What are the methods for obtaining Syzygium buxifolium bonsai stock material?

  The Syzygium buxifolium plant is relatively short, with dense, tough, and pliable branches, small leaves that are deep green and glossy, and it stays verdant through all four seasons. In early summer it blooms with small pink pom-pom-like flowers, set off by melon-seed-shaped green leaves, giving the tree an extremely graceful form. Old wild stumps, after cultivation and shaping, can have their horizontal branches spread flat with clearly defined layers, like piled-up layers of clouds, ruggedly elegant and antique, truly a fine specimen among bonsai materials.

  Syzygium buxifolium is a wild evergreen shrub of the mountains of Jiangnan, rarely cultivated artificially. According to its ecological habits and biological characteristics, it can be propagated by sowing and cuttings. However, for making bonsai, wild plants or old stumps are mostly used.

  In the mountains and hills of Jiangnan, one can select old stumps that have sprouted repeatedly after years of cutting, with aged and rugged postures. Excavate them in spring between March and April, taking care to retain as many lateral roots and fibrous roots as possible. Since the journey back from the mountains is relatively long, coat them with mud slurry and wrap them in wet moss or rice straw to reduce water evaporation and improve survival. After digging them out, plant them in loose, moist, well-drained sandy loam. Before planting, carry out a pruning to thin out overly dense branches to aid survival. After planting, promptly build a shade frame, water frequently, and keep the soil moist. In summer, also spray water on the leaves, 2-3 times a day. After October, the shade frame can be removed to provide light. After a year of ground cultivation, they can be potted and shaped.

  The tree material for making Syzygium buxifolium bonsai is mainly obtained by the following three methods.

  1. Propagation by sowing. When the seeds of Syzygium buxifolium are fully mature in November-December, collect them and sow them in loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soil (tidal mud sand) or leaf mold. After the seedlings emerge, begin in October of the third year to transplant them with soil into nursery ground; generally only after 6 years of sowing can they be potted for cultivation. If propagated by sowing, it takes at least more than 10 years to cultivate them into a rugged and antique Syzygium buxifolium stump bonsai.

  2. Buying from the market. Choose Syzygium buxifolium stumps whose branches and trunks have fresh bark color, fresh cuts, bark that has not dehydrated and dried out, relatively complete main roots, lateral roots, and fibrous roots, and that carry a little soil ball. For stumps without a soil ball, after buying them and bringing them home, immediately soak them in water for a day before planting, to improve the survival rate and germination rate.

  3. Collecting from wild mountains. Dig up twisted, aged, and quaintly beautiful Syzygium buxifolium stumps from wild mountains or riverbanks, and process and cultivate them into bonsai. This method takes shape faster than propagation by sowing, and is easier to cultivate and keep alive than buying from the market.

  ① Collection time: in principle, it is suitable to collect during the dormant period of Syzygium buxifolium (October to December). However, considering climatic characteristics and environmental factors and management issues conducive to the survival of Syzygium buxifolium stumps, it is recommended to collect from late January to early May, avoiding the cold season and dry-wind weather as much as possible.

  ② Collection method: first, the Syzygium buxifolium stumps must be carefully selected, taking as collection targets those whose main trunks are thick and twisted and aged, whose root crowns are enlarged and strange and protrude above the soil surface, or those that have been hollowed and half-dried by termite feeding. According to the form of the Syzygium buxifolium stump and the requirements of the desired styling, carry out preliminary truncation and pruning of the main trunk and most branches, then, according to the direction and distribution of the root system, decide where to dig, first cutting the main root, then the lateral roots, digging while shaking, and digging them out after the roots are bare.

  If possible, Syzygium buxifolium stumps should be dug with soil or taken out in stages over years. In the first year, dig open 1/2, cut the main root and part of the lateral roots, then fill the soil back to let fibrous roots sprout; in the second year, dig open the remaining 1/2, cut the remaining lateral roots, and then dig up the whole plant. This method has an extremely high survival rate. After the stump is dug out, quickly trim the broken root ends smooth, then dip them in mud slurry, and wrap and tie them tightly with materials such as wet rice straw, moss, cattail matting, or cloth, to ensure the roots do not lose water, and transport them back for planting as soon as possible.