JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
Be careful moving heavily root pruned or newly collected trees early on, as the roots you so need them to grow may be broken off as the soil shifts a little in the pot. Especially if the pot is not stiff.
Root pruning American Hornbeam
- Thread starter pweifan
- Start date
Zach Smith
Omono
My soil mix is simple: Turface All Sport roughly half and half with pine bark mulch from Home Depot. Unsifted for nursery stock, sifted for bonsai. The trees love it.
Zach
BethF
Mame
Which brand of pine bark mulch? Sifted the last of mine yesterday, so have to get some more.
Zach Smith
Omono
I like the one Home Depot sells (down here, at least), Show Scape. It seems to be more rotted than what you get from Lowes.
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
You might find a better size at Lowe's or Home Depot under the brand Evergreen Soil Conditioner.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
What I meant by too coarse meant that it's too free draining and contains no organic compounds. It is probably best for conifers. Organic ingredients, IMO, have a place in deciduous bonsai soil. I've used the Evergreen Soil Conditioner over the years. If you can't find that name, have a look at "clay buster" soil amendments. They are usually some form of composted pine mulch. I stopped sifting soil a very long time ago. I was finding there wasn't much return for the labor involved.
A lean mix like you're using can be a very bad thing for a tree that's adapted to growing in moist areas. The top layer will dry out pretty quickly and you could be at risk of having the root crown dry out as well. If you must use such a lean soil on a newly-collected tree, use a two inch layer of chopped long fibered sphagnum moss on top. Keep that moist and it will promote recovery by keeping the top layer of soil moist and humid for new roots.
pweifan
Shohin
When I repotted the smaller hornbeam, I just switched to a non-organic soil. Do you think I'll have problems and should use the sphagnum as well, or is this suggestion only for freshly collected trees? I won't be able to trim the big hornbeam until this weekend. I spent last weekend unexpectedly buying a new car 
Jester217300
Shohin
I have everything in a lava and pumice dominant mix, hornbeam included, and I'm happy with it in MI. I think I might be able to push it a bit because we're a little cooler year round. However I'm still in training pots across the board. Many trees will probably need an organic amendment as I start to reduce pot size. I do have a few small trees in 4" pots that have been OK for two years.
The only species that I'm adding organics to even in training pots is Larch. I had one larch die of drying out last year. They're water hogs. I'll probably do the same with Spruce. I wish I could find soil conditioner up here....
Waltron
Chumono
When I repotted the smaller hornbeam, I just switched to a non-organic soil. Do you think I'll have problems and should use the sphagnum as well, or is this suggestion only for freshly collected trees? I won't be able to trim the big hornbeam until this weekend. I spent last weekend unexpectedly buying a new car
do you have photos of your hornbeams??
pweifan
Shohin
Sorry it's been a while since I've replied. Last Wednesday we woke up a plumbing problem in our upstairs bathroom. Since the bathroom is upstairs and gravity doesn't like water to just sit in one place, it made for a really bad time. I had a very busy morning sucking up water with a shop vac and then the water mitigation crew arrived and installed these octopus looking things:
There were also LOTS of fans and dehumidifiers throughout the house. Everything was taken apart and unusable so we stayed at a hotel for several days. Well as of last night we were back home and I finally got a chance to look at this hornbeam.
I'll apologize for the quality of the pictures. I only have a cell phone to work with and I didn't have a lot of time to stop and take photos along the way because I was losing daylight.
Here's that wonderful nebari I mentioned in an earlier post:
There are some empty patches, but I think it's a great start. After trimming the roots, I see it won't be too difficult to get it into the growbox.
I trimmed the roots a bit more and planted it up. I also anchored it in with wire before adding the topmost layer of soil (a mixture of Turface MVP, Manna Pro poultry grit, lava rock and sifted pine bark). I'm not a beer man, so I used a gatorade bottle for scale.
I love the existing movement of the trunk but I'm not sure there's enough taper to justify keeping that first bend. What do you guys think? Please provide suggestions and virts if you're up to them. I would appreciate any input you have.
Thanks!
Scott
There were also LOTS of fans and dehumidifiers throughout the house. Everything was taken apart and unusable so we stayed at a hotel for several days. Well as of last night we were back home and I finally got a chance to look at this hornbeam.
I'll apologize for the quality of the pictures. I only have a cell phone to work with and I didn't have a lot of time to stop and take photos along the way because I was losing daylight.
Here's that wonderful nebari I mentioned in an earlier post:
There are some empty patches, but I think it's a great start. After trimming the roots, I see it won't be too difficult to get it into the growbox.
I trimmed the roots a bit more and planted it up. I also anchored it in with wire before adding the topmost layer of soil (a mixture of Turface MVP, Manna Pro poultry grit, lava rock and sifted pine bark). I'm not a beer man, so I used a gatorade bottle for scale.
I love the existing movement of the trunk but I'm not sure there's enough taper to justify keeping that first bend. What do you guys think? Please provide suggestions and virts if you're up to them. I would appreciate any input you have.
Thanks!
Scott
Jester217300
Shohin
Cut it 6" above the soil line.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
You've got to reduce that trunk next year by at least half. If it were mine, I'd cut it back most of the way to that first strong shoot.
The soil sounds OK.
Sympathies on the water damage. Had much the same situation a few years ago after the roof held up four feet of snow and developed ice dams. The Serve Pro guys brought in big heaters and dehumidifiers and dried my top floor out. Didn't see the octopus thing, though.
The soil sounds OK.
Sympathies on the water damage. Had much the same situation a few years ago after the roof held up four feet of snow and developed ice dams. The Serve Pro guys brought in big heaters and dehumidifiers and dried my top floor out. Didn't see the octopus thing, though.
pweifan
Shohin
Which shoot? The one right above the soil line or the first one after the bend?
It was Serv Pro that did our remediation as well. I got the impression that the octopus devices were newer.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
The one right above the soil.
pweifan
Shohin
Wow, lower than I was thinking. Then make that shoot the new leader?
If I were to air layer this right above the first bend, do you think I should wait a year? I'd like to air layer it and hopefully remove the layer this year and trunk chop it down low next year. Is that too aggressive?
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Yes, that WOULD BE DEVELOPED into the new apex, inducing some movement into it and some diameter by wiring it and then letting it grow unhindered for a couple of years, then chopping it back.
Skip the air layering. The long stretch of straight, no-taper makes this trunk pretty boring not worth the effort. The time spent air layering would be better (and more easily) spent collecting a better one.
Skip the air layering. The long stretch of straight, no-taper makes this trunk pretty boring not worth the effort. The time spent air layering would be better (and more easily) spent collecting a better one.
pweifan
Shohin
Thank you! Built out of MDF, chicken wire and fiberglass screen. Definitely not beautiful or even well-built, but they get the job done
pweifan
Shohin
I was up at my parents' place this weekend and didn't see any other hornbeams worth collecting. Oh well, I'll just work with what I have for now. Thank you for all the advice!
That's what I'm doing. Learning.
