Things that promote better soil gas exchange are going to offer more potential for better growth/vitality up to a point. There is such a thing as too much air or gas exchange in/from the rhizosphere. Clay pots or any pots with gas-permeable walls, coarse soils - especially those that hold no or little perched water will speed growth.

There are a number of ways to create good nebari (root to shoot transition zone). If you start with a cutting or whip, you can thread the plant through a hole in a ceramic tile, piece of Plexiglas, a compact disc ....... and plant the cutting out or in a large container with a soil like I mentioned. As the stem thickend, the hole will cut off the downward flow of photosynthate and other 'stuff' to the roots (including the growth regulator, auxin). It will accumulate in tissues above the restriction and create a sizeable bulge, from which roots will begin to grow. The tile or whatever you chose to use will force the roots into a horizontal position.

You get roots like this:
{{gwi:8790}}
{{gwi:7488}}

The later pic is a Styrax japonica (Japanese snowbell), 3 or 4 years from a cutting.

There are other ways, too. I regularly layer off the tops of trees just above the highest roots. It's easier to build a new root stem from scratch than to try to correct one with myriad issues. This works very well with trees that have trunks from 1/2 - 2" or so. Some trees can be treated this way even when quite large 4"+.

Al

that's AWESOME Al! I have several questions but will have to wrap my mind around this first.
today is cacti watering day (big job) so I will give it some thought & get back to ya.
I have a Euonymus japonicas, is that similar to the tree above?

This post was edited by halocline on Sun, Feb 8, 15 at 2:06

Cache your pictures at a free site, like Photobucket, then copy/paste the HTML link the site provides for your picture directly into the text box to post as many pics as you like directly into the text.

Your tree is a different genus and closely related to burning bush, which also make nice bonsai. Tip: Your tree tends to shoot out multiple branches from any point of truncation, so rub off all but 2 buds in favorable positions from that point, or prune all places where branches divide to Y's instead of tridents or other multiples. It will have the tendency to produce unsightly clusters of branches which cause swelling and reverse taper at the point from which they radiate. Generally speaking, you want as much bifurcation as possible and you want to minimize trifurcation or even more branches originating from the same spot unless they are to serve as trunks.

This tree (not mine) should be cleaned up. Those bud clusters at the ends of branches need to be pruned off back to a pair of buds or the king bud at the tips should be removed, along with all but 2 of the secondary buds. Also, he has many trifurcations and I think a few places where 4 branches originate from the same spot. Those areas should be pruned so they bifurcate to avoid problems down the road.

Al

Ok,so the hole in the tourniquet dictates how big the trunk gets before the bulge appears & new roots begin to grow. if you are using a cd that provides radial growth. is this all done below the soil line & if so how does water get to the original roots below the cd?

Rob.

This post was edited by halocline on Sun, Feb 8, 15 at 2:01

deleted.

This post was edited by halocline on Sun, Feb 8, 15 at 2:14

Hi Al,
any further info, technique's, photo's?

Rob

Went to the nursery today - unknown containerized tree:

Nice tangle- good for a jungle look. As to creating nebari, I wanted to mention seeing a progression from someone who used a 4x4x1 piece of wood and actually drove a screw through the bottom of the wood piece into the bottom of the trunk, then planted the whole thing in a pot with the wood buried maybe an inch below the surface. It made me cringe to see the screw going into the trunk, but the tree stayed healthy and the nebari were attractive.

I regularly use screws in trees above and below the soil line as anchor points to secure roots and guy wires. If it causes any inconvenience to the tree, it's not noticeable. If not removed, the tree simply grows around them and all evidence of their ever having been imbedded in the tree soon disappears..

I often start cuttings by slipping them through a hole in a Plexiglas or PVC disc, too. The tree chokes itself off as it expands and new roots grow out in a perfect horizontal plane on top of the disc.

Al

The pvc would give variable sizes for different sized trunks. I like that.

ez

I'm glad to see this thread getting some more attention. Al has some great techniques.

Tree, unknown species:

Rob