Showing posts with label Tips and Techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tips and Techniques. Show all posts

Training Bougainvillea Bonsai Tree Branches

Training Bougainvillea Tree Branches
Most of the people associate pruning with altering the structure of your bougainvillea bonsai tree to fit a different shape or style. However, this is not the case. Changing the structure of the tree is known as “Bonsai Tree Training”. This is a much better way to develop an alternate form for your tree. Pruning should be used to prevent diseases, prevent lopsidedness, and encourage healthier bonsai tree.

By means of tying down branches or propping them up from the ground, one can direct the growth of the bougainvillea tree to take whatever shape they want. This process is usually used in the early days of the tree to encourage it to develop fully. If you direct the tree and get it started off on the right foot, you’ll save yourself a lot of pruning time later.

Pruning is also used to maintain the proper shape for the bonsai tree. For example, if you have an abundance of branches on one particular side of the tree, then you will use pruning to get rid of the larger segments which weigh down the bonsai to one side. Think about it more in terms of maintaining rather than altering. While pruning is useful sometimes, but most of the time you can benefit from training your branches and grow a healthier and more efficient bonsai tree.




Usually, training occurs during the summer. Rather than just cut off all the branches that aren’t going in the right way, you try to redirect them. The mechanisms you use can be thought of as orthodontic braces for your flower tree. They pull or push the branches, like teeth, in whatever direction you want them to go. At the end of the day, they casually grow the way you want them to be.

It can be hard to decide how exactly to train and shape your tree. There are many different bonsai style and shapes to choose from. Some of the popular ones are formal upright bonsai style(chokkan), informal upright bonsai style(moyogi), slanting bonsai style(shakan), cascade bonsai style(kengai) and broom bonsai style(hokidachi). These bonsai styles are free to own imaginativeness and perception. The style really depends on your personal taste and originality.

To train a bougainvillea bonsai tree, you will need some sort of tools to push or pull a branch. Sometimes bougainvillea bonsai branches grows too close together and push each other out, so training them to grow apart from each other can prevent the need to prune them later. Most of the common tools you need are copper wires of different gauges, concave cutters, shears, bonsai turn table, and trunk benders. Alternately, if you want to keep two branches apart then you can use something like wooden wedge. Also, another alternative way of pulling a branch down is by using weights. There are many creative ways to train a bonsai branch. Successfully training your bonsai branches just takes a little ingenuity in deciding what to wrap things to and what to keep them apart.

An Update of My Bougainvillea Bonsai

These are two of the bougainvillea bonsais that I am working with. They both come from a large wood cutting.
Bougainvillea Bonsai - Multiple Trunk
March 2012

Bougainvillea Bonsai - Root Escape Method

Bogainvillea Bonsai - Informal Upright
This is just one of my bougainvilleas that needs pruning and an update of my bougainvillea bonsai clip and grow method. To acquire faster growth on the branch girth, I used a method called escape root method. This method is simply allowing the roots to escape the pot and find its way on the ground.

Bougainvillea - Wiring or Clip and Grow Method

There are different ways and techniques to train or shape bonsai branches. The most popular one is with the use of copper or aluminum wire. With this method you simply choose a branch you want to change the shape and direction then wrap the wire spirally around the branch at an edge of about 45 degree angle maintaining a consistent gap between wires and providing enough room for growth. Also take into consideration the thickness of the wire to be used. Thicker branch needs thicker wire. As a rule of thumb use a wire that is 1/3 the thickness of the branch. There is also a tool called trunk benders which you can use to shape or bend much thicker branches.



But for my Bougainvillea I seldom use wire to wrap around the branches because they are really brittle and soon die back if wrapped tightly. One method I use is to put a weight to pull down the branch at a desired angle. I just used stone for my weight which you can find anywhere at your backyard and it cost you nothing (LOL). I also used the clip and grow method to change the shape and direction of the branch. This method is very handy and produces a natural curve and bends.  With this method of shaping your branches, you must start to work with a young shoot/branch that is still green and pliable. I find this technique easy, but of course you must take extra care when working on a young shoot.
This is my Bougainvillea Bonsai 1 on training. Growing the lower branches to increase more girth. I also changed the front of the Bonsai to reveal the section of the chopped trunk which will then be carved  maybe next growing season to add an interesting look at the trunk and also to hide the flaw of the chopped portion.

Bougainvillea Bonsai
Bougainvillea Bonsai 1 Progression Series
Taken on March 2012


OLDER POST ABOUT THIS SERIES:

  1. Bougainvillea Bonsai 1 (where it started)



NEWER POST ABOUT THIS SERIES:

Bougainvillea Shohin Bonsai Propagation

Bougainvillea Shohin BonsaiJust an update of my previous post (Future Plan) to get two shohin bonsai. The upper trunk of this specimen has a great potential to become another shohin bonsai because it has taper and a nice trunk movement. You can propagate bougainvillea through cuttings (soft or woody cuttings) and air layering. In my own opinion woody cutting at around 2 inches in diameter is the best, easy and the fastest way to propagate bougainvillea bonsai which can readily be use a shohin bonsai specimen.

