My main project is the big three pepper merge graft, but who says I can't work on two things at once?
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/5c1b5d3c.jpg)
While digging around, I found another aquarium ornament I bought last year and promptly forgot about. The ornament is this:
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/30101245.jpg)
I've got a douglah planted right in the crook between the two skull peaks. As it grows, I'm going to slowly pull the dirt away to reveal the mountain and force it to grow longer roots to stay in contact with the soil down below. By the end of the season when I'm ready to cut it back, I should (hopefully) have a nice big trunk with craggly roots snaking down the mountainside (and I'll likely direct some into eye sockets and mouths as I go, while keeping the inside of the mountain filled with soil).
Holy poop that sounds really evil!
What can I say, I love Halloween, and what better decoration than a living one? ;D
Wow, you have quite a big aquarium if that ornament was meant for the fish in a first place? :)
A stupid question but... why did you put mosquito net(?) on the seedling?
Its a couple layers of screen door meshing, actually. I'm using it as shade cloth until the seedling gets bigger. Its just big enough to cut the direct noon-day sun a bit, help keep from cooking the seedling since it's sitting on top of a big plaster heat sink.
Ah, that explains it :) I thought it might have something to with sun exposure but have never seen sunblock like that
Yeah, I'm sprouting pawpaw trees so I needed shade cloth. Found some close up pictures of exactly what it was and went "Wait a minute, this is just glorified screen door mesh!".
After figuring that out, I just pulled some old mesh out of the utility room, cut some quick sticks to use as supports and made a redneck sunscreen in a couple of minutes.
Ooh yeah, this one was getting along pretty well so I decided it was time to start pulling the dirt down (to encourage it to keep sinking roots), and oh baby is this going to look good when its done.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/504bfd3c.jpg)
You know, I wasn't growing this one to be a bonchi, but damn, it looks too good not to at this point.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/4f65384e.jpg)
Its a perfect trident shape, there is good root growth high up at the soil level that my hose watering over the past month of 100°F+ temps (38°C+) have exposed, and its just begging to be made into one at the end of the season. I'm going to turn it into one of those 3 layer cloud bonsai (where you have three cloud bunches at different heights). Can't wait to see how it turns out.
As for the Death Mountain bonsai, its going beautifully.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/93305abd.jpg)
The roots have thickened nicely, and its about time to pull the soil level down again.
Scary mood lighting, or just waited too long for it to cool down out there to take a picture without a flashlight? You decide!
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/82c0a255.jpg)
Actually, comparing it to the picture from this morning, I didn't really end up pulling the dirt any further down at all. I did end up repositioning the roots though so that they fan out more. Can also see where I had to tie the trunk to the side of the skull. It always comes loose when I mess around with it. When its all said and done, I'm probably going to superglue it down to the skull. Until then, a bit of twine keeps it in place while I push the roots back closer to the mountain.
Better pictures from today after I used a watering can to settle the soil down around the roots. It pulled down more than I thought, which is good because I thought I had accidentally put it right back up even with where it was before I started.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/8d1c817e.jpg)
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/685c06a0.jpg)
WHOA! Can't wait to see the update, what it looks like now. Have you made any progress?
I'll grab some pictures in the morning when its daylight.
Still a couple more weeks until I pull the soil level down again though.
Yeah, not really much to report on here yet.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/bd2f5f40.jpg)
Yes there is! That looks even cooler than the last one. Take a photo after you've lowered the soil level.
This is just awesome, keep it going dude. ;)
Last pulldown, we are officially down to the base of the mountain.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/60291114.jpg)
Whoa! That looks so nasty! :)
I really wanted that left root to hook around between the two skulls instead of draping over the eyebrow, but nothing I did could make it stay up there. I tried glue, hot glue, rope, hotgluing the rope, duct tape, nothing worked. Finally said fine, let the plant win and positioned around that shape instead.
What?!??? You can stop a car with a duct tape -wall, you can lift a car with duct tape and build a bridge from duct tape. But it's clearly impossible to attach a bonchi root to a plastic skull with duct tape.
Duct tape won't stick to anything gritty or wet. Which pretty much is the definition of plant soil or anything in plant soil. ;)
Yeah, seems like duct tape isn't the answer to everything. You should get Macgyver there.;D
And some scissors. ::)
Update on this guy, he's doing well.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/D592804A-FFBB-4C81-AC35-54EA69D74F38-11831-00000C3BAB2154A4.jpg)
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/3F3CE595-A270-4AB6-B0B9-CDBB12B00CC8-11831-00000C3BB76DBC78.jpg)
Seems to be leaning forwards a bit with the leaf growth so I rotated the pot around 180 degrees to encourage it to grow out the back a bit. Its going to make an excellent bonchi after it grows a bit bigger and thickens up some more. May be next year before it becomes really impressive, but I'm exceedingly happy with how its turned out so far.
Lainaus käyttäjältä: Edymnion - elokuu 07, 2012, 21:08:41 ip
Duct tape won't stick to anything gritty or wet. Which pretty much is the definition of plant soil or anything in plant soil. ;)
A really brutal "tree" :)
-Is it considered cheating pushing needles into plastic ornaments to lift and lock badly behaving roots in place?
Long as you get the end result you want, there's no such thing as cheating. ;D
But really, if wiring the branches to twist them into shapes you want is considered part of the process, I don't see why basically doing the same thing with the roots wouldn't also be considered just fine. My mountain here though is resin, I'd have to drill it to get any pins in there, so I pretty much just let the roots go how they like. Its not a real tight fight (the plant would fall off the ornament if you untied it and tipped it enough), but it looks good enough for now.
