Hello there, lovers of growing green things! Today I present to you my one of my favorite little trees again. I've been working on this as yet unknown species of acacia for many years now and was even over a foot tall at one point. I remember all the leaves falling off once due to lack of water (oops) after which I took the opportunity to hard prune the stick in half. According to my records, I pruned it in half again some time later. The photo above is the oldest one I have of this tree (from 3 years ago), and seems to have been taken shortly after the second hard pruning with the new growing branches also pruned.
Nine months after that picture was taken and the plant is looking a lot better, like an actual little tree now. From here it would still be a while before its first root pruning so it is still not technically a bonsai tree.
Present day
This tree still breaks a lot of rules. Some branches are starting to criss-cross, which is a big no-no. Another rule is that branches (and roots) should subdivide by twos. Good ramification would be 1 branch dividing to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 8 etc. We (royal we) won't be pruning any foliage this time, though I have seen videos of this bonsai hobbyist that likes to prune bottom and topside in one go. Not all species can handle this much stress though.
Sun-facing side
The last time I repotted this specimen was around March 2021. The original plan was to wait at least a full year but I was starting to notice growth stalling and frequent thirst. These are signs of the tree being pot bound, or having long roots curling along the bottom of the pot and competing with each other.
These pests aren't helping anyone either.
Look at how much the original little branches thickened up! The key to thickening any part of your tree is letting it grow! I think I'll let the foliage grow wild for a year after this.
I squeezed the ends of the pot and pulled the whole tree with root ball out and got to work. I was using a tiny fork to remove the topsoil and found so many fine feeder roots just beneath that. A small metal pick (the kind used in conjunction with nutcrackers) worked better to remove the rest of the soil.
Clearing away all the soil is careful and time-consuming work. I took so long that I had forgotten about a prior engagement I had with some friends and they had started to call me up. I had half an hour to go. At this point I still hadn't pruned anything and then it still had to be potted again with care and love.
I lopped off the ends of the two major roots by a lot, and pretty haphazardly too. I even managed to destroy one pair of scissors and maim another. No, I don't have the proper cutting tools. I want some straight cutters and especially a concave cutter.
I didn't bother to mess with any of the fine roots since it had already lost so many and it needs as many as possible. By now the tree has closed its leaves and it was time to go and pick up some people. So I left the tree with its stinky roots submerged water and hoped for the best.
The next morning the tree looked fine. Its leaves had opened back up to absorb the morning sunlight. I repotted it in cactus/citrus soil because it is good at holding water, yet it also has good drainage. I mixed in a little bit of the old soil so that microfauna could get a headstart on colonizing this pot. I put it back in its spot near the south-facing window.
Eventually, this tree may flower. Only then will I be able to accurately identify it. I will have to wait until then, or until I go back to where I collected the seed from. The seed came from a bean-like pod that I picked from a mature tree about 20 feet tall in Mexico. It is known as huisache (wee-SAH-cheh) there, which is a Nahuatl word for "many thorns", referring to the pair of thorns at the base of each compound leaf.
This tree is actually a nuisance in Mexico. People cut them down if they can but goats eat them and spread. the seeds everywhere. It is also resilient and hardy, making it tougher to eradicate. These qualities, however, make it a prime candidate for a budding bonsai novice like myself.
I hope to spend many more years alongside this tree and, one day, give it a proper pot.