Air Layering and Thread Grafting - Bougainvillea Bonsai Cutting 7

This was an update of Bougainvillea Cutting (7)
Bougainvillea Shohin Bonsai
Feb 2012
This specimen was almost two months now after the cutting was made and she's growing nice and healthy. Also done pruning to promote new growths. The trunk doesn't look that appealing because it was long and slender and no taper at all. I will do an air layering to shorten the trunk and at the same time grow a sacrificial branch right above the air layered portion to thicken the base of the trunk by a technique called thread grafting.

Air Layering | Bougainvillea Bonsai Cutting (2) Progression Series

This was an update of my Bougainvillea cuttings.

Bougainvillea Bonsai Air Layering
I'm aiming to grow this as a mame bonsai at about 5" tall. The shoots are getting long now and it's a good sign that this little tree is healthy. The trunk is really not that nice at about 1" in diameter with no movement at all. It also looks slender relative its height. This tiny tree really has a long way to go and a lot of flaws to fixed. The trunk also needs taper to give an impression of an old tree. Maybe in the near future I'd like to grow a lower branch until it thickens up the base of the trunk by using a thread grafting technique and to be cut back when that branch has served its purpose. But for now this post will tackle about an air layering technique to shorten this tree. Air layering is a process of propagation where you will grow roots on a branch or trunk to grow it independently and also allowing the lower part which already has a root system to  continue to grow.




THE PROCESS:


First decide on how tall you want the trunk to be. Be sure to use a clean cutting tool and and make two parallel clean cuts across the trunk.


Bougainvillea Bonsai Air LayeringBougainvillea Bonsai Air Layering

















Bougainvillea Bonsai Air Layering
Bougainvillea Bonsai Air LayeringBougainvillea Bonsai Air LayeringThen make another cut perpendicular to the previous cut you've made. This will allow you to have an easy access in peeling off the bark deep enough to remove the cambium (dividing tissue between xylem and phloem) which is responsible for the growth of stems and roots. Be sure to peel off all the bark and cambium around the trunk.





























 Next prepare a clean plastic container and a rooting medium of your choice. Make a cut on the container so that it will fit the trunk. You can also use a sphagnum moss as a rooting medium and a plastic wrap to seal it. Be sure to check the moisture of the rooting medium and water if necessary.

Bougainvillea Bonsai Air LayeringBougainvillea Bonsai Air Layering


Bougainvillea Bonsai Air LayeringBougainvillea Bonsai Air Layering




Bougainvillea Bonsai Air Layering












Happy Bonsai growing to ALL!!!

















OLDER POST ABOUT THIS SERIES:
  1. Bougainvillea Cuttings


NEWER POST ABOUT THIS SERIES:

Bonsai Deadwood Refinement

This was an update of my Bougainvillea Pre-Bonsai 2 Progression Seires.


Bougainvillea Bonsai
Back View
If you had read my previous post, this bougainvillea is severely damage and rotten specially on the lower part of the trunk maybe because it's always wet and because of the fungal infection that it had before I rescued it at my mother's backyard.

Bougainvillea Cuttings

These are some of the Bougainvillea hardwood large cuttings that I made. Most of the cuttings are relatively big and woody at about 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Because of a limited space in our front yard, I'm aiming to grow and train all the cuttings as shohin and mame bonsai at around 6 to 10 inches tall. Some of the hardwood cuttings that I made specially the really big ones are not yet showing any signs of new growth. Most of these cuttings came from these parent bougainvillea (Bougainvillea Pre-Bonsai 1 and Multiple Trunk Style Bougainvillea) and they are a month old now and growing nice and healthy. I can say that I have a success rate of 70% with all the cuttings that I made.




Some useful tips:
  1. Use a clean cutting tools.
  2. Make the cut clean and parallel to the trunk.
  3. Use some rooting hormone of your choice (optional)
  4. Be sure not to plant your cuttings upside down.
  5. After planting your cuttings to a suitable rooting media of your choice immediately water it and cover your cuttings with a plastic bag to retain moisture. Occasionally check and water if necessary.
  6. Place your cuttings under a shaded area.
  7. When new shoots arise, gradually open the plastic bag by making a small cut every other few days or so before you totally uncover it.
  8. Wear appropriate gloves before working with your cuttings to avoid hurting yourself with those sharp thorns.
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 1
approx. 1.5 in. trunk diameter / 3 in. tall
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 2
approx. 1 in. trunk diameter / 8 in. tall
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 3
approx. 1.5 in. trunk diameter / 4 in. tall
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 4
approx. 1 in. trunk diameter / 3 in. tall
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 5
approx. 1 in. trunk diameter / 2 in. tall
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 6
approx. 3.5 in. trunk diameter / 8 in. tall
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 7
approx. 2 in. trunk diameter / 7 in. tall
Cutting 8
approx. 3 in. trunk diameter / 2.5 in. tall
Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 9
approx. 1.5 in. trunk diameter / 4 in. tall 


Bougainvillea Bonsai Cuttings
Cutting 10
Approx 3 in trunk diameter