moochinka - My thinking was that since it is not a tree, pruning it back at about six months will help to give it a stocky trunk. I read the other post. Not sure if that laterals to a pepper?

I don't see why it would work that way... age will give it more trunk, tree or no tree. Good luck with your further research on peppers.

Yes, with peppers, you really need to grow that trunk as thick as possible in the first season, and then you cut back the foliage. New growth will sprout, and it is the tiny tender new growth that you will train to form the canopy of your bonchi.

Josh

I would also recommend against hydroponics. The best way for growing bonchi is pretty much the same as the best way for growing bonsai.

Put them in the ground, outside, in full sun, and let them grow wild as long as they can. Only real difference is that with a bonsai you're looking at 3-5 years in the ground, where a pepper you can get the same kind of results in a single season.

My recommendation is to go ahead and sprout your seeds now, and do enough for you to have about 3 plants you can let grow all summer long. Raised bed is ideal, but a bolivian rainbow is an ornamental, you could get away with a large container without too much trouble. Let all 3 grow as big as they can, then this fall you can start looking them over to see which one has the best shape to work with.

Because basically, the trunk/stem will only thicken as much as it has to to support the foliage above it. If you want maximum thickness, you need maximum leaves and branches.

Bonchi and bonsai in general is not about growing small plants, its about taking bigger plants and making them look smaller through pruning.

You can get more help here:
http://www.fatalii.net/Bonsai_Chiles_Bonchi

And some shameless self promotion, I have a blog about my bonchi projects for this year where I talk about how to do everything, show examples of what I'm doing, etc:
http://livingdeathbonchi.blogspot.com/

If only I knew back in the beginning what I know now.....
This Hungarian Wax pepper ain't the best bonchi for sure, but she is the first pepper I ever grew (2008). I actually started growing peppers for the sole reason of seeing how long I could keep one alive. So here she is....my 7 year-old bonchi.

The key is to get that trunk as thick and tree-like as possible in the first season, as the trunk doesn't really thicken up much in subsequent years.

Josh

Fastest way to thicken a trunk is keep the plant healthy (with emphasis on root health), in full sun, and well fertilized, prevent/ minimize root congestion, snip off blooms as they appear - before they become fruit, and don't remove any foliage until the trunk is as thick as, or is developed to the point you want it to be - then cut back.

Leaves are food factories. More leaves/ less fruit = more food/ energy to put toward building files of cells in cambial tissues = larger diameter of stem & branches.

Al

Thanks for all the advice! This is my first attempt at bonchi and it seems like there are some crucial differences to bonsai.

Al - Would you recommend pinching off flowers for the first season? Or let fruit as normal? Should I supplement with extra nitrogen?

Yes, I touched on removing blooms (above) before they became fruit because blooms and fruit are powerful energy sinks the plant will recognize and funnel energy/ food to at the expense of vegetative growth. For me, disbudding and removing developing fruit are SOP until the tree (plant, in your case) is ready for a bonsai pot and has undergone a fair amount of ramification (development of secondary and tertiary branches).

Al

Oh yes. I misread the first comment about blooms. Thanks for the advice. I'm planning to use multiple seedlings wrapping around one another to produce a spiraling trunk for one 'tree' and a single seedling for another. I've also seen some people are pruning leaves of seedlings and small plants to result in a bushier look. I'm quite nervous about removing leaves at such an early stage of growth.

Yes, stripping leaves is a popular trend amongst pepper growers these days. If the plant is healthy, it will tolerate the treatment and backbud profusely. Best to have very strong light if you plan on doing that, though.

By the way, I removed the pod and blooms from my pepper right after taking those pics.

Josh

I don't think you need to be too worried about the impact of defoliation or partial defoliation on young plants, which are 100% dynamic mass, or nearly so. This means all of the plant's cells/ tissues are living, and it's what endows young plants with what we would name in animals as 'a strong will to live'.

Rather than defoliate, though, there is a better method of achieving the same results w/o leaving so much potential on the table. You can let a branch produce 3-4 leaves, then cut it back to 2 leaves. From each of the 2 leaves you left on the branch, 2 more branches will grow. When these each have 3-4 leaves, cut those back to 2 leaves. Your plants will be just as full without sacrificing so much growth potential. I have a few plantings that consist of multiple stems fused together. They can be interesting, so keep us posted as yours progress.

Below is a Ficus b, one of the very first things I potted when I started bonsai. I think it was 5 toothpick-thin cuttings I bought for $1.49 and twisted together, + a few more cuttings from the original plant added in. For the longest time it was this ugly monstrosity that had little to offer but the hint of potential. I probably looked seriously at that tree and the branches protruding from it in every direction at least 100 times. The only thing that kept me from pitching it was how long I'd tended to its needs.

