Quick discussion on Tamarind saplings

7 months ago
7

Moving into the fall, there's not much to do with the Tamarind saplings; except for making sure that they don't dry out. Come next spring though, when they start rapidly growing again, I'll be paying close attention to their root systems by taking them out of their pots, and inspecting the root balls; planting them up as necessary to prevent their taproots from being impeded. I'll also be doing the same thing with fresh seedlings to get them as big as possible as quickly as possible. My goal is pretty much to stop the trees from realizing that they're in a restricted space for as long as possible to get their trunks thicker faster. I personally completely avoid putting the trees in the ground. It does help them grow way faster if you put them in a good spot at the right time, but you lose control of the root system and they can't be moved. There's also the risk of killing them when taking them back out of the ground to put them in a pot for bonsai. So with the idea of keeping the trees inside their pots, but not letting them realize that they're inside of pots, I try to do my best to continue planting them up without overdoing it, and causing waterlogging. Once the trunks have a decent thickness and shape or because something else happens, I end cutting them back and they ramify/grow bushier; eventually looking more like an adult tree. I generally cut them in a conical shape when I seriously begin pruning because that helps with taper. As longer branches become thicker, the attachment points were longer branches are located cause the trunk to get thicker in that area as well. This results in a tree that is thicker at the base and thinner at the top, but with saplings this is obviously won't be in concern until later.

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