Serissa Foetida (out of control cuttings!)PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

gibbsie · White Belt Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 8 Location: LONDON

Hello,
I have managed to grow 14 serissa foetida (tree of a thousand stars) trees from cuttings from March 2006 in my outdoor shed in London and I was advised to put them in the biggest plastic pots that I had which were 4-6 inches tall and 4-8 wide) and just leave them to grow the trees are now all between 8 and 42 inches tall and around 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch wide at base of trees and have had no root cutting,pruning,trimming or anything done to them apart from an odd feed twice since march they are really healthy and still outside should i leave them where they have been for the last 9 months or put them in the bathroom next to the window because of frost ?, also i want to know when is the best time to chop them to the height and branch length i want , when to re-pot as some have roots coming out of the bottom of pots and when to transfer to bonsai porcelain pots.
Please can someone help me with this. cheers steve[/b]

garywilkes

Hey Steve,

No idea whatto advise you on your query. But I did come across a site with some instructions videos on for free. I remember one talks of potting serissas. Might be of some use to you anyway.

You can find the videos here:

http://www.bonsaifarm.tv/content/category/4/13/37/

The specific serissa potting video is here:

http://www.bonsaifarm.tv/content/view/85/37/

Hope it's of some use, the guy seems to know what he's talking about Wink

Gary

gibbsie · White Belt Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 8 Location: LONDON

Gary,

Thanks for your time I really appreciate it youve been a great help the videos r excellent, I just need help with the height of the trees and branch length now(cutting) do you know antone that might help?

cheers steve

TB420

Hey Steve, How about a pic. The questions you ask all depend on what you want the style to look like. You will get many many more answers. Don't despair, you seem to have done something right. The taller ones will be able to be cut back quite a bit. You will be able to take many many more cuttings. Very Happy

As for when to transplant. I prefer to leave trees in their nursery pots, while I am growing them to style. They grow faster and the trunks will thicken faster. When you are ready for them to be a bonsai, in a bonsai pot, you can transplant them any time of year, because they are a tropical. Spring is best, but they can be transplanted any time. We need some pictures, but it sounds like you have many options. You can transplant a couple into bonsai pots, and see the difference in growth rate.

Tom