How to Bonsai - Reduce Leaf Size
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video I talk about the basics of reducing leaf size (reducing leaves) on a bonsai. I try to explain the structure of a tree and how through the use of fertilizer and proper lighting you can shorten internodes, and increase branch ramification. This is important for developing dense branches and avoiding leggy branches.
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This is the best video on leaf size reduction and ramification.
Thank you 😊
Thank you for your video, After 35 years of dental surgeries, I am now getting into Bonsai gardening. This is very educaitonal
Good luck. You are really going to enjoy bonsai
Always enjoy watching someone teach when they really understand why.
Thank you so much for such a kind comment. I’m glad you found the video informative and that it captured my passion for this art.
First time I ever really understood the basic principles of ramification was only once I watched this video. A great video, definitely helped with my current bonsai collection, and the other videos are just as informative.
You have one of the best video I’ve watch bonsai making. You’re teaching techniques straight forward and unique for bonsai. For a bonsai beginner like me, these videos are awesome. I follow some of your technique and applied in my bonsai. Thanks alot.
Thank you for putting in this work and sharing your knowledge. Before taking my dive into bonsai I did a few months of research. Once I started and visited one of the local nurseries the guy asked how familiar I was. I told him I had a vary limited knowledge and mentioned your channel. He too is a fan. Please keep them coming. I don't think I've seen one and can't seem to find one about common ailments for ficus/juniper/maples I think one for each of the major verities would be very useful.
that was a really good explanaition on compacting the leafs.. have been feeling insecure on this part and googling it for some days now.. thanks for putting this up :)
Hey Paul me again. I followed your instructions on leaf. reduction and, have a Turkey fig tree with crepe myrtle size leaves. Not many branches yet, but I've only had it in the ground for one growing season. The trunk has nearly doubled in size. I'm growing more for its winter appeal with white bark and fine branches. We certainly have had an excellent growing season in southwest Georgia this year. Not too much rain but plenty of sun.
great video, especially for beginners like me. thanks for the video
Glad I could help!!
Great thanks! I can already see the new buds starting to come out. I will give it a try. Thanks again!
Thank you for the tip. I've always been wondering why the leaves on the new branches are way too be big, now I know what to do to with it.
I really enjoy watching all your videos, and they are very educational. Thanks!
I just recently got into bonsai and the closest bonsai nursery to me is 40 minutes away, these videos are very helpful for me to learn. Thank you!
Boshia1321 you should just yamadori
I learned a ton from this. Thanks so much for putting it together!
Finally some good bonsai videos on TH-cam. Thank you. :)
i am continuing to learn from your videos. thank you so much for putting these on many years ago. the knowledge you provide is timeless. i have learned more from you than any other person on you tube. you are a brilliant teacher.
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate that and I’m glad you are able to use the information.
@@OrlandoBonsaiTV and you are a kind hearted very nice man to take time out of your day to respond to my message. I hope God blesses you for being such a good person
Damian, I'm really gald to hear that I was able to explain ramification to you. Its a great way to refine your bonsai and get them looking great
Glad to see some of your videos,i like bonsai
Hi Steve, yes there are so many important things that occur through teh process and its really hard to not skip them. Doing a vieo from start to finish would be a good one. I'll see if I can pick up a nice piece of material to work on
Great comment and I'm glad to hear I have fans. Common problems and insect issues would be a great topic for a video thanks
10 years later 2021 so bored and into art reached bonsai nd learning as much as possible after finished learning all about all my dream animals
I'm glad you found the video helpful. Good luck with getting your leaves smaller
Thank you for the hose analogy ❤️
Very useful and interesting video - thanks.
Hmmm , interesting, thank you, this explain alot why my secondary shoots came out faster after plucking the big fan leafs, but never reached a huge size like before.
Hi Steve, yes this works very well on ficus and tropical trees. The nice thing about tropicals is that if youprotect them during the winter they hold their leaves. So once you have them reduced that stay that way
@OrlandoBonsaiTV I really appreciate the advice so much thank you that has helped a lot. I will take what you have said and be slow with it. Thank you very much and look forward to seeing more from you.
Thanks very much, exactly the information I was looking for.
I was bought a first bonsai (Ficus) and I've noticed that the bonsai is thriving, but some of the external leaves are getting a tad big for my tastes. Will use your method to try reduce the size.
