Tridents in the Ground

[Thomas J.]

These three tridents were planted from seed in 2017 and put in the ground about 1 1/2 - 2 years later. They were from the start in pond baskets before being replanted in the ground. They shot up like crazy in the ground each one differing in trunk girth as shown. A few weeks ago I finally cut them down in size and will probably pot them up next potting season. The nebari isn't your beautiful flare root type, but they're not that bad either showing a good stable in the ground root system.

 

[n8]

Nice work.

These have been in the ground for 5 years? Curious if you've dug them up to cut back roots during that time.

 

[Thomas J.]

Nice work.

These have been in the ground for 5 years? Curious if you've dug them up to cut back roots during that time.

No I have not touched them at all.

 

[Apex37]

If you decide to offload in the future, I'm happy to oblige.

Hope you've been doing well Thomas!

 

[n8]

No I have not touched them at all.

Take pictures when you dig. I have a few in a field and I've been cutting back the roots hard every year. I think I've built some decent material, but it's been a lot of effort to maintain. I'd like to see what the roots look like after five years of unchecked growth.

 

[Rodrigo]

Nice work! How tall did get before you chopped them low to get that trunk size?

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Very nice, I'd like to know the diameter, or rough guess

 

[misfit11]

Tridents do bulk up very fast in the ground. The one issue is that so do the roots. Five years is a long time to let them go without any root work. I'd be surprised if you didn't have some VERY large roots that will need significant cut back. And because the fibrous roots may be way out from the trunk, it might require multiple years to chase them back. Tridents make roots very well, but you still need some fibrous to support the foliage.

I just dug up a few Tridents that have been in the ground for the last two years and the roots had gotten WAY bigger than I had hoped. I was quite ruthless in the cut back and it required some very big chops that will take some time to heal. I'm going to dig them yearly from now on. Two years unchecked growth in the ground is just too long in my climate.

 

[misfit11]

 

[misfit11]

First one after cut back. Not many fibrous roots to speak of.

 

[Shibui]

First one after cut back. Not many fibrous roots to speak of.

That's way more small, fibrous roots than I usually leave after a first root prune. Even the thicker roots are longer than I'd have left them.

A few weeks ago I finally cut them down in size and will probably pot them up next potting season. The nebari isn't your beautiful flare root type, but they're not that bad either showing a good stable in the ground root system.

The roots don't look too bad but they are not out of the ground yet so hard to be certain what you really have under there. My real concern is the trunk and trunk taper. Not sure what you have planned for the trunk and branches but my experience says you now have 10-20 years ahead to grow a new top to match the stumps. People seem to think that thickening the trunk is the biggest part but that's just the beginning.
I've found that putting a couple of extra years into developing a good trunk will save many years in the second phase of developing upper trunk, branches and canopy.

 

[Thomas J.]

Nice work! How tall did get before you chopped them low to get that trunk size?

The thickest one got to about 12ft, started looking like a yard tree, couldn't have none of that , lol.

 

[Thomas J.]

That's way more small, fibrous roots than I usually leave after a first root prune. Even the thicker roots are longer than I'd have left them.


The roots don't look too bad but they are not out of the ground yet so hard to be certain what you really have under there. My real concern is the trunk and trunk taper. Not sure what you have planned for the trunk and branches but my experience says you now have 10-20 years ahead to grow a new top to match the stumps. People seem to think that thickening the trunk is the biggest part but that's just the beginning.
I've found that putting a couple of extra years into developing a good trunk will save many years in the second phase of developing upper trunk, branches and canopy.

Lol, I don't believe I have 10-20 years left in me , if I do they won't be doing bonsai.