clip and wire raft

this premna is a favorite. I acquired the bare stump last year , planting it straight away in a 20" wok style pot. the tree has grown many new branches. the abundant leaves are dark green and shiny a sure sign of a healthy tree. yesterday's project was to defoliate, eliminate branches, wire and treat deadwood. another in a series of steps towards developing yamadori to bonsai. sharing some before and after work photos

. before work. see the soda can for perspective. the tree measures about 34" from left to right and about 28" high.

Hours later this is what the tree looks like.

next level development includes, creating branch thickness, taper and ramification, further reduce number of branches, create very small leaves by periodic defoliation.

It would be one of my favorites too! From a stump LAST YEAR???? That's pretty amazing. Is Premna native for you? We see them here in pictures from Southeast Asia, I guess I never thought about it in Hawaii.

I think you must have posted this to the wrong place. You'd surely get more comments in the bonsai forum. BTW, why do you call it a raft? I see a sort of clump maybe, or a nice multi-branched/trunked semi-cascade, but not a raft - unless I'm missing something from the pictures.

Whatever style you call it, it looks like you've got another winner on your hands!

Russell

Russell Coker wrote: ... ... BTW, why do you call it a raft?
... ... ..
Whatever style you call it, it looks like you've got another winner on your hands!

Russell

Makes 2 of us

Hi russell. thanks for the message. I posted this item twice on the bonsai forum in the last coupla days and each time the post disappeared after appearing briefly. I contacted Kev for an explanation. just got a response from him this morning to say everything looks OK from his side, meaning that the post(s)? appear in the bonsai forum. then I read your message which caused me to to check the other forums and there was my "missing" post in the questions forum. how it got there, heaven only knows. thanks for finding my item. I thought it 'd disappeared in cyberspace. so its back to the drawing board with kev. I will respond to your questions as soon as I can get the posting issues resolved.

kev, for moving this post to the right forum

thanks for the responses, my nellie and russell. thanks to kev, the premna post has moved to the bonsai forum. now to answer russell's questions. when premna are healthy, they grow at a very rapid clip. in fact, I am blown away by how quickly they develop. the trick is to resolve insect , disease and micro climate changes, so the plant will thrive. this is easier said then done I found out the hard way. Just because their home climate is somewhat like ours does not guarantee they will grow well. I lost several along the way trying to figure out what was wrong. after all, there is no book on how to grow premna in Hawaii, so it's been a learning experience. the good news is, I seem to have figured things out ( for now ). fortunately the very best ones survived and are now growing like gangbusters. In the weeks and months ahead, I have others to share, actually quite a few. about the style, I think calling it a raft is incorrect. when I first saw this tree, my mind said, wow, this is a raft with potential, so raft kinda stuck in my head. I would offer the idea that the tree is a windswept clump style. this is kinda weather man talk - you know, partly sunny, partly cloudy, chance of showers, etc. If we all learned weatherspeak, we could never be wrong. glad you enjoy the tree.

if you r in a tropical climate like me, then you can try this.
my friend is a premna specialist. he always dig wild premna on the islands and also near the beach.
the buttress diameter is about 30 cm ++, means it is a big tree.
according to his practice after losing many big trees in order to find the best way to make it survive is by....
put it in 100% sand medium. it works very well here. but you need to shower it everyday. sand cannot hold water.
moreover, all the premna that had been dig was cut off all of its root. he also did try plant it upside down. and guess what?? the tree survive.
but for big trees, you will need to wait for 3 months before the new shoot come out.
if it is already past 3 months, and nothing happen, then say bye2 to it.
you can also try to propagate its cutting in sand medium. i always do that and what i can say is, it is likely all the cuttings survive.
just want to share. maybe you already know that.
premna is really easy to grow roots and very fast.
like you say, it also grow very fast.

thanks, mika. I appreciate you advice.

kauaibonsai wrote:I would offer the idea that the tree is a windswept clump style. this is kinda weather man talk - you know, partly sunny, partly cloudy, chance of showers, etc. If we all learned weatherspeak, we could never be wrong. glad you enjoy the tree.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean! And I do enjoy (and envy) the tree. I think it's going to be a real beauty.

Okay, so, reading between the lines, it's not native to Hawaii? (and I'll stop asking questions here)

R

so far as i know, taiwan also have one type of premna. it do grow fast and root fast like premna from s.e.asia.
but the taiwan species is a little bit special. it have smaller and more dark green leaf. so beautifull!

nice tree. IMHO its semi cascade

jun

thanks guys. I appreciate the words. to clear up questions related to source - premna does not grow wild in Hawaii. my trees are from indonesia. like mika says ,cuttings poked in the ground will likely sprout and grow rapidly. I have some that started pencil thick that're now over 8 foot tall . rooted cuttings make great rock plantings too. I have several underway. pictures of work on more big boys will be posted soon.