Good luck and I'm so glad you found my video
Thanks very much, I'm glad you enjoyed the video
Paul
thank you for this video. This is going to help me alot for i did get my first bonsai today. My room hits where the sun gets the first rays of sun and more sun than alot of the house at the time of year. plus mines an indoor one. least it will help me learn to take care of the leaves when it comes to time to triming it.
CupcakeFlowersims Pandasimcake Best of luck with your new bonsai!
thank you
Perhaps a demonstration of the topics in the video. Beginners (like myself) are unsure of what you might mean by some of these techniques. Still, very informative. Thank you for the video.
Very nice video. I trained a ficus benjamina indoors for years and leaf pruning was a way to make the leaves come back as teardrops. Found that my maples couldn't take more than 2 leaf prunings a year in southern CA. Keep posting the excellent instructionals!
Thanks very much. Yes I agree that tropicals are much easier to reduce leaves because they pretty much always have their leaves. I don't normaly defoliate a deciduous more than once a year. Just so stressful for them
Yes, I believe once a year on the decid. trees is better. And, the ficus are a little temperamental- if you change their lighting too much they'll tend to drop leaves.
thanks, i really like your videos, lots of info, to the point, always interesting.
if i might make a request, i'd love to see the process of taking a 3 to 5 year old ficus from nursery and transition it to bonsai, the whole process. i saw you had one video about training pots but i' like to see more details about transitioning the whole tree.
thanks, steve
Very well explained. Thank you
I find that in the hotest months when teh tree slows dow is a really great to do this.
@Burneynator I'm glad you liked my video about reducing leaves. Hopefully more videos to come very soon!
Exactly what i want to know!! THX a lot!!!
Just what i wanted to know. Thanks.
@93hipgnosis You're right, Azaleas are in a class all by themselves. I'll try to do a video in the future on that topic
@Santaxe Sorry about not showing a close up. If you look at the end (tip) of a branch you'll see new leaves forming The furthest one if the terminal bud and if you don't remove it the branch will continue to grow from this exact point. By pulling off the tip leaf you stop the branch from getting longer
Very good video!
Since the tree is just a sapling at this point the best thing to do is promote its growth so fertilize it when it puts out it spring leaves. Also to make the tree interesting you can wire the trunk and give is some slight bends so when it gets older it will have beautiful movement
@TheGreybelly I really appreciate the comments. I do these videos expecting really no one to watch them, but to get information out that I couldn't find when I started. Stuff like this is the basis for bonsai artist to undertsand so that they know how their trees will react to action we take to style a tree. So many people forget that this artform is half art and half horticulture. You can't do bonsai without both. So I still have along list of topics to cover so more videos to come.
hi great video first of all. my ginseng ficus bonsai has large leaves on most branches but i cant seem to find the nodes (secondary leave) on the start of the stem.visibly i found only one
Pines are very different. The process for reducing pine needles is called candeling. I haven't done a video on it yet, but if you search you'll find one
That's what I've been looking for!
@Iggynawcio I've had chinese elms that sometimes don't drop their leaves all winter. However if you have work to do on that tree you can pull the leaves off now since it should be dormant. It's called 'forced dormancy' you can repot, wire, prune and then the new set of leaves will pop in the Spring
very usefull please keep them coming
thanks for this informative video
Thank you. Great video.
Could you do a video with care tips for Alder tree bonsai? I would like to know how to control leaf size, what soil it needs and other general care tips!
Thank you for the video!!! 🌲
@mem521 Take it slow with the Fukien Tea, as they can be "tempermental" If you do too much they will drop all their leaves. I would give it full sun as they like tropical temperatures. Get the tree to full health and growing before you start reducing leaves. You need to work to develop the shape and branches o fthe tree before you worry abou tthe leaf size. That is just a final detail that is done once the tree is close to being a finished bonsai
@mw2ak47pro I have never heard of a rose bush being used as a bonsai, however there are dwarf versions of them. Generally we look for plants with woody trunks. Leaves can be reduced but flowers and fruits will always be full size.
Very helpful, thank you
OrlandoBonsaiTV How would you go about propagating a black willow tree for bonsai? And when it was established, how would you care for it? I already know about fertilizing, and thanks to this video, pinching. Also wiring and all that.
