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Is there any way to make the trunk bigger and more quickly

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Michael T
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Post  Mawardi Nur Tue May 18, 2010 4:16 pm

Hi All,

I am very confused to enlarge the base trunk and what to do to enlarge the trunk, and will it take too long to wait? what is the most quickliest way to enlarge the trunk?

Any suggestions are very appreciated
Mawardi Nur
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Post  Hawaiian77 Tue May 18, 2010 4:30 pm

Howzit Mawardi Nur,
The single best way to enlarge the base of a trunk is to put it in the ground and let it grow for a few years. Bonsai is not something you can rush. It's an art that takes time to achieve your goal in what you want in your tree. I look at it this way, bonsai is just like life. You have to take your time and enjoy what you have. You can speed things up but it may not what you want a the end. Hope this helps.

-Tim Cool
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Post  Mawardi Nur Tue May 18, 2010 4:50 pm

Thanks a lot Tim, but it may be a way, like to wire the trunk but sometimes this way is not efective to run.
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Post  Hawaiian77 Tue May 18, 2010 4:58 pm

I know that the Japanese wire the trunks of JBP but that will takes 25 years to develop.

-Tim Cool
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Post  JimLewis Tue May 18, 2010 6:18 pm

Bonsai is not for the impatient.

Most beginners have heard the stories of people poking pins into trunks, or slashing bark with knives to create scar tissue that fattens the trunk, or of people roughly bending the trunk back and forth -- again to damage the living tissue under the bark and encourage scar tissue to fatten trunks.

I suppose these might work once out of 50 tries, but you are more likely to get an ugly scarred trunk out of it than you are to get a nice, tapering, aged-looking trunk.

THE way to get fat trunks is to grow them. You can speed this up a LITTLE BIT by encouraging low-growing branches to grow out to obscene lengths, thus adding tissue to the trunk beneath the branches, then cutting the long branches at some later time (sacrifice branches). This also results in scars on the trunk that do not add to the appeal of your bonsai.

You can also speed growth by planting your tree in the ground and leaving it there for as long as it takes. That's the least damaging approach.

Depending on how large you want the trunk to grow, the species, and where you live this can be one, two or 10 years. Heavy fertilization can help -- but it also encourages long internodes so you lose time needed to develop a decent top, also.

But there really are no shortcuts. Sorry.
JimLewis
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Post  Michael T Tue May 18, 2010 6:38 pm

Well, I will pick a little bit.

I have damaged the trunks on trees by crushing the cambium a little bit and then letting it heal. But, even then I'm only getting a little thickening in the trunk. It's definitely noticeable though and you really can't tell how it was done.

But, you'll find the only real way to do it well is to plant them in the ground for a period of years. It really is the shortest long way to do it.

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Post  Velodog2 Wed May 19, 2010 2:04 pm

I've had some success with "toy" trees, ones without a lot of intrinsic value that I can play with, by splitting the trunk partially from the back and inserting bamboo wedges to flare the base. Pavel shows a variation of this idea with a scots pine in another thread here. The idea is that scar tissue will cover the gap, eventually, and it's in the back anyway. Not sure if I would do this with a serious tree.

As others have alluded to, this is one of THE fundamental problems in bonsai and much has been written about it. A very important related issue is getting a thick trunk AND good taper.

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Post  bonsaisr Wed May 19, 2010 3:43 pm

I assume we are referring to your variegated Ficus benjamina. In your climate, planting it in the ground, in good soil, for a couple of years with plenty of fertilizer, should be long enough. But watch the wire. It will start to cut in very quickly, & wire scars on Ficus take forever to heal.
Iris
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Post  armagh Wed May 19, 2010 7:43 pm

Colin Lewis recommends a light touch of sandpaper to the trunk then wrapping it in sphagnum moss to speed the growth process and enhance the appearance of aging. I have had Ben Oki recommend wrapping with sphagnum to speed the development of primary branches. I don't recall either method recommended as "quick fixes," more along the lines of long-term enhancement techniques.

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Post  Rob Kempinski Thu May 20, 2010 3:21 am

Mawardi Nur wrote:Hi All,

I am very confused to enlarge the base trunk and what to do to enlarge the trunk, and will it take too long to wait? what is the most quickliest way to enlarge the trunk?

Any suggestions are very appreciated

The quickest way is to use photoshop! Laughing

The next quickest way is it go buy a big one. alien

Otherwise grow it in the ground and wait.
Rob Kempinski
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Post  Mawardi Nur Sat May 22, 2010 1:01 am

Hi All,
Firstly I'd like to say very thanks for suggestions you write. I will apply them which the best. Smile

Once again thanks a lot
Mawardi Nur
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