Cuphea 001 : Progression 2

Follow up on my first Cuphea attempt.
Part I : http://maubonsai.blogspot.com/2012/08/cuphea-001-attempting-aerial-roots.html

Cuphea is very slow to thicken up or bulk up its trunk.
It tends to throw long shoots but the main trunk just does not follow up in terms of thickening up as does other plants or shrubs.

In part I, I tried to encourage aerial roots to grow from the lower section of the trunk by applying some generous amount of sphagnum moss in the areas where I wanted the roots to appear.

Once there was a generous amount of roots coming out of the sphagnum moss, I went ahead and removed the sphagnum moss. Then rearranged the branches and also started on the ramification process.

Cuphea 001 : Attempting aerial roots

Cuphea 001 : Attempting aerial roots

Found this Cuphea hyssopifolia in the local forestry nursery.

Its abundant aerial roots on the trunk kind of attracted my eye.

The "shrub" still in its nursery pot

Close-up on the aerial roots that got my attention

Getting a look at the roots

The root system, needs some untangling
and some tidying up.

Close-up on the root ball and the aerial roots

I played with the tree, viewing it at different angles. I ended
up choosing this slanted angle.

Getting rid of the extra roots. You dont see it well in this pic,
but there still LOTS of feeder roots present.

From this view you can see the root mass still left, even
after the pruning.

Repotted

Close-up

Top view

Got some sphagnum moss ready

Applied the sphagnum moss on the aerial roots. Make sure to
get the sphagnum moss well inside space in-between the aerial roots.

Top view

Side view

Done! I'll have to wait and see how the
aerial roots developped.