@G223223 If the branch is the length you want it and the shape then yes keep trimming it back. They get really dense branches in a short time.
Do Trident Maple Bonsai Trees do wel in central FL weather? Also will it need shade or full sun?
Thank u I found that I understand what I'm doing more so I have a bouggy n I'm scared to purne it and now I understand more of what I'm trying to do but I'm not sure about the acualle branchs if I cut it all the way down to old growth is that bad or should I just cut 1/2 which would leave green growth still there but honestly the trees shape would look better cut back to 3/4 to old growth
can I ask for your opinion/advice? I live near Chicago, and got a jaboticaba tree through a class last year. I defoliated earlier this year, and leaves came back on one side of the tree, but aren't growing much on other parts, although I do see buds. they just havent done anything for the past few weeks and I'm not sure what the deal is. the buds are not dying or drying out and falling off, but they're not growing either. the leaves that came in on one side Are starting to dry a little and turn yellow brown. do you think the tree is in danger or just being shy? :) thanks in advance! and thanks for the videos!!
Hi bro, I live in Southern California and I have a Oriental Maple Bonsai the leaves are wilting and branches are dying. Any idea why this is happening?
@snowmoon83 Go for it! I would only do it once this year so you can watch how long it takes for new leaves to fill in
soooo much info! thanks!!!
OrlandoBonsaiTV I got a similar Japanese Maple to what you have in the video, would it be ideal to place the pot in full sun from 8am to 6pm? Also got a Juniper Prostrata and another type thats scale like and Chinese Elm, would it also be ideal to place it in full sun?
Great videos :) Thank you :)
Thats easy. The terminal bud is the newest leaf at the end of a branch. It will keep budding out new leaves from the end unless you pull it off. Just take the tips off of any branch that you don't want to grow any further and it will cause it to put out growth further down the branch
Thank you for this!
Thanks for the info!!
Thx for the information!
any suggestions on fertilizer mixes ; i have compost 3 years old for my garden coffee grounds chicken manure ; and 3 years of clippings ; with earth worms added ; or do i just buy a store bought miracle grow ;also wondering if a southern magnolia tree would be good to bonsai ?
Great video paul, really helped me to bonsai. Bonsai awaaaayyyyyyy!!
YAY! Have fun and I'm glad I was able to help you
OrlandoBonsaiTV When is the right time to prune a jade tree. I live in England it is autumn / "fall" BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNSAI !!!!
Jacob Shannon Simmer down busta I was only making myself clear to a fellow BONSAI.
Jacob Shannon I would appreciate if you didn't bring sarcasm into the mix as it is bad for a BONSAI's growth.
Stuart Clark Trim Jade from late Spring to the End of Summer. Thanks for the comment
Thank you for all your great videos. would you be interested in making a video on how to use liquid fertilizer. I have seen your videos talking about it, but i couldnt even find a video on you tube that actually shows it. I water my bonsais by submerging and was wondering about fertilizing them. Thanx
In my early days of bonsai I submerged them but I found that top watering is just as good and easier on your back. Therefore watering with liquid fertilizer is just as easy as watering with the sprinkling can with the liquid ferilizer slightly diluted.
@BrandonAndBridgette Good luck! Let me know how it turns out. I would suggest that you remove a few leaves at a time with that type of tree. If you strip it completely you might not have the tree pop new leaves. They are a little different.
Hi, how do I protect my trident maple bonsai from frost or prepare it for northeast winter since it haddock to be outdoors. Thanks
you can use frost cloath if its not going to get too cold, but in the winter you can put them in a unheated garage to protect them. Just make sure they are not warmed up enough to bring them out of dormancy
very helpful - thanks v much
Any advice on an avocado bonsai mine is about 7 inches long right now I just moved into a bonsai pot that was really shallow so I had to cut some roots I really hope I didn't just kill my tree.
I have a Fukien Bonsai and i want to get the leaves smaller. ive just gotten it and at the moment i can put it in either full day sunlight but have kept it 3 and a half hour sunlight. Can the leaves shrink or will i have to resort to pruning some leaves or areas on the branch? Ive already pruned many of the big ones but was worried not to take all of them away and weaken the tree. so thank you for the video it has helped and hope to hear from you.
