Banzai!

Neptune's Champion

Neptune's Champion

Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
79
Anyone know about grafting? I started a bonsai garden a bit ago. This juniper i hammered out of a slate rock cliff side a couple years ago, planted it; then decided to make a bonsai tray for it, seeing as how its already a more mature specimen. Its perfect, having grown back sense being sun scorched, other than the fact that its cut off at the top. Ive cut the roots, which doesn't bother me too much because its not seen. in the picture you can see the electric tape and old branches i attempted to graft onto it. they didn't take. I'm thinking it will eventually take to my grafting, and will not show that nasty cut mark, some day. any help will be appreciated. the other little trees i got from montana during the 4th weekend. they're three different species, other than the juniper, one is even a pine branch that fell and sprouted. its dry here in the desert. ill be moving them into mason jars to keep the water in the roots, hopefully the other two will come back after being so parched. an acre and some water i can make a decent garden, which i hope to have one day, but these bonsai are another story.

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While I'm at it, i got this mini jungle khukri a couple years ago. Is it from HI?
it looks similar, but has english. my guess is no but I've not ordered a khuk from HI yet.

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I don't think your khukuri is from HI. I've never seen an HI blade that had "NEPAL" stamped into the metal. In an HI blade the section where it says "NEPAL" would have the kami's maker mark engraved, and his initials in devangari script. Also, the cho looks pretty rough, with split lines on either side of the pointy part in the middle.

It might be a perfectly good blade, just not from HI.
 
I may be mistaken (Im full of beer right now) but I seem to remember that HI used to stamp "Nepal" on their very early blades. Dont remember if they included any other markings but serial numbers as well do come to mind. Not sure but it is possible its an HI? Dont base anything on my memory but id not rule it out completely. Pic of the blade might help. Could be a lil Siru?
 
Its an alright blade, i gave it away but i can snag some more pictures and put them up. good idea with the beer Ndog! i ought to grab one haha. exactly my thoughts on the early blades, perhaps it was one. but on the other side it has a serial number. mustve been made in a factory. HI imitators don't add up the same!
 
Our family used to graft tomatoes to Jimson weed stems, tomatoes to potatoes a few times, and grape vines and cherry branches to apple trees. We always utilized a V notch on the plant that was to receive the graft and the opposite shape for the the piece that was to be grafted. The two pieces needed to be very close to the same diameter. We always used rag strips taken from t-shirts and sometimes white medical tape to hold the grafted pieces together. We did experience some failures, but they were in the definite minority.

My Grandfather got started with bonsai in the mid 50s after being given a tree from one of his golfing buddies, Sam Snead. My cousin later inherited it and it's all of 8 inches tall now. Keep at it and good luck!
 
Bookie said:
Our family used to graft tomatoes to Jimson weed stems, tomatoes to potatoes a few times, and grape vines and cherry branches to apple trees. We always utilized a V notch on the plant that was to receive the graft and the opposite shape for the the piece that was to be grafted. The two pieces needed to be very close to the same diameter. We always used rag strips taken from t-shirts and sometimes white medical tape to hold the grafted pieces together. We did experience some failures, but they were in the definite minority.

My Grandfather got started with bonsai in the mid 50s after being given a tree from one of his golfing buddies, Sam Snead. My cousin later inherited it and it's all of 8 inches tall now. Keep at it and good luck!
Click to expand...

Sounds like a funny looking farm! astonishing too. i wonder, can i graft drift wood onto it? is there some kind of rooting gel needed? the fact that it needs the same diameter is concerning, any taller and it won't be a bonsai. perhaps ill find a twisted juniper to graft onto it.
thanks, ill try that style of graft sooner or later
 
All the plants nutrients get to the top of the plant via the inner bark. If that does not match up somehow, your plant is not going to take the graft. Drift wood? Whachu been smokin'?
 
Bookie said:
All the plants nutrients get to the top of the plant via the inner bark. If that does not match up somehow, your plant is not going to take the graft. Drift wood? Whachu been smokin'?
Click to expand...

Something like this, not sure how they do this. makes them look hundreds of years old. i only need a little something to fill in the top, you know


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I would bet that was a collected tree that has had the dead wood on the trunk (shari) and on the ends of the branches (jin) carved and refined. The live section has to remain unbroken and in a generally linear arrangement.

You can't graft onto deadwood but you can do something that looks similar to that pic where you young juniper whips are peeled to the cambium on one side and fused to the deadwood. It's pretty advanced stuff, I never had any luck trying it.

Once you get a good bunch more healthy foliage going on the bigger juniper it'd be a great candidate for a carved top to get a lightning struck look.

Good luck with your trees, it's pretty rewarding stuff!

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I think carving the top would be the long term goal but I would wait for it to start sending out lots of new green foliage before disturbing it too much.

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I concur with grog. as your tree is far more fragile than what you might realize. I'm really hoping that you can make something beautiful out of it and my fingers are crossed for you.
 
Thanks everyone for the support. means a lot. ill raise the jun up well. heres what it use to look like before it left its nice shaded watery grounds


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I see in the first photo that at least you are providing proper liquid nutrients for the juniper.......
 
Somebody say C2H6O ? Hic! Ill take a glass of that with my chang:D
Cool post btw! Theres some amazing stuff they do to these Bonsai to make them look like older than George Burns. I saw someone once carving the "bark" on one. Simply amazing:thumbup:
 
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