How to Achieve Fruit Set in the Same Year with Miniature Fruit Tree Bonsai

   Miniature fruit tree bonsai generally require 3 to 4 years of careful management before they flower and bear fruit. To promote earlier fruiting in fruit tree bonsai, the author, through years of cultivation experience, has found that the following three methods can achieve the effect of planting fruit trees and getting fruit in the same year.

1. The approach grafting method for potted fruit trees of the pome and stone fruit types.
For fruit trees such as apple, pear, apricot, hawthorn, persimmon, and jujube, first select rootstocks that are suited to the local environmental conditions, have well-developed root systems, have strong grafting compatibility with the scion, and are free of pests and diseases. For apple, use Malus baccata or crabapple; for pear, use Pyrus ussuriensis or Pyrus betulifolia; for hawthorn, use Crataegus pinnatifida; for plum, use mountain peach, plum, or Prunus tomentosa; for apricot, best to use mountain apricot; for persimmon, use Diospyros lotus; for jujube, use sour jujube. Next, take rootstocks that have been potted for more than one year and are of sufficient length and thickness, prop them up, and tie them to suitable positions on the mother tree of the desired variety for approach grafting. The approach grafting site should be chosen on a fruiting branch with good form and many flower buds, and the rootstock and the mother tree should be similar in thickness at the approach grafting site. In early spring, use a sharp knife to cut both the approach grafting site on the mother tree and the rootstock down to the xylem. The cuts should be smooth and straight, 3 to 5 cm in length, and the cambium layers on both sides should be aligned as much as possible. Bind tightly with plastic strips. After 4 to 5 months, once the union has completely healed, cut off the portion below the binding site on the fruiting branch, and at the same time cut off the upper portion of the rootstock above the binding site. This yields a pot of fruit tree bonsai that bears fruit in the same year.

2. The air layering method for grapes. In conjunction with autumn pruning of grapes, select healthy, vigorous fruiting mother canes with excellent characteristics and no pests or diseases, and prune lightly while leaving them to grow. After spring begins, at a point 2 cm below the site where roots are desired, make a 5 cm girdle, pass the mother vine (branch) through the enlarged drainage hole of a flower pot, secure the pot in place, and fill the pot with moist, fertile cultivation soil. Water frequently to keep it moist. After 1 month, saw through one-half of the mother vine (branch) below the pot, and before the fruit ripens, saw it through completely. Remove excess branches and leaves, take off the pot, and it is a pot of grapevines bearing fruit.
This method can also be used for air layering pomegranate, fig, and mandarin, but in all cases one must select mother branches that have flower buds and can bear fruit.

3. The green branch cutting method for pomegranate. In mid-to-late June, when pomegranate branches are semi-lignified and flower buds have appeared, cut branches with flower buds and immediately insert them into a pot filled with moist rice husk ash (made from burned rice husks), then water thoroughly and place in a shaded spot for about 15 days, by which time a small number of fibrous roots will have emerged. Try not to damage the roots, and carefully transplant into a pot containing a mixture of half rice husk ash and half cultivation soil. After 2 to 3 days in the shade, place in a semi-shaded spot for about 7 days, gradually moving from weak light to strong light. After about 20 days, pot and establish in a 10 to 12 cm pot for normal care.

With the above methods, one must be careful to secure the fruit tree and flower pot firmly to prevent wind from swaying the branches, which would affect wound healing and root growth, while also ensuring adequate fertilizer and water. On the setting, the mother tree should be selected for excellent quality, bright color, and attractive fruit shape