Comments on: Repotting and grafting ume

By: Ume – cutback and grafting « Bonsai Tonight

Ume – cutback and grafting « Bonsai Tonight — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:03:08 +0000

[...] into place. You can see the grafting process in greater detail in last year’s post about repotting and grafting the [...]

By: Janet Roth

Janet Roth — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:29:32 +0000

Hi Jonas, fwiw my Santa Rosa plum generally takes a break every other year or so from blooming and bearing heavily in the other years. As you know, it is quite an old tree.

I believe that is common with stone fruit trees, so maybe that is part of what you are observing? (While ume bonsai are not grown for their fruit, and we remove the blooms before any develop, in real life they do bear fruit).

Aahhh – right now as I look out my window the tree is covered with beautiful white blooms. I think all my friends had better be prepared for bags of sweet, juicy plums right around July 4 !

By: xwires

xwires — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:47:17 +0000

Thanks Alex – both weather and maturity have an effect on when and how much ume bloom. Even now I’m only getting pink blossoms on a few branches, but the white blooms show up pretty regularly. I have a Japanese plum that is similar in growth habit but much older. Some years it’s covered with blooms, other years I only get a handful. I’ve noticed the same pattern on a number of ume from the same batch. Something between age, climate, care and genetics is at play. Here’s hoping your cuttings bloom early and often.

By: Alex V

Alex V — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:20:15 +0000

Hey Jonas,

The Ume is looking great. I can’t wait to see it in a show with full blooms. I am curious about its lack of flowering with the original pinks. I was thinking it might be an age or maturity thing, cold that be it? I have about 20 Ume cuttings out in my greenhouse that are about to bloom, but I have no idea how old the tree the cuttings came from was, and I believe cuttings behave as the same maturity as the donor tree.

As always, great post. I am looking forward to seeing this tree in the future. America needs more high quality Ume!

Alex

By: xwires

xwires — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:44:20 +0000

Thanks David. Ume aren’t hard to care for, but they are hard to maintain as bonsai. They’re quite vigorous and take advantage of lots of fertilizer and water. The trick is wiring new shoots before they harden and trimming them before they get too long – the mistake I made a couple of years ago.

@Robin – the pot is a Chinese import I purchased from Jim Gremel. The clay is of surprisingly good quality for such an affordable pot.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:27:15 +0000

Hello Jonas,

What pretty blooms! They look especially nice against the contrasting bark. I have to ask, whos the potter?

By: David

David — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:15:51 +0000

Great post, tx!
Tree is coming very nice. I heard ume’s are the hardest species to look after, do you that experience also? Do you handle them differently then other species?