Rare Fruiting Golden Bullet Bonsai
Answering netizens' questions about the experience of making Golden Bullet Bonsai, this rare fruiting Golden Bullet Bonsai, the editor will introduce to the netizens next.
Golden Bullet, scientific name Diospyros armata, alias Penlan,刺柿 (cì shì), Penlanhua, belongs to the Diospyros genus of the persimmon family, semi-evergreen or evergreen shrubs. The stem of Golden Bullet is strong and upright, naturally twisted, the color is like iron, suitable for making tree-stump bonsai. Golden Bullet blooms light yellow flowers in April, the flower shape is like a bottle, the fragrance is like orchid, hence the name "Penlanhua"; after flowering in May, the fruit hangs, and after October, the green fruit turns orange red or orange yellow, resembling bullet pellets, hence called "Golden Bullet", the fruit remains until the following spring; the leaf surface is dark green, leathery and glossy: it is an ornamental flower that is beautiful in fruit, flower, and leaf. The tree-stump bonsai of Golden Bullet has high economic value.
I. Origin and Variety Differences of Golden Bullet
Golden Bullet is distributed and cultivated in East China, South China, and Central China. Currently, the ones on the market and participating in exhibitions are mainly from Sichuan and Hubei provinces, but there are differences between the two places. Sichuan Golden Bullet has small leaves and many fruits, and even small trunks (miniature or small-sized bonsai) can bear fruit in the pot as long as they reach the cultivation age. Hubei Golden Bullet is divided into three types: large leaf, medium leaf, and small leaf, with large leaf having small fruit, medium leaf having large fruit, and small leaf having medium fruit. Some small trunks take many years to bloom and bear fruit. The most special feature of Hubei Golden Bullet is that it does not shed leaves in winter. From New Year's Day to the Spring Festival every year, the fruiting Golden Bullet changes from green to red among the green leaves, with red and green contrasting, and the iron stem twisted branches full of vitality.
II. How to Identify the Male and Female Dioecious Plants of Golden Bullet
Golden Bullet is dioecious, so there are two types of potted Golden Bullet: fruiting and non-fruiting. After years of observation and research, the author found that the gender of the tree trunk cannot be accurately determined by analyzing the tree shape, bark color, leaf shape, leaf color, and leaf veins, only by observing the flowers of Golden Bullet can the male and female be accurately distinguished. Male plants have two or more flowers under each leaf bud, the flower shape is like a small lantern, the flower receptacle has no claws, and the open flower can see the male stamens and pollen. Female plants have only one or two flowers under each leaf bud, the shape is larger than male flowers, the four leaves wrap the flower heart into a triangle, after the flower opens, the flower claws look like persimmon flowers, and the inside of the flower can be seen with young fruit.
III. Propagation, Cultivation, and Management of Golden Bullet
1. Seed propagation: After the 15th day of the lunar January, pick the mature fruit, clean and wash the seeds, and then soak them in hot water at about 30℃ for 48 hours before taking them out and placing them in a container with drainage, covered with double-layer gauze, similar to growing bean sprouts, pour water on the seeds once a day until the seeds germinate, then plant them in the prepared seedbed. After routine management, small bonsai can be made from the seedlings after three years.
2. Cuttings from female branches can be rooted from both new and old branches. The key to successful rooting is to pay attention to the season, that is, mid-April. Also, ensure the humidity of the cutting bed and the freshness of the cuttings. If conditions allow, place the cutting bed in full sun, spray during the day, and stop at night. Without conditions, place the cutting bed in a bright, ventilated, semi-shaded and semi-sunny place, and spray with a sprayer four times a day to ensure the survival rate of Golden Bullet cuttings. Small bonsai made from cuttings can bear fruit after three years.
3. Dug old trunks from the mountains: From November of the current year to April of the following year. Under the premise of protecting the natural ecological environment, professionals can plan to go uphill for digging. After下山, the old trunks are first soaked in clean water for two hours, then buried with sand soil about 1/2 of the trunk, watered thoroughly to set the roots, and as long as the environment is kept humid, the branches can grow to one meter in the same year, and can be dug up in March of the following year for potting, pruning, and shaping, and it can become a basically shaped tree-stump bonsai in three to four years.
4. Routine maintenance management. The shaping of Golden Bullet can be done by using metal wire to shape the main stem and branches. Subsequent management is mainly pruning with auxiliary wiring. Potting can use a mixture of river sand, decomposed leaf soil, and loess in a ratio of 4:4:2, water thoroughly after planting, place in a shady place for half a month, then normal management, after the new buds appear, water with decomposed fertilizer solution once a month, the ratio of fertilizer solution to water is 1-10, apply more fertilizer in spring and autumn, less in summer, and no fertilizer in winter. Watering should keep the potting soil slightly moist, water thoroughly every evening in summer, and in spring, autumn, and winter, do not water until the soil is dry, and water thoroughly when watering.
5. Fruit cultivation: Since Golden Bullet is dioecious, during the flowering period of Golden Bullet, it is necessary to ensure that there are male plants flowering next to the female plants to facilitate natural pollination and increase the fruiting rate. If there are no male plants flowering next to the female plants, artificial pollination can be performed. When the female plant flowers fall, the fruit is already hanging on the flower receptacle, at this time, spray twice with 1:800 potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution every half month to improve the fruit-setting rate. In September of the lunar calendar, the same spray twice with 1:600 urea solution, which can make the fruit large and glossy. By following this cultivation and management method, Golden Bullet can be lush and leafy from October of the current year to February of the following year, with red fruit full of branches, giving a sense of harvest, joy, and harmony.
The above is an introduction to the method of rare fruiting Golden Bullet bonsai, as a reference suggestion for everyone.