Hi there

I have grafted my Juniper onto a piece of Deadwood and it has been growing happily in this state for about 2 months. Recently one of my branches has become quite dry and doesn't seem to be doing too well. I have studied the branch and it appears that it might be damaged at the junction where the branch meets the trunk. I'm not sure whether it is just struggling or whether it is dying.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to nurture this branch back to health?

I have posted a picture of my tree below.

Regards
Kyle

i have broken branches sometime they make it sometimes they don't.i afraid yours doesn't look good... jin may be an option

A that is such a pity. Hopefully it survives. If it dies, I would have to jin it, or would it be possible to try to graft another branch on?

Sadly this tree only consists of a first, second and third branch and an apex. So if that branch dies, I would Only have two branches and an apex, which might look quite silly.

Thanks for the advice though.

Hi Kyle

It's very good to meet you.

I am speaking from my experience with plants and not with bonsai as I'm a newbie to the art of bonsai. I didn't know it is possible to graft live branches to dead wood however, it would seem the only way to do this successfully would be first to pre-soak the dead wood letting it absorb as much water as possible; then add rooting hormone to the ends of the branches before putting the branches into the holes. Then I would think it necessary to keep the dead wood and branches constantly damp through heavy misting with a spray bottle of water every day, two or three times a day depending on your climate/heat/sun/wind and to fertilize regualarly by spraying with a water-soluable fertilizer.

This is just my take on it however, the experts here may not agree and I hope they will correct me if I'm wrong. Best of luck!

Leslie

Thank you Leslie! Very good to meet you too.

Personally, I have contact with some great Bonsai artists and they have given me some solid techniques to try out. Today I also found out that the Juniperus species works well for grafting new branches on.

Thank you so much for your reply and advice. I take it all into consideration. Also thank you so much for taking the time to read and reply to my queries.

Kind regards
Kyle

It's nice to meet you, Kyle. I wouldn't be unduly worried, as trees can be incredibly resilient, but I would change my watering like Leslie said.
Also, I dig your signature. It's nice to know that someone else speaks/is learning Japanese!

Hi Kyle,

Just a little doubt here. you were trying to graft onto an actual piece of dead wood? That will never work. You will need a living plant to graft upon. Otherwise you are trying to get a cutting to set root in wood, which will only work when the wood is in a serious state of decay. The reason your plant looked good is becaus juniperus is good at keeping moisture. If those so-called experts adviced you to graft upon a dead piece of wood, they are either no experts or they are pulling your leg. Sorry ..

@ BassandBonsai, Nice to meet you too! Thank you for that positive advice. Always good to hear an optimists point of view.

@ Leatherback, Hi. I'm not sure why you are so doubtful of my project. Plants are incredible organisms and are capable of many things. I have carved out the piece of deadwood extensively. I have no doubt that my Juniper will grow to fill this groove and become part of the deadwood. You should consider trying new things and taking risks. It is the only way to make genuine progress. If it does not work this time, I will simply try again. "You only fail, when you fail to try again."

Nonetheless I appreciate everyone's opinion, thank you.

Hi Kyle,

Although I am happy that you are so enthousiastic, the thing you want to do is just not going to happen. A dead plant, is just that: Dead. Consider the following: We know how to succesfully translant a human heart. However, if someone has had a heart failure, and you put the person in a cooler for a day, and then you bring a fresh heart to the person, you cannot make the person alive again. That is the same thing here.

A fresh branch that still has living cells in it you can get to resprout, grow roots etc. But a dead piece of wood cannot be used to succesfully graft branches on. It is not about experimenting, but it really is wasting effort. What you can do is fill the groove with a bit of soil and place cuttings in. THat might work. But grafting requires a living piece of bark, in order to supoprt the branch. I have been growing plants for over 25 year, and hold both an MSc and PhD in ecosystem biology with several published works on plant fysiology; I think I know what I am talking about here..

Ahh, I am afraid we have misunderstood one another. I do not want to revive the deadwood, I want it to remain dead. I simply want my tree to grow into the spaces and continue to grow alongside the deadwood.