It’s finally March. The worst of winter ought to be over by now, but we still have at least another month before it’ll be warm enough to move my plants outside.

Vega

It’s been two months since the surgery in which I separated Rigel from Vega and wrapped Vega’s roots around a lava rock. So far, it looks like it’s beginning to take on the classic upright tree shape that I’ve been aiming for, at least when viewed from the front. However, it has a very 2D look. When turned to the side, it’s clear that it could use more depth along the Z axis.

In the last few weeks, I’ve added guy-wires to try to begin styling the shape of the branches.

Vega’s lowest branch has been allowed to grow freely previously, resulting in it bending toward the front. Now that I’ve designated a front (marked by the cavity) I’d rather the lowest branch stick out in more of a sideways fashion, so I have a guy-wire pulling it back.

The second highest branch was sticking upward too much for my liking, so I’ve tied a guy-wire to that, pulling it downward. I’ve also tied a guy wire around the main trunk in an attempt to keep it upright, but the tree seems to have a tendency to lean back just like it was before repotting. I will attempt to remedy this upon the next repotting.

In January, I also chopped Vega’s two highest branches. They had been simple stalks with no sub-branches, so I “topped” them, and they back-budded just as I had hoped. Many of the buds have sprouted 2-3 separate compound leaves, meaning they’re on their way to becoming branches themselves, as planned.

There’s supposed to be a general rule of bonsai that a tree can only suffer one major injury a year, meaning that since I did such extensive pruning of both the branches and roots two months ago, that I should hold off from any other operations until next year. But I think this may be yet another reason why schefflera are unlike any other tree used for bonsai. Vega seems to be very healthy, so I’m thinking that by July I may just dig it up again, remove the plastic from the roots, and plant the exposed rock on top of the soil. That is, so long as there have been enough roots growing around the rock.

Arcturus, First Clone of Vega

It’s now been about six months since I severed Arcturus from Vega. Within that time, Arcturus has grown vigorously, putting out many new leaves and lengthening its branches. You’d never guess, but it’s actually been pruned somewhat recently. I had cut all of the leaves in half width-wise when I first propagated Arcturus 6 months ago. Since then, I’ve been able to fully remove any of the old leaves. All of the leaves you see here were grown in the last 6 months.

In keeping with the plan to form Arcturus into a cascade-style tree, I’ve placed a guy-wire around the far end of the plant, anchoring it to the pot. I plan to progressively bend the trunk more and more until the bulk of the tree is below the pot, requiring it to be placed on a stand.



Once it is warm enough outside, I plan to fully defoliate Arcturus, including chopping three of the plant’s branches (planned cuts marked in red), in order to incentivize secondary branching. It will take many years before this thin trunk will thicken up, but I like the idea that within 10-20 years this could be a really fantastic specimen.

Rigel, Second Clone of Vega

When I separated Rigel from Vega, I chose not to baby the new cutting. The trunk was already hard, lignified wood. I cut off most of the leaves, leaving two. The idea was that too many leaves might make it hard for the plant to support itself given the lack of a root system. I left two leaves so that it could still photosynthesize while growing its new roots.

In only the last couple of weeks, Rigel has finally sprouted some new buds. I’m taking this as a sign that the plant has finally established a root system. I am very eager to get the plant outside and see how it fairs over the summer.