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fused trunks - what are you trying ?

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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Thu Feb 12, 2015 7:50 pm

rather than hijack hanks thread, i thought i'd throw this out here...

david - you mentioned in hanks post that you are working on 2 fused trunk projects...
what, when, and how ?

anyone else ?

i currently have a few going... dawn redwoods, korean hornbeams and corkscrew willows.
(will post pics and expound if theres interest)
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Post  Precarious Sat Feb 14, 2015 6:10 pm

Probably Monday, I will be able to post pics of my two fusion projects.  By all means, share what you are doing Kev.  I'm always ready to learn! In that previous thread, I also asked about air layering a fused trunk. The link below describes a method of air layering that, if it can work at all, should work for even partially fused trunks. It involves drilling holes and placing toothpicks impregnated with hormone.

http://bonsaipotterycoy.blogspot.com/2014/10/post-174-ficus-air-layering.html

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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Sun Feb 15, 2015 1:08 am

well dav i dont know that i have much for you to learn, but i will get together the pics i have of the 3 attempts i have going...

and i only glanced at that link, but it looks like pinhead from those clive barker movies affraid
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Post  JimLewis Sun Feb 15, 2015 2:27 pm

Japanese crabapple. Three fused trunks. Taken a year ago. To damned cold to take a pic today.

fused trunks - what are you trying ? Japane10
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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Sun Feb 15, 2015 3:37 pm

jim - how did you initiate the fusing ?
didja bind them ?
and how long since the start of the fusing ?
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Post  JimLewis Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:56 pm

Several plastic zip ties pulled REALLLY tight. Been 4 years now, I think.
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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:00 am

huh... i like the idea of zip ties... maybe with a bit of raffia or other protection...

i have just been using floral tape or raffia and wire...
and then as the wire starts to bite, i clip a wrap or 2 of the wire to allow for exterior expansion...
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Post  DougB Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:57 pm

Wow you sparked my curiosity and my friend Google came up with many sites explaining many different methods of fusing trunks together. I also learned that the technical name for this is this: "Inosculation is a natural phenomenon in which trunks, branches or roots of two trees grow together. It is biologically very similar to grafting." And Japanese for fused trunks is: Karame-miki. Thanks for the spark.

Would be interesting to try but I may not have enough time left to see the results. But then isn't bonsai always for the next generation?

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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:26 pm

doug - seedlings and whips fuse pretty quick...
this summer will be 2 years for my korean hornbeams and i think they will be fused by the end of this summer.

but then of course, they will still need to grow out, but still whips and seedlings make for an inexpensive fun project...

will post some pics when i next get a chance.
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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:14 am

well it seems i dont have any before or during pics of my korean hornbeam or corkscrew willow fusing projects...

re: my dawn redwood project, it started out in may of 2013 as a bunch of various length seedlings/saplings from jonsteens nursery (some of which went to a forest planting and the taller ones to this fusing attempt)

fused trunks - what are you trying ? Dawn_r10

no pics of the binding process, but 5 saplings were tightly bound in floral tape and then wired for a little subtle movement and to hold them together.

fused trunks - what are you trying ? Dawn_r13

fused trunks - what are you trying ? Dawn_r14

and at last check in summer of 2014 it is starting to show signs that it is working...

fused trunks - what are you trying ? Pa110010

fused trunks - what are you trying ? Pa110011
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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:05 am

almost forgot... this is end of summer 2014...

fused trunks - what are you trying ? Summer11
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Post  Precarious Wed Feb 18, 2015 2:24 am

After working a 36-hr weekend, then facing my taxes, it has seemed like a chore to sit down to post pictures.  Now that I'm doing it, it's actually invigorating!  So here are my two fusion  projects, both ficus.

First, a variegated grouping purchased in a grocery store because the fiive individual trunks were very close together, and because I like the variegated look.
fused trunks - what are you trying ? <a href=fused trunks - what are you trying ? P1150210" />
The base is still open, and the gaps are fairly obvious.
fused trunks - what are you trying ? <a href=fused trunks - what are you trying ? P1150211" />
The trunk immediately above the velcro garden tape is completely fused.  Where the tape is currently, some trunks have fused fully with their neighbors, others only partially.  This has been in process for maybe 15 months now- slow, but I have been pruning too much I think.  This year I will let it grow uninhibited to speed complete fusion.


Second, a nine-trunk ficus grouping that was much older and larger when fusion was undertaken.  I have  down-sized it considerably, but have a long  way to go and I would like input on the best way to make two trees out of it.  
fused trunks - what are you trying ? <a href=fused trunks - what are you trying ? P1150212" />
The trunk base is four inches wide, the first branch is at twelve inches, and overall height is 36 inches.
fused trunks - what are you trying ? <a href=fused trunks - what are you trying ? P1150213" />
I think I should rein myself in, wrap it again, and worry about two trees next year, but eventually I would like to air layer midway up the trunk in the hopes of getting an air layer tree and a trunk chop tree, ultimately both about 15-20 inches tall.  So... what do you think, and is an air layer of a fused trunk any different than with a single trunk tree?
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Post  leatherback Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:58 am

Hm.. I put Acer Campester in a clump 2 years ago. They are still waiting for true fusion to take place. Some individual plants have started to fuse last summer. So my hopes are up for this year. Otherwise I will take it apart and plant them in a hedge or something.

2 years ago:
fused trunks - what are you trying ? Fusion-5
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Post  Precarious Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:09 pm

I like its potential, Leatherback. It's hard to see, what's holding it all together?
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Post  leatherback Wed Feb 18, 2015 5:09 pm

Very fine steel wire, used for jewellery making. Each trunk tied to the ones directly next to it. The idea being that the wire will disappear into the bark eventually.
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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Thu Feb 19, 2015 12:52 am

david - cool man... while i'm not a fan of the variegated thing, that looks like its taking well and is gonna be really good with the branch placement and all...

and the other ficus looks like it will be really really good !!!

trunk chop/air layer for sure man...
the trunk chop should be exceptional with all those different trunks doing what trunks do...

and LB - i think yours will eventually take... but maybe consider something of a wrap, in addition to the wire...
that might get them to push against each other more rather than pushing outwards and just swallowing the wire as they do so...

before doing my dawn redwood, i researched it some and there is a guy who wires his d-redwoods like you did with the fine wire, yet i believe he had a hard time getting them to fuse, even over the course of several years.


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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Thu Feb 19, 2015 12:54 am

sheee-it... after posting that reply, i tried to find the link to the guy i mentioned and it just so happend to be the same one leo sent the AAC yesterday that i didnt do more than glance at yet... Rolling Eyes

http://fusionbonsai.com/fusion-project-1/

same one i looked at a couple years ago
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Post  Precarious Thu Feb 19, 2015 4:26 pm

It's nice to see all the fusion projects, and on quite a variety of tree species. Kevin, I like your dawn redwood. Where the raffia has been removed, the fusion looks mature. When do you plan to remove all the bindings? I've never used raffia, but it looks like it would be superior to my velcro garden tape in a respect. That tape is a little stiff, so when wrapping uneven trunk surfaces there are naturally bulges of material that aren't applying pressure to the trunks.
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Post  Kevin S - Wisco Bonsai Thu Feb 19, 2015 6:01 pm

thanks david - and thats actually just floral tape... i did that before i knew about raffia

despite its appearance in those couple images, there were plenty of gaps in the fusion still, but i think i will take everything off this spring, re-assess, re-wrap it using raffia and wire, and then plant it in the ground for one season.

something i read recently, but wish i would have read earlier, is that it really helps the fusion to just let the trees grow with no pruning, which is what i will now be doing.
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