I bought this tree from Eastern Leaf Bonsai a little over three years ago. It arrived on February 2, 2022.
The tree today.
The tree the day after it arrived.
Another view of the tree when it arrived. It had a noticeable reverse taper around the graft. I tried to reduce it by carving but ended up hiding it by wiring lower branches in front of it. I’m still hoping it eventually reduces with trunk growth.
Removed the soil and some lower roots. Good root flare forming. If I was doing this today I would remove more of the upward-growing roots.
New soil mix of akadama, pumice and scoria.
Repotted tree before branch pruning.
I pruned the top branches a couple of days after repotting. I tried using rooting hormone and potting them up but none were successful.
A cone!
My attempt at carving away the grafting bulge was not successful.
New buds at the branch tips.
Abundant new growth. I was still enjoying the cone.
New growth after one month.
Second flush of new growth in June.
Removed some of the top growth and tried to grow them out, again unsuccessfully.
The pruned tree was doing well.
Bare-rooted.
Root-pruned and wired into new pot.
Loss of old needles.
Healthy batch of new needles budding.
Good needle growth.
Pruned some of the new growth.
Tried a third time to root the cuttings, again without success.
New buds, the tree is ready for another repotting.
Good roots.
Repotted into a large terra-cotta pot, secured with rocks instead of wire.
Tree is secure in the pot, the graft is still ugly.
Wired lower branches down to block graft from some angles
A second view of the tree today. I am keeping it in a large pot hoping to continue the growth in trunk diameter.
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