Preparing some trees for an expo in a few weeks

In September there will be this year's Orchid Society of Mauritius's show.

Some of our bonsai members will be exposing their trees during there on the last day of that show.
I'm planning to display several trees and started prepare them two months beforehand.

Mame Cuphea
This little guy was entered in the last Ryuga 2013 online competition, together with a ficus and a miniature rose.
The link is here : Cuphea hyssopifolia false heather

At the end of last year it got badly hit by a heat wave. It loss its main leader and also several primary ramification structures.
Now I need to rebuild the whole ramification structures as well as rework the deadwoods.

Mame Ligustrum

This is a follow up on the ligustrum-003-progression
There has been some more growth in between and some wiring to reposition the various branches.
Right now its entering a new growth cycle and creating several buds. Some are already starting to develop.

If I leave it as it is, the stronger apical areas will get most of the growth and the inner structures will stay mostly underdevelopped.
So to encourage the tree to get new growth all over the place ( strong and weak areas ) I went ahead and fully defoliated the lil guy.
I'm also aiming to get a new set of smaller leaves for the September expo.
In a few weeks I'm expecting to get lots of smaller leaves all over the place.

I also went along a treated the deadwood with some lime sulphur.
In a few weeks later I'll treat it with some wood hardener.

Malpighia coccigera

Also did a quick cleanup on this singapore holly and added some rougth guy wires to reposition some branches.

Mauritius Bonsai Club - Meeting 2015-03-07

We had an introductory course in Bonsai for our FB Mauritius Bonsai Club on the 7th March at Hem's place.
The heavy rain prevented several members from coming unfortunately.

Topics that were covered :
> What is a bonsai?
> How does a bonsai differ from other potted plants ( kusamono, topiary or your average potted plant )?
> Basic bonsai structures
> Basic characteristics a plant need that fits basic bonsai techniques
> Basic introduction on training a nursery plant into a bonsai
> Basic root pruning and nebari development
> Basic bonsai soil, watering and feeding - how to create your own soil with local materials, how to water and when to feed your plant

There were several bonsai materials in various development stages on display too.





Here are some pics












There is another event coming up on the 9th May, which has been declared "World Bonsai Day" by the World Bonsai Friendship Federation. The upcoming event will be an "Introduction to root work in bonsai cultivation"
More details on the FB event : https://www.facebook.com/events/1580464548862375/

False Acacia Pre-Bonsai

Part I
Continuing where I left this Leucaena Leucocephala, what we call  "false acacia" here or sometimes white acacia.
I am still waiting for the flowers to confirm its identity but it can wait.
The tree has grown, rested and there are several signs that it is starting a new growth cycle.
The old branches has elongated and are starting to lignify ( turn into wood )
There are bud swelling and developing towards the apex.



There is this little section with the two branches. It has a high potential to create a reverse taper in the long run. So I'm removing one of the two branches now.




Several signs of the new growth cycle are all over the place.
If I leave it as it is, there is a high chance that most of the energy will be fed into the apex ( upper structures ).




I need to cut it back toencourage the tree to activate the bud closer to the trunk.
At the same time I will wire and give some shape to the branch.








I also took the opportunity to treat the deadwood with limesulphur.







After a few days the buds starts to swell.





Part I