Hey everyone,

I have a collected buckthorn in my garage, and before spring hits I want to nail down a solid fertilizer plan. My biggest concern, which may not even be an issue, is that i have to rebuild all of the branch structure. Buckthorns grow large leaves and long internodes when fed heavily (from my research).

My question is this, should i feed heavily for growth and vigor to get the branch structure, then do the fine tuning of the internodes and leaf size through pruning and lighter feedings?

Is the heavy feeding going to be a time saver worth exploring, or will it have negative effects on the final appearance of the tree.

I could be overthinking this but either way I am sure to gain some knowledge by asking!

Thanks everyone.

codeman_11901 wrote:

I have a collected buckthorn in my garage, and before spring hits I want to nail down a solid fertilizer plan.

I think you should leave it alone until it is well established at its new location.
That would be at least a year, maybe longer.

Leave it alone as in dont feed it?

I dont plan to prune or style for several years, since it hasnt been containerized. I was just curious if heavy feedings would shorten the "pre-bonsai" growth period and whether there would be a trade off.

how old is the collected tree?
how long ago has it been collected?
where was it collected?

all questions you have to consider..

most collected trees are left alone for at least a year, in case of yamadori, ofter more than 2-3 years..

the tree needs the time to regrow a new root system..

Okay, that makes sense. Ill get it in its container and let it be. Keep it watered, no fertilizer or pruning. Thanks guys!

If you use tuitable bonsai soil you would fertilize it as normal. Plants need nutrients. Just sun and water give energy, but no growth. And you want growth. Lots of it.

As for internodes.. First let it get strong. Healthy. During summer you can have a first selection of branches you want to keep (often you get several sprouting at the same point, reduce to one). Then wire in winter, assuming you have had a serious growth. if not, wait another year.

To get good branches, you will have to let them grow out and cut back several times, so don't worry too much at the moment.

Thanks leatherback!

I will be using a well draining bonsai soil that my local bonsai nursery carries (they make it themselves). I did not bare root the tree but i did knock some of the old soil off the perimeter of the root ball that exposed some feeder roots. When i repot again i will probably remove about 50% of the original soil then the remaining 50% on the next repot.

From what I've gathered in your post, I should fertilize to promote hearty growth and ignore the internodes and leaf size since its still super early in the development of the tree and that will be taken care of later. Sorry if its annoying that I'm repeating everything you said but I want to make sure I'm picking up what you're laying down.

Yup, let it grown, fertilize. Just make sure you do not have more than 1 or 2 branches (Two on a branch: splitting, 1 on the trunk: Side branch) to avoid bulges later on

Spot on. Thanks for that extra bit, its good info.