Training Our Fukiran

[rangiku]

I use bamboo skewers, toothpicks and my sensei recently gave me 10 clear plastic skewers from Japan made for training Neos. You know she is a good sensei, because she doesn't want to be called that.

Over on the slippertalk forum, Jason Fischer mentioned that you only train bean leaf Neos. Also we are supposed to be rotating the plants to encourage growth all around the plant.

coffeecup, can you please elaborate about when you divide plants? How big should they be?

[Red Orchid]

Can someone kindly post a pic of their plant being trained and indicate why you put each post in that particular area. I need Training 101.

[coffeecup]

Originally Posted by rangiku

coffeecup, can you please elaborate about when you divide plants? How big should they be?

Quite honestly, it really depends on how you want the plant to look. Some Neos will just self divide and fans will just come off. I decided to divide mine since I had fans growing every which way and it was too late to retrain them to go a different direction. There were cases where roots were growing from all directions too. I wish I had taken pictures, before and after, so you could see.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by rangiku

Over on the slippertalk forum, Jason Fischer mentioned that you only train bean leaf Neos.

I think you meant to type the opposite. Borrowing a quote from the classic "Paging Jason Fischer..." thread on the ST forum (I think this is a short enough excerpt to constitute fair use):

2. . Can you describe the technique of shaping the Neofinetia falcata with skewers and string? Do you have photos? What characteristics are they trying to impart to the plants by training them?

-The pleasant appearance to the eye means balance. As in Japanese gardening, ‘balance’ does not hold the same meaning as it does to the west. When we think balance, we think 50/50. When the Japanese think balance, they think 10/90, 40/60, 20/80 etc.. As long as something counterweights the other, balance can be found. In the case of neofinetia, you could have an old growth with many leaves and newer growths on the left side of the plant as long as one good sized growth was leaning towards the other side (this is to the extreme and not often seen). New growths often emerge, and depending on what direction they face or if their leaves bump into other leaves/growths they could bend one way or another. This is simply fixed by skewers placed in the moss, which can usually be removed in about 2 or 3 months when the growths have re-adjusted. An over all balance of growths is appreciated, which is why window sill growers will turn their fuukiran year round to induce more growth production on each side. The skewer technique is only done with standard type leaves. Bean leaf, needle leaf and contorted leaf do not need leaf training. The only thing you can do in this case is train for good growth production around the base. I can take pics of using the skewers (don’t have any now).

Originally Posted by rangiku

Also we are supposed to be rotating the plants to encourage growth all around the plant.

Jason mentions that too in relation to windowsill growers. I imagine rotating the plant is less important if your primary light source is artificial lighting directly above. I have a combination of overhead light, with substantial sunlight from a window a few feet away during part of the day. I have been rotating them occasionally.

[rangiku]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

I think you meant to type the opposite.

Thanks for catching that, Jay. Does this mean I don't have to train my Suikaden? I misread what Jason said and have been training my bean leafs, too!