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| I have decided that is it best to keep the fukien tea in the pot that it is in for now though i have noticed some ant like bugs in the soil (2mm in length and red with black tips on their backs) any idea what they are?
There is quite a lengthy branch similar to the one below, would this be considered as softwood? and would this be suitable to trim to grow as a second tree?
Also how old does my fukien tea look?
70mm around base of trunk and 200mm high, id guess between 5-7 years old. I am starting to think about how to shape it in the future so any ideas will be greatly appreciated. I have removed about 30% of the leaves to open it up. Also i have cut off a number of branches but iam thinking about taking the top crown off to grow literati style, or remove all the lower smaller branches to make it seem taller than it is. Jimmy |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Removing lower branches is counterproductive to fattening the trunk - always leave at least one on til you like the overall look (could be years) and then if it doesn't fit with your design, cut it off and the scar should heal over slowly. You haven't said where you live, but your bugs sound a lot like ladybugs - roundish with blk polka dots..? If that's what you have, you may have other tinier bugs they are feeding on and those need to be gotten rid of, but as ladybugs won't hurt anything, I'd pick them off carefully first and get them outdoors in the grass (maybe near the house where it's warm). People love them! Once you've done that maybe you can get some Safer's Insecticidal Soap spray and follow directions to use it on the tree otherwise if you think there may be other bugs, but I wouldn't otherwise do it as Fukiens can be fussy about what you spray on them and may not react well. Sometimes a hard spray (kitchen sink kind) of the tree itself can be helpful. |
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| PS - That's hardwood, or at least semi-hardwood (how long's it been brown?). |
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| Their not ladybugs, they look exactly like ants (probably are) one black dot on their backside. Ive only seen two so far and removed one carefully so as not to trigger that chemical that causes them to produce more eggs. The cutting had always been brown since ive had it! the reason i thought they might be softwood is because it was extremely bendable and i cant see any other branches that are not brown. I live in England, so any idea on the age? Jimmy. P.S - thanx lucy for all this help. |
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| Could be something like 4 to 7 yrs - I don't think in cms very well (even tho' we've been 'metric' for a long time now :-). The 'real' age isn't very important in bonsai unless you're dealing with real masterpieces of 50+ or so, it's the illusion that counts! |
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