Finally last summer, I decides to take it back to nearly nothing - just a framework. It fully recovered from that operation and is ready for more work in the spring. Eventually, I think I'll have a tree.

Al

That's an excellent tree, Al! ;-)

I tied up my Weeping Willow cuttings to do a fused stem project. Once rooted, I'll hand them off to a friend, so that he can twist and manipulate them as he wishes.

Josh

Here goes my 3rd attempt on a pepper bonsai. Past attempts were complete failures

Ok, so what are you going to do differently so you don't go down the same path as before?

One suggestion would be to change soils. I can see your soil is going to hold a LOT of perched water, which is increasingly becomes an issue as pots get smaller

The shaded area represents a layer of soggy soil (perched water) that will not drain by the force of gravity alone. It's probably the weak link in your plan.

Look at the soil in the picture of the Ficus b above. That's more appropriate for shallow containers, which demand soils with excellent drainage.

Also, you don't have to put your developing plant into a bonsai pot until you're ready to start on the details.

Al

So what kind of soil should I use Right now I have MG and compost mixture

I'd scrap both of those mixes....or save them for veggies in a raised bed.

If you absolutely *must* use the MG, cut it with at least 50% Perlite....but 70% would be better.

Josh

For regular bonsai, I go with inorganic media and add nutrients as needed. My favorite right now is diatomaceous earth. I'm thinking about trying my hydroponic media for the pepper bonsai - 50% coconut coir and 50% perlite.

Thanks for advise Bought some perlite yesterday and some fast draining soil to mix

I changed soil like suggested My bonsai so far has out lived my previous attempts and is showing signs of new growth

The biggest thing you have to watch out for at this stage is overwatering. Too much water will kill a pepper in a small container faster than anything else.

Rule of thumb, let the leaves start to droop before you water it. Peppers like it very dry. Let it dry out completely, and it should still be happy as a clam. When you see the leaves start to droop, give it a good watering and then wait for it to droop again. Whatever you do, do *NOT* try to put it on a watering schedule, let it tell you when its thirsty.

Also, whenever you cut a large section, spray the cut ends with 3% peroxide (the stuff you can get in the pharmacy for topical disinfecting of cuts). Cut pepper stems are prone to a white fungus/mold growth in the centers. If that stuff takes hold, it quickly bores it's way down the stem and kills the plant. Do that every couple days for a week or two and you should be fine.

If you see that furry white stuff growing in the middle of the trunks, you only have one option to save the plant, chop it back until you get to untouched wood. Any section that has the mold in it is already as good as dead and nothing you can do will save it. Drastic amputation is the only option.

I can wait to turn this guy into a bonsai/bonchi

I'm going to let it finish growing through the rest of the season (already summer-like weather here in FL) then cut it down

The base of it is nice and thick

Ideally, you'd want to water the plant BEFORE it becomes dry enough to wilt, as drought stress is undesirable - though I readily agree with the idea that a little drought stress from the plant being too dry is better than the stress or disease caused by prolonged periods of being too wet.

Andrew - If you'd entertain the idea of doing something adventurous, I'll tell you what I would do with your plant ..................

Al

Hi Al,

What did you have in mind?

I would chop the plant back hard. You have a pair of opposite branches that occur just above the soil line, with the main trunk line continuing upward between those branches. I would remove the main trunk by cutting through it immediately above that first pair of branches. I would then cut short the smaller branch on the left (in the picture). The very small branch on the low right would be wired or tied into position and would become the new leader. This treatment will provide you with excellent taper and make your plant look much older than it is as you work through putting the composition together.

Here is a larch I'm going to chop - JUST like your pepper

I'll cut through the main trunk just above the 2 wired branches. the branch on the right will be cut short and remain a branch. The branch to the left that's almost vertical - growing back toward the main trunk - wired with lighter color wire) will be the new leader - just like the small branch on the right side of your pepper. The large wired branch on the left at a 45* angle is a sacrifice branch, not a planned part of the composition - to be removed later, after it has helped further thicken everything below it.

Al

Sounds like a cool idea. I'm just scared my plant would die cutting it that much. I searched for a long time to find the seeds for this plant (almost a year) .

Now that I have it growing and thriving, I'm scared to cut it down

Your plant/ your call - whatever you're comfortable with. If it was mine, it would be done already. Best luck.

Al

Well Al,

I cut it down quite a bit, but not as much as you suggested I know this way it will grow back within a couple months and be very bushy(at least that's what I'm hoping for)

After cutting it me and my son went through and picked all the peppers off the cut branches I counted over 200 peppers on it (213 total) just put them in dehydrator and going to turn into powder

Lol - And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith. Matthew 8:26

Not all the ornamental peppers taste good. Did you make sure they're pleasing to the palate? If they're not something you like now, you won't like them in their dry state. I only mentioned that because I already took that trip.

