Autumn 2021 update of another Alder (harvested as a 4/5yo plant from a building plot and regrown since +/- 2011/2012).
So far so good. In a few years it will get a more suitable pot, this one is the only one I had left to repot it from wooden box after 2yrs of growth.
Autumn 2021, picture update of one of my homegrown common Alders (alnus glutinosa).
So far so good, top needs more development (bit heavier/fuller to avoid the overall too triangular 'bonsai' shape, needs more oval)
I will change to a better pot in a few years, if all keeps going well.
Autumn 2021, update picture from my Birch - Betula pendula.
100% homegrown right from it's start as a seedling in 2008.
Not styled in the 'typical' way for birch. It is quite a small size for the species (about 45cm) so that has its challenges as to ramification with this species. But, so far so good, and I do not aim for a very densily ramified try, this would not work.
Autumn update on the small Prunus subhirtella, variety 'autumnalis rosea'.
Started from a pencil-thick gardencentre plant, in, I think 2001/2002. Had a very bad year in 2008 with a near-death-experience so had to build it up from diedback trunk(let) in 2009.
This year's update on the Ribes alpinum small size.
From a cutting, in ... 1996/1997, only been grown in a pot.
Merely 30cm in height.
Back in... 2012-2013? I harvested a chestnut, sowed it, and here we are. I hope to get it in its first pot in about 3 years from now... could be longer ;-)
Yes, it is possible, I notice it each year in several (not all) pots with highly inorganic substrate (in my case, with substantial amount of zeolite): Fungi, or in other words the fruiting bodies of (ecto)mycorrhizae.
I only use a smaller part organics (coco) in my otherwise highly inorganic substrate (zeolite/lava/pumice), make sure I have (and keep) a healthy microbial balance by fertilising only with organic fertilizers. Spores from fungi will settle automatically by spreading through the wind (unbelievably tiny spores), if not brought in actively by repotting whilst recuperating a small amount of the old soil around the roots. Also make sure to use substrates that, by their structure and inherent characteristics, can be colonised with bacteria and fungi, so do not include things like plain gravel.
I've even had fungi in 100% zeolite substrate, with Birch (that has several mycorrhizae they form symbioses with).
These are recent pictures from my European hornbeam (carpinus betulus).
