How do you make and style a golden bullet tree (Diospyros cathayensis) bonsai so it looks beautiful?

Making a bonsai requires choosing a pot that matches the plant based on its form and growth habits, while also giving the plant appropriate styling. Making a golden bullet tree bonsai is no exception. The golden bullet tree is a plant with fairly strong sprouting ability, so appropriate pruning and styling of the golden bullet tree can promote its growth and make it more beautiful.

How to make a golden bullet tree bonsai

1. Choosing materials

To make a bonsai with the golden bullet tree, as with other plants, material can be obtained through artificial propagation, mostly by sowing seeds. However, obtaining bonsai material by sowing takes too long to grow, and it is not easy to get a trunk that is convenient for styling. So the editor suggests obtaining it by digging up old golden bullet tree stumps in the wild. Getting stump material this way can shorten the time needed to make a golden bullet tree bonsai.

2. Cultivating seedlings

After bringing the dug-up stump home, first cut off broken roots or excessively long roots, and also cut off dead branches or redundant branches that are unfavorable for styling. Then spray the stump head with rooting water pre-mixed with rooting powder. Finally, plant it in the ground to grow the blank. Only after the stump blank has grown roots normally and sprouted new branches can it be transplanted into a pot. Before transplanting into a pot, make sure the cultivated old golden bullet tree stump is in a period of normal growth.

3. Pruning and styling

Since our golden bullet tree stump was dug up in the wild, it is only suitable for pruning and working after 2 years of ground cultivation to grow the stump; before working, first cut off messy branches that are unfavorable for later styling, then bend the remaining branches. For thick, strong branches, it is best to use palm fiber for wrapping and bending in late spring and early summer; small redundant branches can be cut off directly. After pruning and wrapping, the golden bullet tree bonsai will present an antique and elegant posture.

How to style a golden bullet tree bonsai so it looks beautiful

The golden bullet tree has strong sprouting ability, tolerates pruning, has soft branches, and is easy to wrap and bend, so it can be styled by coarse wrapping and fine pruning. Its root system is well developed and is iron-black, very distinctive, and when styling, consider handling the root system. Common forms include straight trunk style, slanted trunk style, curved trunk style, raised-root style, connected-root style, root-in-place-of-trunk style, cascade style, waterside style, and so on.

The crown can be worked into a rigorous and neat steamed bun shape or round disc shape, or made into an unrestrained and elegant natural shape. Styling is usually done before budding in spring or during the plum rain season. Seedlings can be wrapped and bent with metal wire or palm fiber, and pruned appropriately; after the shape is formed, remove the metal wire or palm fiber promptly.

For old stumps that have grown for many years, you should, according to the stump's form, make up for its shortcomings by wrapping or pruning the branches, gradually cultivating a graceful and fresh crown. The roots and trunk do not need much handling, so as to highlight the antique and elegant characteristics.

How to care for a golden bullet tree bonsai

1. Temperature and light

The golden bullet tree tolerates low temperatures, but its activity requires high accumulated heat. April to November is the suitable growth period for the golden bullet tree, and the suitable growth temperature should be controlled between 28 and 33°C. It likes sufficient sunlight. Note that it should not be placed indoors for too long, otherwise insufficient light will cause its leaves to fall off and affect fruit bearing.

2. Watering

The golden bullet tree likes a moist, semi-shaded growing environment. Usually keep the pot soil moist and do not let it lean toward dry. In high summer temperatures, while doing good shading work, increase the frequency of watering, and you can use a sprayer to spray water to increase the surrounding air humidity. During the flower bud differentiation period, strictly control water, mainly keeping it dry, and water once it is completely dry. Along with watering, you can add an appropriate amount of quick-acting fertilizer, but the concentration should not be too high.

3. Soil

The golden bullet tree can grow well in both slightly acidic and slightly alkaline soil.

4. Fertilizing

In spring, mainly use nitrogen fertilizer to promote branch growth and prepare for cultivating new fruiting branches. During the growth period, fertilize fully and apply more phosphorus fertilizer. In the later stage of branch growth, mainly apply potassium fertilizer, such as plant ash. Generally, while repotting, add fertilizers such as cake fertilizer.

The flowering period of the golden bullet tree

The golden bullet tree generally blooms between March and April each year. The flowers are pale yellow, shaped like bottles, and give off a fragrance somewhat like that of orchids.

Golden bullet tree plants are divided into male and female, and both bloom, but their flowering is different. Generally, when a male golden bullet tree plant blooms, it produces many flowers below the leaf buds, and the flowers are like small lanterns; when opened, the stamens can be seen. When a female plant blooms, there are only one or two flowers below the leaf buds, and the flowers are relatively large, looking somewhat like persimmon flowers, and young fruit can be seen inside the flowers.

Growing a golden bullet tree bonsai likewise requires attention to light, water and fertilizer, and so on. Once these aspects are done well, the normal survival of the golden bullet tree can basically be ensured, and then with some appropriate pruning and styling, the golden bullet tree will certainly become a beautiful scenic line in our eyes.