Hello,

I am still pretty new to bonsai, my question is regarding my blue Jacaranda thay is about 1 year and 6 month. When the weather changed I lost all my lower branches and only have about 4-5 at the very top of the tree. I was wondering if there was a way to promote the growth of new branches lower on the trunk? I have been pruning to prevent more vertical growth since it got taller then I expected early on.

Please forgive any ignorance on my part. Thank you for your time.

Hello.

Yes, there is a technique to ramify without the risk of drying, can you post a picture to make it easier?

To get a ramification on species that are hard to do so (Flamboyant, Sibipiruna, Jacarandá), you can make a ring above where you want it to bud, almost like an air-layering, but 1~2mm generally is enough, that will make the plant react like the tree or branch was hard pruned, but it wasn't, so upper folliage will keep that branch or that part of the trunk alive while it buds back on the bottom, once it ramified on the bottom you can hard prune where you made the ring...

Worst case scenario it will heal the ring, so you can try again other time...

That is used a lot on Flamboyants, since when you hard prune a branch, there is a big possibillity it will dry due to sap retraction...

Here are a few picks

Ok, so first things first...

1) You don't have any branches at this moment, those things on the top are leaves, you have 5 leaves...
2) Jacaranda is a deciduous tree, or semi-deciduous depending on the winter, so it's normal for it to drop leaves on autumn/winter...
3) Unless you have a really cold winter, this should be outside... And even if protected from frost, a room condition (meant for people) is not the place...
4) It's not your fault, this species is just not easy to make Bonsai...
5) The technique I told you, must be applied on spring, when it's waking up from dormancy, and the tree being outside, where it will surely thrive...

I suppose you bought “bonsai seed” and thought a bonsai would grow out of it?( your reference that you got more vertical growth than you thought). If so: bonsai seed does not exist, it is normal tree seed that , if left to grow freely , will grow into a normal full grown tree.
Bonsai are created by doing a multitude of techniques, applicated on specific times in a year/season, depending on a lot of variables and this during decades.
If you knew all this you can forget my post.

Ya I knew bonsai was technique, been using this site as a great resource but some basics it just helps to get group help.

I live in Central Pennsylvania so our winters can get pretty cold sometimes. Thanks for everyone's help. I look forward to learning more and developing my skill.

"Pretty cold" is really hard to relate to on an international forum. We all have different references. Not long ago we had an indian claiming he had extreme winters at 5-10 degrees. Whilst I am in a mild place in Sweden and temperatures is in that range or below 8 months of the year. We consider pretty cold to be -10 and very cold -20.