[shiloh1]

A very long time ago I seem to remember reading something about 'wiggling' and loosening the cambium near the base of the trunk, which would 'stimulate' the trunk to grow thicker. It's been so long that I can't even begin to remember the source. Has anyone ever heard of this before? Does it work?

[Roobz]

Worked for me. i would wiggle,bend,shake and generally try to bruise the base of my ficus. this resulted in rapid growth around that area.

[Redwing]

I'd personally advise against it. Any short-term gains aren't worth the risks of damaging the tree or creating unsightly scar tissue.

-rw

[jkl]

If you truly "loosen" the cambium your tree will not live; it is part of the tree's circulatory system.

Generally, the pervasive beginner suggestion to irritate the trunk to promote fattening, is a bad idea. You end up more often than not, with a very ugly trunk.

[shiloh1]

I wish I could put my finger on the resource - it really was ages ago (you don't wanna know!), when I was first discovering bonsai and reading everything and anything I could get my hands on. I never tried it, as it just seemed like too much of an assault on the tree. Got curious when I read another post about thickening trunks, but there doesn't seem to be more recent information about it. So maybe it was a 'fad' that has since died?

[Roobz]

Assult on the tree?

Welcome to bonsai, we constantly assult our trees with constant pruning. branch maniplulation, root reduction, repotting, grafting, jins and sharis. power tool carving. the list goes on so be prepared to assult your trees if you want to creat a bonsai.

[jkl]

Quote

So maybe it was a 'fad' that has since died?

Oh it is still around. We went on about this forever a few months ago in a thread where someone was looking for shortcuts to get an instant fat trunk. We tried (unsuccessfully, I think) to tell him there ain't no shortcuts to fat trunks. Who knows what he ended up doing to his tree?

You thicken trunks by planting a tree in the ground and letting side branches grow and grow and grow. And/or by planting the tree in the ground and performing a trunk chop, letting it grow for a year or two, repeating the chop a bit higher up the trunk, and letting it grow, then repeating it until you are where you want to be.

Fat trunks take time. And a good mental picture of what you want your tree to be when it "grows up." Period.

[lennard]

http://www.about-bon...ng-tricks.shtml


http://books.google....page&q=&f=false (Go to Fattening.......)

If you have a few trees to spare experiment if you want to- don't try this on your only or progressed bonsai.

I do use this "instant' methods(like trunk splitting/slids/battering) but it takes a long time for the trunk to look natural.

Ficus heal very quickly but I have lost a Ficus "Wiandi" after making some vertical slids in the trunk.

Lennard

[shiloh1]

Roobz, on 05 November 2009 - 10:02 AM, said:

Assult on the tree?

Welcome to bonsai, we constantly assult our trees with constant pruning. branch maniplulation, root reduction, repotting, grafting, jins and sharis. power tool carving. the list goes on so be prepared to assult your trees if you want to creat a bonsai.

Please read 'too much of an assault'. Please also note that I am not a newcomer to bonsai, but am starting back into it after an almost 20 year hiatus.

Also please note that I was not asking out of a personal desire to do this to a tree, but only out of curiosity.

[Chris Johnston]

Roobz, on 05 November 2009 - 09:02 AM, said:

Assult on the tree?

Welcome to bonsai, we constantly assult our trees with constant pruning. branch maniplulation, root reduction, repotting, grafting, jins and sharis. power tool carving. the list goes on so be prepared to assult your trees if you want to creat a bonsai.

Yes, but be prepared to do your work using good technique. Being too rough with a trunk to try to thicken it will kill it. If you want a thick trunk fast, find a growing bed and leave the tree for some time.

chris