Kusamura Bonsai Club
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From A Year of Bonsai Tips by Jim Ransohoff |
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The weather has finally started to warm, and probably your bonsai are putting on new growth quite rapidly. Thus, you will have to stay alert and active if you want your bonsai to progress and look their best. Keep maples, liquidambers, birch, and possibly elms in light shade and out of the wind. If your maples are healthy, you can de-leaf them this month. Feed them with a low nitrogen fertilizer about two weeks prior to cutting off the leaves, and be certain to leave part of the leaf stem on. This method will let you trim the shape, give you smaller leaves, and probably improve fall color. After de-leafing place you plants in partial shade and out of the wind. In about four weeks, give them a light feeding (half strength), and after another two weeks resume your regular feeding schedule. It is not advisable to de-leaf two years in a row. Other plants that can be defoliated include hornbeams and liquidamber [and also elms and zelkovas], but do not defoliate beeches because they do not readily develop a second flush of leaves.
Black Pines can have their new candles cut off this month. There are a couple of different techniques for cutting candles. First we describe the one we've been teaching for years and then we'll contrast with the new technique. Prior to this, you should have reduced them by half or more. Now you can remove them completely as long as there are needles on the twigs below the candles. Start by removing the smaller candles, probably those on the lower third of the tree or in the interior. Ten days later cut off the next larger candles, and ten days after that cut off those on the apex, which are probably the longest. This process gives the weakest candles a head start to re-grow and will, thus, help to balance the length of the needles on the entire plant The goal of this three-step process is to give the smallest candles time to begin growing again before the medium and larger candles, thus evening out the size of the new growth. New Technique. The new technique requires only one step but yields the same results. Now we cut all the candles back at one time but, the length of the stub varies based on the size of the candle. That is, the stub should be as long as the diameter of the candle being cut. Longer stubs will die back slower than the less vigorous (smaller diameter) candles. This means that the buds on the smaller candles will start pushing sooner and so the size of the new growth will be the more nearly balanced. The time to cut back is as soon as the candle is open and all the needles are distinct. Once they are open, you will have about 3 weeks to complete your pruning. It's important that your scissors should be extra sharp for a clean cut. Also, make sure that you make your cuts perpendicular -- cutting a candle on a slant means the dormant buds at the base will get an uneven start. Keep fertilizing once a month with 70% cotton seed meal and 30% bone meal or Osmocote 14-14-14. For a 1 gallon size plant we suggest 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon. It is also advisable to spray for insects. On other conifers, such as white pine, cedar, and spruce, pinch off about half of the new, soft growth. This is best done with the fingers and will keep the plant from beconing leggy. Sandy Planting did a presentation on cutting candles during our June 2001 meeting. At that time she described a new technique. Notes from that presentation are available here.
Azaleas. Here are some pointers.
Jim did a presentation on Azaleas during our June 2001 meeting. Notes from that presentation are available here. Also see the July 2001 Kusamura newsletter or the May-June 2001 issue of BCI Magazine.
General Notes At this time of rapid growth, you must watch the wires on your bonsai or they will cut in. If wire cuts are minor, you can usually repair them in time by lightly sanding them with very fine-grain sandpaper. Don't try to do the repair all at once. Fertilize!! June and July are heavy growing months. Watering leaches out nutrients that must be replaced. The Japanese masters all complain that we underfertilize. If you use Osmocote 14-14-14, it will last for four months, Liquid fertilizer will only last a week or ten days. Most experts believe that 70% cotton seed meal and 30% bone meal made into balls is best, and it lasts. However, squirels and birds often eat the balls. You can also prvent this from happening by sprinkling the mixture over the top of the soil. This is the last month that you can airlayer. This is a good way to develop good bonsai stock. Study the literature on this technique in many books or magazines like Golden Statements. While everything is growing rapidly, so are the pests and fungi&emdash;so spray, but never stronger than the instructions indicate. To be on the safe side, use two thirds to three quarters of the recommended strength. Also use a good fungicide such as Benelate or Captan.
Continue plucking and ROTATE!
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