solobo wrote: Thanks for the replies (and the article on selecting plants - that will be useful for selecting my next plant). I'm not interested in proving anyone wrong, but I am willing to put in the time for this tree, (I inherited it from my grandma when she died 1.5 years ago, so it would be very satisfying to make something beautiful out of it, even if it does take 20 years).
OK, that explains partially why you want to make something out of this. This is more than just a plant you got. It ha a story.
solobo wrote: Based on the articles I found, it looks like my next step should be to hack a lot of the larger roots off and bury the "trunk" (old roots?) deeper in the soil, and to do some surgery on the stub in the middle (I feel like I've seen people peel back the bark, cut out the wood inside, and put the bark back to hide the scar... does anyone know the term for that or know of a good article on how to do it?
And then yeah, you will be left with a dead tree.
Trimming the roots is something done when you have the main tree as you want it. It is more delicate than hacking of. Think of it more as a surgical operation where you decide for each root at which point you can trim it without killing the root. If you want to really make something of it..
- Decide whether you want to try and get the original foliage back on this tree. The rootstock and the foliage are most often different species. The rootstock has faster growing material, but also with larger leaves. That will develop the plant faster. However, the producers try to avoid getting the original foliae, so you might not get any backbudding if you cut the original foliage off.
- Put it in a larger container. Give the roots a bit of growing room. If you do, consider arranging the roots. This is ideally done when your plant is very healthy and strong. Mid-summer after spending a month or two outside gaining strength is normally a good time. Here the trick is to do as little damage to the roots as possible.
Then just let is grow long branches
The stump is the grafting site. The technique you refer to is the Van Meer techniek. I have not seen any real examples of it working well. I have not heard Hans about it in the last years. I think it does not work universally. I would rather rely on the plants ability to close the wound through growth. So by all means if you have a stum, clean it up (Lots of videos online on cleaning up chop marks). But then let it grow unrestrained until you have 2 metre branches. That will create a better natural transition.
Make sure you do not have bunches of branches. Reduce all branching spots so that only 2 branches remain: THe main leader, and a side-branch. Anything more and you set yourself up for ugly transitions.
Key now is setting the basics and getting massive growth. If you are indeed in Florida, you may see air roots forming. Drape these along the trunk; Over time they will fuse and form a more continuus plant.
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