I used one of my California Super Mango Rootstock seedlings planted in a MicroKote treated pot for this Japanese inspired ultra low tree. I have my original experiments still growing but they are developing slower because they only have a single rootstock.
I like the idea of having one of these Japanese inspired trees inside a plastic half barrel because it will be somewhat transportable when small or if heavily pruned back. This tree has nice branching and a thick trunk considering it is only a little over one year old.
Because I intend to keep this tree relatively small, I am not planning on it producing lots of fruit. The focus will be on producing fewer, ultra high quality fruit of top tier varieties. Because this tree is potted and will be wide and relatively short in stature, I need to keep the overall width of the tree to a reasonable size, maybe 3x3 or at most 4x4 so that I can perform annual or biannual root pruning and re potting.
I will also have to graft low so that if/when I need to cut the tree back for rejuvenation or for transport, the cuts will be above the graft line.
I plan on making this a designer tree and will treat it as much as artwork as I will treat it as a fruit producing tree. So far, I plan to graft the following varieties onto it:
1) Lemon Zest
2) Sweet Tart
3) Fruit Punch
4) Piņa Colada
5) Peach Cobbler
6) Pineapple Pleasure
7) Cotton Candy
Phoenix
In the future, I plan on creating more themed trees such as the Citrus themed consisting of PPK, Lemon Zest and Orange Sherbet Seedling.
Anyways, here are my first ties on the first tree. These bends/ties are to keep the branches low but still angled upwards but only slightly. I am also positioning the branches in a manner that will fill in all the empty space.
Simon