When does the silk tree bloom?
This article introduces the blooming season of the silk tree and the topic of the plants and flowers related to the blooming time of the silk tree. Let's get to know more about it.
The silk tree, also known as the horse chestnut, night-blooming tree, fluffy tree, or bird-down tree, belongs to the leguminous family and the silk tree genus. It also has an elegant name "qing chang," which sounds like a light and elegant demeanor.
As you might expect, the silk tree has a refreshing and attractive fragrance, can purify the air, and please the mind. Its umbrella-like, green and serene tree crown cools the eyes and its morning bloom and evening close characteristics are particularly favored.
The calyx of the silk tree is yellow-green, the filaments are pink, 2.5-4 centimeters long, numerous, and grouped into fluffy tufts. The blooming period is from June to August.
If you have a silk tree bonsai, its posture is graceful, elegant, with flowers full of branches, hanging down like silk, delicate leaves, and initially opening like a plume, full of vitality, making it very suitable for placement in a family bedroom or living room for observation.
In this article, let's talk about the propagation and maintenance of the silk tree.
First, you need to know what the silk tree likes!
Firstly
The silk tree loves sunlight, does not tolerate shade, can adapt to various climatic conditions, is not picky about soil, tolerates drought and infertility, does not tolerate severe cold, does not tolerate waterlogging, and grows well in moist and fertile soil.
Secondly
The silk tree's roots have nodules that can improve the soil. It has shallow roots, weak germination power, does not tolerate pruning, has a long blooming period, can withstand air pollution, and has strong resistance to toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide and chlorine gas.
Thirdly
The silk tree prefers to be fertilized with a thin liquid fertilizer every 15 days. After the buds appear, the amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be increased. Spray a 200 mg/L gibberellin solution on the leaves every 5 days, spray 2-3 times, which can advance the blooming by more than 10 days.
Fourthly
Watering the silk tree should follow the principle of "watering when dry and moist when wet." Pay attention to drainage during the rainy season to prevent root rot caused by waterlogging in the pot.
Fifthly
Repot every 1-2 years before spring sprouting. Although the silk tree is not picky about soil, it grows better in loose, fertile, and well-drained sandy soil.
How to propagate and cultivate silk tree bonsai
By seeds? Layering?
The propagation of silk trees can be done by seeds, layering, or division.
Seedlings are first planted in large clay pots or underground for maintenance, and they grow very fast. Layered or divided seedlings can become plants in the same year.
Seedlings can be trained and bent the second year, and the top should be pinched to control plant height and promote trunk thickening.
Bonsais can also be made from old silk tree stumps that are small in size, with ancient and unique shapes.
We can transplant in spring, first planting in the ground or in a larger clay pot to "nurture the seedling" to ensure survival. Once the branches and buds start growing and the plant has survived, shaping can begin.
Since the young trees and large branches of the silk tree usually grow straight with few branches, they can be left to grow. When the branches reach the required thickness, they can be cut to promote side branches.
Remove unnecessary buds in time to prevent them from growing into branches and consuming too much nutrients, which may affect the growth of other branches.
When does the silk tree bloom
How to "cultivate" to obtain a silk tree bonsai
Pruning? Twisting?
1. The silk tree can be made into various forms of bonsai, such as straight-trunk, slanted-trunk, curved-trunk, double-trunk, near-water, exposed-root, and attached-rock styles.
2. Since the silk tree does not tolerate pruning and its branches are long, shaping should be carefully twisted and more branches should be left. Once the plant grows larger, excess branches can be cut, and long branches can be shortened to form a full and compact tree crown.
3. Twisting of the silk tree bonsai can be done at any time, usually combined with pruning after flowering.
4. The trunk of the silk tree has smooth bark, so when making bonsai, it should appear natural to highlight the characteristics of the species and express its robust posture.
The author does not recommend that readers deliberately pursue the so-called "antiquity" by carving the trunk of the silk tree to make it look scarred and pockmarked.
5. After the silk tree bonsai flowers, the残花 should be cut in time to avoid consuming too much nutrients due to fruiting and affecting the growth of the plant.
6. Although the silk tree grows quickly, it has weak germination power, so the branches are relatively sparse. Usually, attention should be paid to retaining lateral buds to make the tree crown full.
But it should be noted that in everyday life, branches that affect the tree shape, such as parallel branches, intersecting branches, weak branches, diseased and pest branches, and excess inner branches, should be cut.
The above sharing about when the silk tree blooms and the specific introduction of the blooming time of the silk tree are for netizens to refer to and learn from.