Hi Paul,
Could you do a close up showing exactly what 'terminal bud' you are hand pruning?
Thank you for youre advice.
I've got an unusual problem with my Bonsai, a Ginseng Ficus. It was given to me in June just gone, the branches already there continue to grow at a moderate pace, but the tree has grown 3 new shoots directly from the main body and in comparison to the leaves already present the leaves from these shoots are more spaced apart, not as thick, not as dark are at least 3 times the size of the original leaves. Is this normal or do these shoots need to be removed?
Sorry to ask on this thread, but I literally can't find any information about this occurrence.
very helpful thank you very much.
@mw2ak47pro As you begin leaf reduction you promote better secondary branches to form in smaller areas which means more leaves but smaller sizes. So leaf reduction will hold however from time to time you will get full sized leaves but just pinch them off. Also if you develope new branches your leaves will be larger, but when teh branch is the right size just do the process to get the leaves smaller. Larger pot will promote faster growth so the leave may revert back until you reduce them
really interesting, thanks. i used to think that pruning the roots made the leaves smaller, i guess i was way off! so the trick about defoliating to force it to regrow smaller leaves next time, is that true of most trees? specifically a Banyan tree? i'm in the tropics so i can grow them here no problem.
thx steve
can you trim branches, leaves and defoliate indefinitely? Or will there come a time when you have removed so much material over the years that the tree can never recover? Say you trim all the unwanted growth on pads after every growing season, can you do this forever or will it eventually run out of places to make new buds?
I just uprooted a little blue ash tree to shohin it. It's been in bonsai mix for about a month, and fertilized and doing great. I'd like to defoliate it in a month or so to reduce leaf size, since it is deciduous. Only problem is the leaves seem to be in leaflets of 3 or 5. Do I remove each leaf at the base or the whole leaflet at the base?
Yes I have a large ficus that I put into a bonsai pot last year that is in need of some serious help. I'll do a video on that one next
@kikkerpootje Even big leaves can be reduced. Every so often remove a few leaves and let the new smaller ones come in. In time you'll have a tree with at least a medium sized leaf that will allow more sunlight to get in. Good luck
Can you take an oak tree about 6 inch diameter and cut it near ground level, put rooting powder on it and plant it in a large bucket? Will it start rooting? Should the large limbs be cut back to 3-4 inch and maybe the main trunk 2 feet tall? Or should I just dig the tree up and try to save all the roots I can. Month is June in OK.
Great video just wondering if you keep doing the leaf reduction will the tree keep producing small leaves?
Very helpful video.
Hello, Last year i have put a oak nut in a pot. In the mean while it started growing. I keep inside on a cool place. Who long must it grow before i can start working on it. And what's the wright thing to do first?
@OrlandoBonsaiTV thanks for the speedy reply pal, big help, to be fair I'm looking at vids now and think they could wait another year before i start. One more question, I have just bought some Japanese maple seeds and cant find any info on what to do with them, you look more in the know than most of the literature out there, any ideas?
@MARTINSWORKSHOP I appreciate the comment. Plenty more videos still to come.
@tomdangerlloyd no you cannot treat blakc pines (or any pine) like this. You reduce the length of pine needles through a process of removing the candles in late summer. I haven't done a video on this yet, but if you search the internet on removing candle from black pines bonsai you will find all kinds of explainations
Great info
@OrlandoBonsaiTV thanks, i did take the leaves off. one more question is it ok to make a grafted japanese maple to a bonsai?
hi there, i am on my first trees, (black pines) and the needles are very long. do the same rules apply? I keep them indoors and the pot I keep them in is much too deep? Would that make any difference? The trees are about 6 inches and have never had the roots trimmed?
@rosebudbynicky I would reduce by half and in very short time the branch will push new grow at which time you'll you can reduce it back to work with on the shape that you desire
Hi i have had no luck with bonsai tree's till i watched your vids it was due to lack of water :( just 1 question my bonsai has a small trunk then bends over to the right then stops, then from the trunk there is 3 branch's all the growth is on 2 of the branch's to the left hand side and very little growth (leafs) to the right hand side the 3rd branch how do i get growth there ? thanks again
Thank you! Really helpful.
Clare Nicholson Glad to hear that Clare!