Best luck!!

Al

They taste ok. I've eaten them at all color stages (obviously best when red). The powder is good on rice or chicken

I put some on pizza last night and it was too good

Back to bonsai topic,

It's been about 2 weeks since I turned my pepper plant into a bonsai, so far it has outlived my previous attemps and is doing very good. It even has some flower buds starting to grow

Looks great! My seedlings are just about big enough now to start the trunk I'm hoping for.

Thanks Artemis,

What kind of seedlings do you have growing?

Bolivian Rainbow Peppers. It's going to be beautiful.

I love Bolivian rainbow, such a pretty plant. Right now I have 20 BR seedlings growing in my greenhouse. If you go to my profile I have an idea book with some Bolivian Rainbow pics I took from my mature plant

Nice! I'm going to attempt to wrap the stems around one another to create a spiraling trunk.

Cool idea with the spiraling truck. That should look very nice when it's fully grown

It's looking great, Andrew.

Josh

Thank you Josh

Artemis, here's a pic of one of mature Bolivian Rainbows so pretty with its dark leaves, purple flowers and peppers I've grown them before and they grow close to 3ft tall with HUNDREDS of colorful peppers

This is completely off topic, but does anybody know how I could go about crossing a Black Pearl and Bolivian Rainbow to make a hybrid of the 2 plants

Yes, take a flower (or just a bit of pollen) and rub it against the flower of the other pepper. Try to do this right as the flower opens, in order to reduce the possibility of self-pollination or other hybridization. Then, do something to isolate the flower, such as a mesh bag, et cetera. I've even heard of growers using a drop of glue to close the petals of the flower back up.

If you have the resources, you could cross-fertilize all the flowers on a branch, and then bag the entire branch. Then you would grow out seeds from multiple pods and evaluate the crosses. From these, you would select your favorite pod shapes, and then grow them out again, and so on and so forth, unto the 8th to 12th generation to increase stability.

Last season I had two crosses from my Black Pearls. The cross resulted from the pollen of the Thai chiles I also grew. The plants were prolific, but not very interesting or flavorful.

Josh

Here's a shot of the seedlings. There are some 7-pots scattered around, too. The four bolivian rainbows are going to get bonsai'd I'm a bit nervous, though. My plan is to start the training in a large pot, about 3.5 gallons. I figured I'd plant three seedlings about 5 cm away from each other and prune the lower stem and slowly wire them into the spiral as they grow. Once they've wrapped a few times and start acting as one 'trunk', I'd transplant into a smaller container.

Very cool. I like the little cactus.

Your seedlings look very healthy btw

Do your Bolivian Rainbow seedlings have purple veins in the leaves. I know I had the hardest time finding true Bolivian Rainbow seeds. I spent close to a year and every time I got seeds labeled as BR, they turned out to be Numex Twilight, Numex Centenntial or something else. I finally broke down and spend the extra money and bought seeds from fatalli.net and they turned out to be true BR

Bolivian Rainbow plants should have purple stems, green leaves with purple veins (as plant matures leaves will turn purple/shiny black) purple flowers.

Here's a close up of the leaves on one of my BR seedlings you can already see the purple in the veins at such an early stage as the plant gets older, more purple shows

This is before I trimmed off the lower leaves. Looks like green veins. I'm hoping to get the deep purple foliage that yours has in the photo a few posts back.

The cactus in the front is dragon fruit. I have to move it out of the hydroponics and into some dirt.

If you are interested I have about 1000 seeds I saved from my plant and I'll be more than happy to share. Coming from personal experience I've learned that real BR are so hard to find.

Looking at your seedlings, Its too hard to tell now, but I don't think they are Bolivian Rainbow. A lot of people get Numex Twilight and Bolivian Rainbow mixed up. They are both beautiful plants (I am growing both) but completely different the way your seedlings look, I'm about 80% sure they'll turn out to be N Twilight

This is the BR I saved the seeds from

Ornamental Peppers · More Info

That would be great. I'm updating me seed list today, so I'll post it and we can do a trade. The veins now look darker, but the foliage is still green. I think you might be right about the variety. I received the seeds from a trade, but not from a pepper person, so I had my doubts. It will be good to use them to practice bonchi anyway.

Just send me a message and we can get started. I also have other variety that I've saved seeds from

I don't see the option to message you on your page. Here's my trade list - http://www.houzz.com/gardenWebTradeList/user/alouyakis

Here are a couple shots of the peppers that I started originally. They have the right shape and fruit color for BRP, but those leaves are not darkening.