名媛直播

Hey guys, i have been trying to get my leaf ramification sorted out on my crassula and i can see it getting somewhere! Obviously in order to get nice canopies of foliage it is advised by many pro's to pinch the growth tips off of the ends of branches. Its all very good reading about it, but seeing it with your own eyes is a great learning experience. Attached are some pics of my crassula. Observe carefully how the branches split into two or three, and on the ends of some branches it branches off into a new branch where i have either pinched or cut off peices of branch or leaf. On one of the pics there is a branch growing right at the bottom of the trunk, this is also from pinching! Im so pumped because now i will have an awesome lower branch! This is exactly what us bonsaists want! . As you can see i am very excited as it is a great learning curve..

Is it possible to cut a branch in such a way as to force the new growth in a certain direction? Could someone please inform me of how to do it? It must be possible because Chinese believe in only clip and grow method, no wire!

Good looking tree .. looking forward to watching it grow. I love what you have done with her so far.

:woohoo: I AM EXCITED WITH YOU !!

Hey Jon!

Congrats! That's awesome news! :woohoo: What a difference from your earlier photos. A before & after photo would be cool. See how patience pays off?...although these little Crassuluas ramified very quickly. Just remember with other more slow growing plants this process will take significantly longer. I'm excited with you too

In answer to your questions, I personally thought directional pruning was done by clipping the leaves but don't take my word for it cuz my memory can be a little...well, you know...:whistle: I know I read an article on it somewhere - just can't remember where it is! If I find it I will pass it on however, in the meantime here are a couple of links from the Empire's website:

The clip & grow method:

On branch pruning:

Hope this helps. And hey, keep up the great work!

howdy J.
as you stated you are pinching back and getting 2 or 3 buds on the ends. to grow a branch take off all but 1 bud let it grow pinch back get more buds pick one let it grow ect...you would control direction with the bud selection (left, right, up,down)if you want it to branch more leave 2 buds and develope from there.as the artical says this takes alot of time but the end result is a much older appearance. best of luck 'n' keep us posted

Yeah Man

Guess we got the E.S.P. going -- I was just going to ask that questions.

Thanx for the quick answer ... :kiss:

Thanks manofthetrees thats awesome, i would have never thought it was that easy

Wow! Keith...thanks for explaining that! You make it sound so easy!

Hey guys
It's been a while since I posted....late fall and winter bites as all of my trees are dormant.
I don't know about this specific tree, but normally(as manofthetrees wrote) when pinching leaves you leave a leaf in the direction you'd like the branch to grow.
pinching also reduces leaf size. My privet had bigger leaves than I wanted so I started pinching them off. within a few months the leaves has reduced quite a bit.
That's a great plant so far.
Lance

Hey Lance! It's great to hear from you!

I have a question: if one pinches off the centre bud at the very end of a main branch, doesn't that end the growth of that particular branch? I know other side branches will sprout off the main branch but they are separate, secondary branches...I'm referring to the continued growth of the main branch. :huh:

Yes the main branch usually stops for a while but it will find another way to start growing straight up again, i have seen it with my other trees, you pinch the top of one of your main branches because you dont want the apex to grow longer? Is that what you mean? If thats the case once you do that it will usually carry on growing again after a while