Trunk development experiment Stage 1

I have started the experiment on trunk development with thickness, taper and movement.
I got 3 casuarina roughly the same thickness, and want to try and grow a trunk on them in 3 different ways.
Casuarina grows fast so lets hope we shall have results soon.

I bought them at the beginning of 2013, and they were less than 1cm diameter…this picture was taken in March 2013.I really want to know what will happen in the 3 different scenarios and which one will give me the best results. I also want to train them at the same time, since some of the methods assist with branch development, so it might compensate for the slower growth of the trunk.
Here are the 3 casuarina:

bought January 2013 Picture taken march 2013

This tree I want to grow by the cut and grow method but with a twist…I want to do frequent small/short cuts and this is the first cut, roughly 4cm above soil level. Want to see the difference between this and the normal cut and grow where you first thicken the trunk to the thickness you want and then do the first chop. I shall Leave sacrifice branches also to thicken the trunk.

This is casuarina No1=C1

This is the second tree to be grown by the normal cut and grow method. The tree is slightly thicker than the rest…it will be left to thicken until the trunk will be 5cm and then I will chop it. I like not very large bonsai so 30cm  height for all the finished casuarinas will be fine.will be fine.

Casuarina No2=C2

 

And this is the 3rd tree, it has been wired for movement, I will not do any trunk chops here, but will try to control the thickening of the trunk, but controlling the length of the branches at different height. EA…allow less or almost no growth on top and leave the lower branches long. also will leave some escape branches for thickening of the trunk.
The only problem this tree has is some reverse tapper due to wire I left too long and it bit deep into the trunk.
I have shortened  it a bit a bit less than 30 cm and I am growing a leader  on it.. The final height of all trees will be aimed at 30cm.
Lets hope it will not end up as a Chinese S shaped tree without tapper.

Casuarina No3=C3

So far the growth has been phenomenal. C2 has reached 4cm trunk diameter, and I bent it downwards to create some movement on the trunk. No clipping has been done to this tree and all 3 trees are grown in double bags, for easier repotting at a later stage. Casuarina is not very found of root reduction, so this will help me to root reduce it.

All trees are fertilized equally twice a month.

As of today 24 07 2013  this is the development:

C1 has grown a lot. The leader has thickened, and it is time to cut it very short.It has several sacrifice branches, and I had to remove one since there were 3 growing in very close proximity, and some reverse tapper was beginning to develop.

Tomorrow I shall grind the trunk chop area, to refine the cut. The cut needs to heal, since Casuarina is famous for its rapid wood rot. Budi has one on which only the cambium is left.

C1

 

C2 has progressed better than the other 2. Trunk is 4+ cm. I had bend it to give some movement to the trunk but no foliage or branch reduction has been done to it.

C2

C2

C3 was reduced to around 25 cm, and some sacrifice branches left and a leader grown. There was continuous top growth reduction on it, while the lower branches were allowed to grow much longer.. The sacrifice branch has grown much more than the trunk itself, and actually looks better. No noticeable taper on it. The development of the first primary branch was started. Hope to leave some more sacrifice branches growing on the trunk but it seems they are not growing much. Maybe when I chop the apex they will grow better.

C3

C3

To be continued.