Kusamura Bonsai Club
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From A Year of Bonsai Tips by Jim Ransohoff |
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Controlling Growth This should be a busy time for all bonsai enthusiasts! Spring is here, and it is a period of very rapid growth. Continue to pinch and trim, but hold off on wiring until the soft growth of deciduous material hardens. Also, keep your attention on the upper portion of your bonsai, as this is the area of fastest growth. (Azaleas are an exception. With them, the top is the weakest area.) You should have done your repotting by now. If you haven't, you may continue to repot your evergreens. If you still have deciduous plants that you must repot at this time, remove as few of the hair roots as possible and cut off some of the largest leaves to compensate. You can also remove large leaves from the end of May through June to allow light to penetrate to the interior of your plants, but do not totally defoliate yet. Deciduous Trees. You should have been pinching your trees back during March and April. If you haven't, your leaves and internodes are large, and now is the time to start defoliating. Be certain that the plant is healthy and has been fertilized a couple of weeks in advance. Defoliate by cutting off at the leaf stem (petiole). You may just partially defoliate the plant -- for example, by just taking leaves off the top. This is also a good time to try airlayering. See a good book on this, or Golden Statements, which has had articles on this subject. It's not hard, so give it a try. Evergreen Trees. Pinch back, but only the tips, not all the way back. Red and Cork Bark Pine. These species are not as vigorous as black pine, so candle removal should be done in early May or even late April. Remove the candles at the base unless you wish the branch to elongate. If so, leave five or six sets of needles when breaking off the candles. BlackPine. Begin candle pinching during the latter part of May. The shortest candles first; the medium candles a week to 10 days later; and the longest candles 10 days later. Be certain that you have been fertilizing since March to give the plant strength. The largest candles should have been broken back one-half to two-thirds in April. Now you can remove the balance of the candles. After removing them, do not fertilize the tree for three weeks; then give a half-strength foliar feeding. Afterwards, use a regularly monthly feeding schedule of 70% cottonseed meal and 30% bone meal. According to Bill Hashimoto, if you have time to tend to your pines twice a year, cut off all the candles that are under 3/4 inches in early to mid-May, and those that are over 3/4 inches in late June. If you can only tend to them once a year, cut off all the candles in May or June. Kathy Shaner suggests cutting off all the candles in June, again the shortest ones first and the longest ones last. [For the newest technique, consult Lonnie McCormick or John Planting.] White Pines. These are another story, as they only throw one set of candles a year. Starting this month, cut back to one-half to two-thirds of the shortest candles; cut back to four or five needle buds on the next largest group; and finally cut back the largest candles to no more than four needle buds. Five Needle Pine. This variety of pine is different. When the candles reach 1/2 to 3/4 inches, break them off, leaving three to five sets of needles. If new growth is showing at the base, you may break off the entire candle, but be certain that the new growth is there! Spruce. Pinching is a must; otherwise, you will have very leggy growth. However, leggy branches cannot be pruned back behind the last bud or in all probability the branch will die. Watering. There is no specific formula for this. Your soil mix, weather, wind, etc., varies. The main thing is to be certain that your plant is damp but not soaking wet. Never let it dry out. Propagation by Cuttings and Air Layering. This is a very good time for using these methods. Take your softwood cuttings from newly hardened wood. Both of these propagation procedures are quite easy -- try them and you have a very inexpensive method of increasing your collection or getting plants ready to give as your annual donation to the Kusamura show. Fertilizing and Pest Control This is very important at this time, when both the rapid growth of the plants and increased watering drains the soil of nutrients. Speaking of fertilizers, the Masters still prefer rape seed cakes or a mixture of 70% cottonseed meal and 30% bone meal. However, if you use these in cake form, be certain to cover each cake or the squirrels and birds will get them in one day. Another easy fertilizing method is to use what Tosh used -- Osmocote 14-14-14 (the four-month variety). Also, new to me is a product called ONCE, which is a 10-18-10-plus-minor-nutrients mix for flowering and fruiting plants. This product is earth-colored and doesn't show on the pot surface. Another product for acid-loving plants is a 4-10-10 mix by Vigero; it sounds excellent for azaleas and camellias especially. It is sold in 25-pound plastic tubs and is quite reasonable. Orchard Supply Hardware carries all of the above products except for rape seed cakes. Feed deciduous trees in the middle of May and again in the middle of August. In late August, feed with 0-10-10 to improve fall color. Feed evergreen trees every month except during very cold weather. This is the season when bugs and fungi run wild. Spray with about one-half to two-thirds strength of a good pesticide to keep ahead of the critters. Spray maples with a fungicide (for instance Benolate or Captan) to prevent a mildew attack -- if mildew takes hold, it is very hard to eliminate. And last but far from least, WATCH YOUR WATERING. Remember, more plants are killed by over-watering than under-watering. Keep your soil damp but not soaking wet, as the latter drives out air and encourages root fungus. And again remember: ROTATE!
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