Orlando Bonsai » defoliate

Shrinking leaves

Paul Pikel — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:16:13 +0000

Proper watering and feeding will give more energy to the tree increasing the leaf size and vigor of the tree. However low lighting will also cause bigger leafs. When a tree does not receive enough light it will create bigger leaves to catch more sunlight. Also it will create longer internodes. Internodes are the lengths in between leaves. If the leaves can’t catch light they form longer internodes so the branches are longer to reach further for the sunlight.
Don’t worry though, you can control leaf size. Please take into consideration fertilizing issues because they will affect the results of your efforts in leaf reductions if you don’t. However look at the base of the stem of your leaves. You will notice a new leaf bud right there. Just like a shark tooth waiting to replace a lost tooth a leaf bud is ready to pop to replace a lost leaf. If you remove the leave the new leaf will come in 1/3 smaller. Remove it again and it will replace 1/3 smaller. Don’t do it too often, or during dormant periods and you will have much smaller leaves.

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Second season

Paul Pikel — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:00:27 +0000

Trident Maples grow pretty well in Central Florida, but tend to have their leave fry a bit in late July through August. So last year (as you may remember) I defoliated my maples to allow for a second growing season. This causes the tree to put a brand new flush of leaves, slightly smaller in size, but more importantly able to handle the hot sun.

So this year I again spent about an hour removing each leaf by hand. There were certainly more leaves than last year, but the tree is looking great. Lots of scars are healing over and the ramification has improved greatly. I am hoping for a new first bottom branch to develop. Last year I had one pop, but it didn’t make it this Spring.

There are some trees that I don’t sometimes remember why I added them to my collection, but with a trunk like this one, I’ll never forget it. It just needs a couple more years to develop and it’s going to be awesome.

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Winter Photos

Paul Pikel — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:00:22 +0000

This year’s winter in Florida has been the coldest one that I can remember. However one good thing is that it gave me a long time to do some major pruning, repotting, and even taking some photos. Here are just a couple of shots that I took recently.

Crape Myrtle - defoliated

I can’t believe that it has been 5 years since the dwarf crape myrtle branches were grafted onto this wonderful crape myrtle trunk. However the development continues to improve. It has a great shape and balance. This year it should be the year for this tree to shine. In on a few weeks the tree will begin to leaf out and the canopy should be very full and complete. Who knows how much better this tree will be in 5 more years?

Black Pine repotted

I took advantage of the cold weather to repot this pine. I didn’t really remove much of the root mass, but it is a much more expensive pot. I still have a lot of branch development to do on this tree, but it already has developed very well already. Next year we’ll try a smaller pot to show off this large base of this tree.

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Well that didn’t take long

Paul Pikel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:21:02 +0000

It was not even two weeks ago that I removed the leaves from my large Trident Maple, and today the leaves are already popping. It has been a very hot and sunny Summer, so the risk of too much sun is always a concern. However with leaves popping all over the tree I know it will be a very short time that this tree has its canopy back.

Close up of Trident Maple bud

Here is a close up of one of the branches. The brown stem on top is where the leaf was removed. The large shoot to th right was the small bud at the base of the old leaf.

2 leaf intersection

Here is another example of the end of a branch where two leaves were removed. Although this looks to be one bud, there are two. One formed at the base of the old leaves. I’ll be sure to post future pictures to show how the size of these leaves were reduced by removing them.

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Fall in July

Paul Pikel — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:21:34 +0000

The weather today in Orlando was a high in the lower 90′s and sunny. However in my back yard it has turned Fall for my Trident Maple. Our growing season lasts for about 9 months here, and in the middle of Summer trees slow down a great deal and practically go dormant. During that time we are able to defoliate our deciduous trees to gain a second growing season. In effect, we can get two full growing seasons in one.

Defoliated Trident Maple

If you remember last year I let this tree grow for the entire year without really doing much to it, but you’ll also remember that I had areas along the trunk that failed to produce new branches. I defoliated it this year for a number of reasons. First to get a good look at the growth along the trunk. Second, to let more light in so that branches that are developing can get more sunlight (these branches I left the leaves on). Third to take advantage of our long growing season.

New first branch

I had a set back this year as my first (and most important branch dies) however the great news is that a new branch has begun to develop in an even better location. With the leaves removed this branch can begin to thrive while the rest of the tree grows back its leaves.

New buds

However don’t worry this tree will recover. When a leaf is pulled off a new one will grow a thrid smaller. This is good to know for when the tree is ready for show to reduce the leaves. In the picture above you can see the new leaves ready to grow. It should only be a few weeks before the tree is once again leafed out.

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