Health and Styling advice for a twin trunk Small leaf Fukien Tea

Hi guys

I have a twin trunk small leaf Fukien tea that I haven't styled yet.  I got this because I thought that they somehow already compliment each other.  I got it over a month ago looking like this:

Its been on the balcony and I think it has grew a little. I put more soil on the nebari, hoping to strengthen its anchor to the ground line.   The lower branches on both trunks are getting longer and longer. I know that these will help now to fatten the lower part of the trunks.   I would like to eventually develop a wide spreading  canopy for both so that it looks like a tropical tree.  Is there a bonsai technique to focus its growth on developing many crown branches?


For now, I am a little worried about its health. I saw this round shiny things attached to the trunk, branches and underside of leaves.  
They can be easily crushed with fingers.  When crushed it becomes white or light gray powdery substance.  It looks like little plain ladybugs without heads and feet.  Anyone knows what they are?

That is scale insects. They suck the sap and are bad news. The easy way is to rub them off. Keep on top of them, or you could lose the plant.

google homemade insect soap spray
saturate the plant being sure to get the undersides of the leaves and the soil...
give it 3 treatments, spaced apart by 7-10 days in order to get the various stages of them (larvae, crawler, adult)

and then keep an eye on it (no automated system for that)

repeat as needed... they can be eradicated.

re: the crown - most trees are apically dominant so developing a large crown is usually not an issue...

Is this recipe ok?

I thought of using castile soap, cider vinegar, crushed red pepper and cooking oil.

or I could just get this:

https://www.lowes.ca/lawn-garden-insect-control/green-earth-1-l-insecticidal-soap-spray_g1494863.html

Is it ok to spray onto all my other trees? just to be sure that there are no bugs around?

not familiar with that recipe, but the stuff from lowes is fine
i tend to buy the bottled stuff myself ("Safer" brand)...

Please do a test spray on either a sacrificial branch or a sacrificial seedling or plant.

Fukien tea reacts badly to many insecticides.

In order to increase anything on a Fukien tea, normally ground growing is needed, be it canopy/branch/trunk etc.

You can try Neem if it works on scale ?
I tend to get infestations of white blight [ white aphids ? ].

I used to use a systemic, but it was removed from production because it also killed bees. They do like the flowers.
Good Luck,
Pretty shrubs.
Khaimraj

THANX KHAI !
(on behalf of OP)

glad to see you poke your (virtual) head in here again !!!

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:
In order to increase anything on a Fukien tea, normally ground growing is needed, be it canopy/branch/trunk etc.

I have been thinking about the styling of this.  I picked up the book from the library "Literati Style Penjing - Chinese Bonsai Masterworks" by Zhao Qingguan.

Seeing twin or triple trunk literati masterpieces, I think that my little pair could be somewhat inspired by those in the book.     I think that most of the  branching relationship between the two somewhat works now.  So maybe just lifting them up and developing taller and stronger trunks.

The tree has nebari already forming, I just buried it now to strengthen its grasp to the ground line.

So I did this quick impression with photoshop patch and stretch work.

What do you guys think?   I would like to learn the aesthetics as well by hearing different opinions.

Okay, The store didn't have the brand "green earth"
so I got this product: https://www.lowes.ca/lawn-garden-insect-control/wilson-bug-x-1-l-insecticidal-soap_g1814440.html

Fine print says: Soap (Triethanolamine Salts of Fatty Acids) 1.25%


I am debating now...

I think I will return it and get the green earth brand because Lowe's product description for it is better... Mild on plants, tough on insects..

I prefer the shorter design you had in mind initially, and i think it will look very nice.

If you don't have too many trees you should be taking the scale insects off by hand as well as using the products. It is faster and certain to work.

BrendanR wrote:I prefer the shorter design you had in mind initially, and i think it will look very nice.

If you don't have too many trees you should be taking the scale insects off by hand as well as using the products.  It is faster and certain to work.

I did remove them one by one with a long tweezer from my previous planted tank hobby.

So I tried to  get the green earth brand of insecticidal soap but it was the same formula as the one I previously got.
So I looked around and found this:
http://www.pthomeandgarden.com/product/horticultural-oil/

Says it can also be used for overwintering which I'm still very worried  about as it my first time, but thanks to the local club , someone has offered their space for my jap maples  I wouldn't like to lose

So I sprayed it 5 days ago, the tree looks healthy and growing.  Will check this coming weekend if there's still some infestation.

As for styling, do you prefer how it was about 2 weeks ago?    I am now doubting my twin trunk literati design with tiny florettes LOL
This is how the tree looks like as of today...




It is growing in a triangular outline... I'm afraid it will look like a twin trunk Christmas tree if I don't do anything to it.

 I am not doing any styling it now, no snipping, no wiring, just pulling off bloom and dead leaves, keeping it healthy and growing on the balcony.

One thought of mine is keeping the harmonious relationship of trunk and branches as you see now and then growing back branches that support a back canopy or leaf mass which will give this twin trunk volume, depth of field from the front and also favoring its overall health.

Here's an example of what I am trying to describe.. a mini jade but single trunk...  


But by all means, I would like other styling opinions, what would it be its finished look, finished height, width, pot style/shape. Other picture examples,  quick dirty sketches all welcome ... I am here to learn

Hi again,   Rather than picking off scale, use rubbing alcohol with a cotton ball or Qtip to remove the scale.  It's best not to spray pure alcohol on any plant.  My homemade bug spray is dish soap, water and small amounts of alcohol.

Check out  "search" for what's been said about Fukien Teas.   Most are laments from growers about insects that are attracted to this tree.

Norma

Hi Guys,

The little buggers just wont go away, I have handpicked a lot of them more than a week ago... but they are back!!!
And now with more... little white bugs on almost all of the underside of leaves... what are these?
How do I get rid of them?






I think I saw some on my other tropicals too.. I haven't checked my outdoor species yet...
If I get rid of them on one plant, the ones on the other plants will just eventually make their way again to the treated plant...

Please help!

ALL insecticidal soaps need repeat applications every week to 10 days for a series of 3-4 treatments in order to get them in their different life stages... run it through the googles for more info...

Consider buying a systemic to treat the scale. I got a granular version for a tree that was infected. Sprinkled some on the soil, watered, and let the systemic do the job. Most sprays will not work on bugs like scale that have hard outer shells. A systemic will go into the tree's system via the roots. When the scale suck on the tree, they suck up the poison that the tree absorbed, then they die. It works very well.

ryan is correct about the systemic (bayer is the brand i use)... and while it is true that the soap spray is less effective on the adult (shelled) phase of the scale, it is effective on the preceding forms which is why a minimal of 3 applications is necessary.

the down side of the systemic is just that it doesnt work instantly...
so if using it, still use soap spray to get 'em until the systemic kicks in.