I plan on gluing it down at the top when I do the final chopping at the end of the season just so it will stay in place.
Lainaus käyttäjältä: Edymnion - elokuu 24, 2012, 20:52:36 ip
I plan on gluing it down at the top when I do the final chopping at the end of the season just so it will stay in place.
Some updates, please!
Not much different looking now than it was before.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/8AEA043E-0530-41E8-A76E-371A82E8A4E0-1426-00000157B4A9B37D.jpg)
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/1356A3B8-6806-4236-A079-4F1CD2C97DF8-1426-00000157C21E7067.jpg)
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/2F88DE94-AE1C-45D1-912D-CDBADA48EF08-1426-00000157A7604978.jpg)
Just letting it grow however it wants and bulk up as much as it can before the end of the season. Only doing a little trimming at the very base of the trunk to keep it in shape.
Will most likely remove those two lowest branches altogether when I prune it, but for now they're good for thickening up the main stem.
Oh my dear Lord imagine that little fellow a year from now! Have you thought about repotting the plant at some point? Trying to do some research on the subject since I have a few bonchi candidates of my own ;)
While I'm at it I might just comment on your main project too. Don't you think removing any buds and flowers (and consequently pods of course) would increase your plants' vegetative growth? This is just straight up common sense but the way I see it by doing that you would hasten the thickening of the trunks up a bit.
Oh' my God, what have you done! Well done! Are you pro?
Lainaus käyttäjältä: exa - syyskuu 05, 2012, 22:27:18 ip
Oh my dear Lord imagine that little fellow a year from now! Have you thought about repotting the plant at some point? Trying to do some research on the subject since I have a few bonchi candidates of my own ;)
Bit late to worry about giving it a much bigger pot this time of year. I could up-pot it, but I've got a month, maybe two before the season is over. I don't think there is really enough time left for this one to really benefit from the larger pot this year.
Next year I can pot it up some more to encourage bigger growth, thats for sure.
LainausWhile I'm at it I might just comment on your main project too. Don't you think removing any buds and flowers (and consequently pods of course) would increase your plants' vegetative growth? This is just straight up common sense but the way I see it by doing that you would hasten the thickening of the trunks up a bit.
Normally yes, but this guy also happens to be my only shot at getting any pods from this particular kind of pepper this year. Its a 7-Pot Douglah, and its the only one that even reached the flowering stage. If I don't let it set pods now, I'll have to wait until next year to get any.
Lainaus käyttäjältä: ChiliChillailija - syyskuu 05, 2012, 22:32:56 ip
Oh' my God, what have you done! Well done! Are you pro?
This is officially the first time I have ever done this with roots, and only my second year making bonchi. ;D
I'm so jealous! I can't realize that someone can do that kind of. I think I will try to make some bonchi to. Any tips?
If you want to do the exposed roots like I did on this one, the trick is to pull the dirt level down very slowly.
Put whatever you want the roots to grow over (like a rock, or in my case an aquarium decoration) and let the plant grow up on top of it for a while. Then when its big enough, pull the dirt down by about an inch or so (for me it was easier to remove the plant and rinse it off bare root, then repot it each time) and then give it enough time to recover and thicken up the exposed roots. For mine, it seemed to take about a month each time before it was ready to pull the dirt down again.
Thank you
Since my season is starting to wind down (forecast for 49F/9.5C degrees on Tuesday), I've started doing the initial bonchi pruning on my Skull Mountain. Nothing major, just cleaning out the understory a bit by removing side branches and small growth. I figure that this way it will give the plant time to heal those cuts over without too much stress before I chop the rest of it down here in probably about a month.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/EFE4EDD1-8275-41E9-B199-000137FD15DF-3306-000004F13A837632.jpg)
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/3DF67C27-B360-4B81-99B2-00E606785DAF-3306-000004F122132812.jpg)
And just because I thought that hole in the base of the mountain was a little too big and plain, I made a quick decoration to put in front of it.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/863F6112-FC30-4409-A93B-E7A900C43253-3306-000004F0F80EBC9E.jpg)
Looking fine! :D
What's that cool tombstone made of? Just would like to know...
Lainaus käyttäjältä: Toby - syyskuu 17, 2012, 14:22:14 ip
What's that cool tombstone made of? Just would like to know...
The core is headliner foam (like what is in your car headliner), covered in drywall spackle, sanded, carved, spraypainted, dirty washed, sealed, and put on a pole to make it stand up right.
Lainaus käyttäjältä: Edymnion - syyskuu 17, 2012, 16:23:11 ip
Lainaus käyttäjältä: Toby - syyskuu 17, 2012, 14:22:14 ip
What's that cool tombstone made of? Just would like to know...
The core is headliner foam (like what is in your car headliner), covered in drywall spackle, sanded, carved, spraypainted, dirty washed, sealed, and put on a pole to make it stand up right.
Forget Macgyver and Chuck Norris... Edymnion is here! ;D
Whoops, forgot to update this one.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/80C43410-D1CE-48B8-BA53-E7CF7D0F1EF7-4028-00000BFAAF9946CF.jpg)
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/8B73446C-7B70-499C-B6BD-AC117806E27D-4028-00000BFABD7597B9.jpg)
Had a little trouble with some rust on the leaves, but I seem to have caught it in time to prevent any appreciable damage.
Update, its finally starting to look like a real bonchi!
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/Edymnion/1BDDA986-CC37-46FD-8EBE-75AA71B71870-2160-000002C872B30AB3.jpg)