Syzygium buxifolium
text and photos by Alfredo Salaccione
Syzygium buxifolium appeared in the world of bonsai from few years. About his cultivation in pot, we have few information and experience. Chinese myrtle is an evergreen broadleaf, related to cloves tree (syzygium aromaticum). In Europe it is possible to find nice imported material, with fantastic parts of deadwood. I will describe my experience with a syzygium from raw material to exposition. |
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March 2007. This myrtle was imported to Italy in 2006 from China.
The picture shows the tree after one year, It looks very strong. |
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The tree is repotted, changing completely the original clay soil. It is possible to see many and thin roots.
Even if syzygium could support low temperature, in my opinion is better to repot this kind of tree only on spring time. |
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For the first wiring on syzygium I prefer to use aluminium wire. Barks is very delicate and branches are very fragile. Wiring this kind of material needs a good manual dexterity. From the second wiring I will use copper wire, that is harder but more discreet.
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I need to bend some branches of the apex, so I prefer to protect them with raffia. It is better to work using guy wires, because syzygium has very fragile branches. |
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The shary needs to be clean. The wood is very solid and strong. With a soft brush I clean the barks, in this way I will show its nice red colour. I finish here the first step of work. |
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After few weeks the tree start to grow up again. In this phase It is important to wait the change of colour of the new leaves. Only when the colour change from red to green is possible to cut, in this way the tree will make a second and strong shooting. A good organic fertilizer and a little of iron chelate will help the tree.
In the same time I try to choose the right pot.
The dimension of this pos is good, but the colour will be similar to the mature foliage.
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This red gres pot is not so bad, the colour is in accord with the living vein. But It is optically too heavy. |
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I like very much this English ceramic by John Pitt, but It is too large for the tree.
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This Tokoname pot is fine and exalt the round lines of the tree. |
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May 2007 . The new foliage is mature: the colour of leaves is green. Now I can cut them. In this way the energy in the branches is enough to have a second shooting. In this building phase is better to eliminate flowers and fruits, to have all the energies in the foliage. |
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In the pictures is possible to see that I cut the most part of the shoot. Naturally I try to have a good distribution of energy. |
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Here it is the result after three months of work from the first wiring. |
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The day for the definitive repot. Usually I spread some wax on the surface of the pot. In this way its colour get exalted, and it will be simpler to clean it from dirty. |
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The soil that I use for syzygium is a mix of akadama, pumice-stone, and kanuma. |
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Here it is the final result, the tree looks like a bonsai now. |
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After some monthes the syzygium is in good health and I decide to let it to make some flowers and fruits.
In my opinion syzygim buxifolia is a good material for bonsai lovers. It needs some care about wiring and cultivation, but respecting its physiology we have satisfaction in few time. |
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