How to train and shape a camellia bonsai?
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Release time:
2017-12-20
Camellias belong to the Theaceae family and are evergreen shrubs and small trees. Their pleasant fragrance and abundant blooms make them popular, often cultivated as bonsai for indoor decoration. However, before placing camellias indoors, they require shaping and wiring. How are camellia bonsai shaped and wired? 1. Selecting Bonsai Seedlings: Bonsai camellias should be selected from nurseries with widely spaced plants. Selected plants should have low branching, numerous branches, uniform leaves, normal development, and be free of pests and diseases. 2. Determining Camellia Bonsai: The flowering bud differentiation period of camellias...
Camellia belongs to the Theaceae family, a type of evergreen shrub and small tree. Camellia flowers have a pleasant fragrance and abundant blossoms, making them beloved and often cultivated as bonsai for indoor decoration. However, before placing a camellia indoors, it needs to be pruned and shaped. So, how does one shape and prune camellia bonsai?
1. Selecting seedlings for bonsai:
Camellia plants for bonsai should be selected from nurseries with sufficient spacing between plants. The selected plants should have low branching, numerous branches, uniform leaves, normal development, and be free from pests and diseases.
2. Determining the camellia bonsai:
The flower bud differentiation of camellia occurs in May, and flower buds begin to form in June. The best time for potting is during spring and autumn, specifically the second and eighth lunar months. At this time, camellia leaf buds have just sprouted or have not sprouted much, and the new shoots and tender leaves after transplanting will not wither and affect growth. If potting is desired at other times, more soil should be retained around the root ball, and quick planting should be done and the plant moved to a shady place for several days. Even so, this is not as good as the vigorous growth in the second and eighth lunar months. For potting soil, use mountain humus soil or red sandy loam from hilly areas (soil under pine trees or tea oil trees).
3. Determining the camellia potting and shaping:
The general shapes for potted camellias are the cascading style and the rolling branch style. For the cascading style, Yixing tall-stemmed dry-bottomed pots or tall-stemmed bucket pots can be used. For the rolling branch style, proportionally symmetrical round or square pots can be used.
4. Clarifying the cultivation method for pruning and shaping camellias:
Camellias used for bonsai pruning and shaping should be planted at an angle when potted, which is conducive to the manipulation of the main stem. Generally, the main stem is first pruned and shaped to facilitate the shaping of the branches. Commonly used shaping methods include 'falling cane' and 'dragon coiling around a pillar'. When pruning and shaping the main stem, the side branches, twigs, and leaves of the camellia should generally be retained. After the main stem is shaped, the side branches are then processed. The method of pruning and shaping the side branches can be determined based on the characteristics of the space each branch occupies, respectively using vertical bending, oblique bending, and irregular curving, so as to fill the gaps on the surface of the crown. All the above pruning and shaping is done using palm fiber for double-strand tying. The pruning and shaping operation should be carried out after potting when the new branches have hardened, about one month after potting. Because camellia wood is relatively hard, similar to Osmanthus fragrans and Pomegranate, during the operation of each bend, one should carefully "knead the branch." This means that each small section of the branch segment involved in the bend is first kneaded and bent in the forward and reverse directions, so that the bark and phloem of the branch are stretched and compressed, and the xylem is compressed and stretched to adapt to the external force before the palm fiber can be tied for shaping. Otherwise, after the shaping is complete, the plant branches may break due to increased sap.
5. Pruning and shaping small branches and leaf turning process:
Finally, the small branches are pruned and shaped so that each leaf faces outward. Since the species used for the rolling branch style are all flowers that bloom from leaf axils, the effect after shaping is that flowers bloom all over the spherical or inverted oval crown, showing elegance and luxury. Therefore, the process of pruning and shaping the small branches and turning the leaves should be done more meticulously.
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