Rotating trees

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I only rotate them on the horizontal axis. In the vertical axis I lose too much soil and it's difficult to water.
That doesn't mean that it sometimes happens..

 

[NMbonsai]

I only rotate them on the horizontal axis. In the vertical axis I lose too much soil and it's difficult to water.
That doesn't mean that it sometimes happens..

You are definitely thinking outside the box, lol! That reminded me of those hanging grow bags that were all the rage a few years ago for growing tomatoes. You were supposed to plant the tomato with the bag upright and then flip it over so the tomato would grow straight down. I guess it had a drawstring or something keep the soil from falling out. I guess the advantage was that it saved space and the tomatoes loved it. It seemed like a scam and a waste of time to me. However, this got me to thinking: could you grow a bonsai cascade like this and then flip it over and put it in a cascade pot for an upcoming show or just for part of the growing season? Would this solve the problem of dieback at the end of the cascade branches? Would the tree know which way is up? Maybe it supposedly worked with tomatoes because they are vines but most bonsai are not, except for jasmine, wisteria, etc.? This was just a random thought process. I am not running out looking for grow bags any time soon, but, knowing how creative and inquisitive members of the Bnut community are, maybe someone will try it and report back that I am full of shit, or that they have discovered a wonderful new method for making cascade style bonsai!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

You are definitely thinking outside the box, lol! That reminded me of those hanging grow bags that were all the rage a few years ago for growing tomatoes. You were supposed to plant the tomato with the bag upright and then flip it over so the tomato would grow straight down. I guess it had a drawstring or something keep the soil from falling out. I guess the advantage was that it saved space and the tomatoes loved it. It seemed like a scam and a waste of time to me. However, this got me to thinking: could you grow a bonsai cascade like this and then flip it over and put it in a cascade pot for an upcoming show or just for part of the growing season? Would this solve the problem of dieback at the end of the cascade branches? Would the tree know which way is up? Maybe it supposedly worked with tomatoes because they are vines but most bonsai are not, except for jasmine, wisteria, etc.? This was just a random thought process. I am not running out looking for grow bags any time soon, but, knowing how creative and inquisitive members of the Bnut community are, maybe someone will try it and report back that I am full of shit, or that they have discovered a wonderful new method for making cascade style bonsai!

Gravitropism is pretty evident in most trees, and it would be difficult to position the foliage. I've had the same thought a couple times and it would be awesome if done well. But it will be a trial and error process and I don't want to sacrifice that time and material.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I wonder if, while growing a seedling, one could rotate like 2 degrees per day during the growing season, it could grow with a twisted trunk (?).

 

[blackadam]

i wish..
my citrus seedlings tend to turn to the window without showing any twisting wherewer i shuffle containers and forget previous arrangement

 

[NMbonsai]

Gravitropism is pretty evident in most trees, and it would be difficult to position the foliage. I've had the same thought a couple times and it would be awesome if done well. But it will be a trial and error process and I don't want to sacrifice that time and material.

Well said. I have heard of folks building a cradle-like device to hold a cascade at an angle to give the lower branches more exposure to sunlight during the growing season. It is later removed and the pot set upright for display purposes. Never tried it myself.

 

[blackadam]

placing pot at 45 degrees is mentioned in 1990 Plohocki's book for growing cascade from some conifer

i got 2 poorly wired few months old citrus seedlings placed that way (because why not) wonder how this experiment ends

Gravitropism

didnt heard this term, heard only about phototropism in school years ago and seeing it every few days when rotating my strawberries on windowsill..

 

[stewarjm192]

I only rotate them on the horizontal axis. In the vertical axis I lose too much soil and it's difficult to water.
That doesn't mean that it sometimes happens..

Ya, it generally seems to be a wind turbulence issue that does it to me

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I wonder if, while growing a seedling, one could rotate like 2 degrees per day during the growing season, it could grow with a twisted trunk (?).

The earth does that, I think Ryan Neil touched on this years ago, not sure where or in what format.
In dead pines in the wild here, and living chestnut trees, as well as others like 10 meter tall trident maples, we can see the twisting wood grain go all up in the tree.
Apparently, in Australia, the twist is the other way around.

Solitary trees seem to do this more than trees in grouped plantings.

 

[99 Mile Creek]

Now that you mention it, I forgot that it also affects fall color. Shaded areas will stay green while the exposed areas color up nicely. Yet another reason to rotate continuously. I actually see it happen most in forest plantings

Never thought about fall colors.

Just showing an example for anyone who might visit this thread:

 

[shohin_branches]

The earth does that, I think Ryan Neil touched on this years ago, not sure where or in what format.
In dead pines in the wild here, and living chestnut trees, as well as others like 10 meter tall trident maples, we can see the twisting wood grain go all up in the tree.
Apparently, in Australia, the twist is the other way around.

Solitary trees seem to do this more than trees in grouped plantings.
View attachment 608648

The twisting comes from wind hitting the canopy and creating torque on the trunk.