow leaf buds.

 

[Nybonsai12]

This is growing into a nice mume, well done!

Did the hard cutback give you what you were looking for:


Otherwise.. @Brian Van Fleet has a thread on his mume and he gives details on how he (And me too) gets ramification. Effectively it comes down to clipping of the first 2 leaves that emerge on each branch early in the season, in combination with a mid-spring trim session. Nodes where you remove the leaves in spring tend to grow leaf buds.

I’ve been following Brian’s thread for sure and have used that technique. Some branches have produced leaf buds while others didn’t. This one is coming along but grafting seems inevitable, especially with a very lanky branch on the right side.

 

[River's Edge]

I’ve been following Brian’s thread for sure and have used that technique. Some branches have produced leaf buds while others didn’t. This one is coming along but grafting seems inevitable, especially with a very lanky branch on the right side.

For best results the apical bud on the branch must be trimmed at the same time the leaves are removed. At least this has been my experience, it is also dependant on the condition of the tree and ultimately the roots. Better health, better response. Recently repotted, weaker response. Age of the tree seems to impact the results as well with better results on juvenile growth. Not sure if any of this applies to your situation but worth considering.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

@Nybonsai12 The technique that Brian and Adair use goes back to Lynn Perry Alstadt's article in International Bonsai 1982.1, which were simply reproduced from her earlier 1964 publication, Bonsai Trees and Shrubs - a guide to the methods of Kyuzo Murata. It's great and has worked for me in the past! If Murata's approach is not working for you, you may want to try the ones described by Bjorn in his YouTube video (link below)? Personally, in 2021 I had very consistent results with technique described by Bjorn on trees at similar stages of development as yours. Both techniques seem to work

Grafting is inevitable though, part of the joy of this species

 

[Nybonsai12]

Quick photo this morning as flower buds swell. Looking forward to the show for the first time in a pot!

 

[River's Edge]

Grafting is inevitable though, part of the joy of this species

And the good thing about this, is if you are starting with young material you will have 100 years to learn scion grafting before it is needed. Assuming of course the material is properly developed and cared for in the first 100 years. Grafting may be needed sooner if not developed and cared for properly.
Most of us start Bonsai a bit later in life so the Ume may be on its second or third owner before anyone needs to learn how to graft scions.
Wonderful news!

 

[Canada Bonsai]

And the good thing about this, is if you are starting with young material you will have 100 years to learn scion grafting before it is needed. Assuming of course the material is properly developed and cared for in the first 100 years. Grafting may be needed sooner if not developed and cared for properly.

Do you really think Ume don't need to be grafted until they are 100 years old? I have no idea what you're talking about.

There are many moments in an Ume's life when a cultivar can be introduced, if needed -- it certainly does not need to occur after 100 years like you said. In fact, it is nearly impossible to develop an Ume for 100 years without grafting long before that -- very few Ume live to 100, and require an exceptional amount of grafting and care year after year to get them that far

I have proposed this challenge to you many times before, and you have still not responded: show me any Ume in Kokufu over 30 yrs old that has not been grafted.

 

[River's Edge]

Do you really think Ume don't need to be grafted until they are 100 years old? I have no idea what you're talking about

I was responding to the information presented in Bjorn's Bonsai U that you posted. You really have no idea what he said in the video? That's funny.
Not sure why this strikes you so personally.
I thought it was an interesting perspective and coming from a top professional well trained in developing Ume I consider it somewhat credible. I was never aware of that perspective before you posted the video.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

I was responding to the information presented in Bjorn's Bonsai U that you posted. You really have no idea what he said in the video? That's funny.
Not sure why this strikes you so personally.
I thought it was an interesting perspective and coming from a top professional well trained in developing Ume I consider it somewhat credible. I was never aware of that perspective before you posted the video.

You mean at the 13:18 minute mark when Bjorn says that as Ume get older (he says 70-80) you have to graft to re-invigorate the tree or it will slowly die on you? Yes, that's correct; you have to graft or they will likely slow down and die. But that is not the only time when you need to be grafting Ume to develop them as bonsai. I chat with Bjorn live twice a month through his BonsaiU platform, and for the past year I don't think there was a day when we did not chat about Ume. I suggest that you join BonsaiU to watch the rapidly accumulating backlog of recordings, and/or I will gladly send you a bibliography with recommended readings and a list of sources in Japan to help you obtain them.

You said:

if you are starting with young material you will have 100 years to learn scion grafting before it is needed [...] Grafting may be needed sooner if not developed and cared for properly.

Even if you said 70 instead of 100, this is incorrect and misleading for people who come here to learn about Ume. Grafting before the 70 or 100 year mark is not necessary due to poor development/care. Grafting is necessary because of the way Ume grow and are developed (this applies to almost all Ume general aesthetic categories). Grafts--done expertly well--are a fundamental and inevitable part of Ume cultivation, long before 100 years have passed, even for the best growers in the world...

Stop thinking about garden-center grafts! That is is not what Bjorn or I have in mind, and not what people are doing when developing fine Ume bonsai.

 

[badatusernames]

You mean at the 13:18 minute mark when Bjorn says that as Ume get older (he says 70-80) you have to graft to re-invigorate the tree or it will slowly die on you? Yes, that's correct; you have to graft or they will likely slow down and die. But that is not the only time when you need to be grafting Ume to develop them as bonsai. I chat with Bjorn live twice a month through his BonsaiU platform, and for the past year I don't think there was a day when we did not chat about Ume. I suggest that you join BonsaiU to watch the rapidly accumulating backlog of recordings, and/or I will gladly send you a bibliography with recommended readings and a list of sources in Japan to help you obtain them.

You said:



Even if you said 70 instead of 100, this is incorrect and misleading for people who come here to learn about Ume. Grafting before the 70 or 100 year mark is not necessary due to poor development/care. Grafting is necessary because of the way Ume grow and are developed (this applies to almost all Ume general aesthetic categories). Grafts--done expertly well--are a fundamental and inevitable part of Ume cultivation, long before 100 years have passed, even for the best growers in the world...

Stop thinking about garden-center grafts! That is is not what Bjorn or I have in mind, and not what people are doing when developing fine Ume bonsai.

agreed that bonsai u is invaluable. I always thought the q&a was about what tree he had worked on the last episode and only recently started checking it out.

planning to bring an ume down to him this year in spring, I don’t have scions nor am I sure that’s the right time for it if it needs it but it’ll be great to get down there and talk about it, maybe do some carving