Re-Positioning a Chojubai

Here is a little red Chojubai I got earlier this year.



And here is how I re-positioned it during repotting.

Nice, it is coming along nicely.

Leo Schordje wrote:Nice, it is coming along nicely.

very !

just outta curiosity, why the downgrade in pot ?
(ceramic to plastic)

Did you pick this up from Don Blackmon?

Nice little tree. Definitely better from the new angle as a cascade.

Regards

Richard

Thanks guys. I can't wait for the foliage to fill in... well, with this species, I have to wait.

@ LanceMac. Nicely decoded from the picture where the plant came from.

I often drool over Don's offerings!!!

I'll take one of those chojubis' and that lil' shishi' thank you!!
Tax return time is a' comin'!!!!

Yours is gonna' be a beaut!!!!

Here is the tree after repotting day before yesterday.



It looks a bit different, doesn't it. That's because I combined the below tree to it so that it looks fuller. Luckily, the root structure for both the trees were such that they fitted together like a puzzle without much shoving and pushing.

while i may not be very orientated to the orient, i really dig that whimsical little pot !!!

oh yeah, and the combo planting aint too shabby either !

Nice combination. You've succeeded in making both trees worth more than the sum of their parts. I like it.

Regards

Richard

Thanks guys. As for the pot, this is a Ishida Shoseki pot... a high quality show pot that is affordable. A real bang-for-the-buck.

Good idea, combining the two. I like the pot choice. Really nice as is, and will improve over the years.

Here's a followup: One of the two trees that were planted together died when the pot fell off the bench on a very windy day. Unfortunately, I was at work, and so the wind dried up the roots by the time I got to the trees. I planted both in a largish pot and babied it (carefully watering with controlled light). One of them lived but the other didn't. The one that did, I fed it strongly to strengthen it through last year. I also lost the beautifully painted Shoseki pot... I liked it so much.

Anyway, the tree is doing great this year with tons of new shoots. It is now in an old Chinese pot.



Last year this Chojubai did so well that I had to constantly trim suckers from the base; I left one on it from late last fall to propagate it, and that is doing well too.

Nice, thanks for sharing. I have a few very small cuttings that have taken, do you have a link to a good article or can you share growing tips on these? Thanks

Michael Hagedorn has some in depth articles regarding Chojubai on his crataegus website. You should check them out.

I've some observations tinkering with this species, but take it with a grain of salt since I'm still learning.

- They love sun. Obviously not too much; I'd say 6hours is a good duration (preferably mostly morning sun).
- Trunks thicken very slowly, thats one reason why mature specimens are pricey.
- I've used turface for Chojubai and had no issues with it. I guess most well draining deciduous mix will work fine.
- Chojubai tends to be thirsty, so water well (when it needs to be watered), fertilizing well also helps it being more vigorous.
- Chojubai like most species in the rosa family gets aphids during summer. There are many remedies; I'll let you do your research on that.

In general, Chojubai is very hardy and I love the dainty little zigzags of the branches. Oh yeah, they're also very unpredictable; for whatever reason the leaves will yellow and drop off. Then after few weeks it'll step into 5th gear and start growing shoots and leaves.