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Mangalore: Go, Man! Go for Bonsai, it's a 'Fruit'ful Idea !

  •   Fri, Dec 14 2007 12:43:42 PM

Mangalore: Go, Man! Go for Bonsai, it's a 'Fruit'ful Idea !

by Richie Lasrado
Pics Dayanand Kukkaje

Mangalore, Dec 14: Come early part or the first few months of any year, it's 'Mango Galore' time in Mangalore. But heard of off-seaon yield of mangoes anywhere, literally in one's backyard or balcony? Not as we have heard so far.

When our team landed at the apartment of Placid Noronha in 'Serenity' - quite a soothing name and ambience - opposite Bijai church in the city, it was indeed a 'fruit'ful experience. Two small mango plants, neatly potted, had a few mangoes hanging from them. The long drooping stems of the fruit looked as if they have been hung with some polyethylene strands. But a close look and feel proved they were real and natural.

The Noronhas had bought two a-year-and-half-old mango plants from Pots 'n' Plants nursery, owned by Dora Jayatilak, located at Pumpwell in August 2006. Maybe it was just for the looks and out of curiosity as to how slow and into what shape they will grow.

In October 2006 the bonsai trees - in fact we are in two minds whether to call them trees or plants - started flowering but sadly withered in a few days. 

This October 2007 the trees flowered once again. While one yielded a single mango, the other proudly flaunted four of them.

Did the trees require any special treatment, we were curious to know. No, say the Noronhas, except daily watering and occasional manuring.
 
Besides bringing thrill to the owners, the trees have attracted admiration and attention from the neighbours too. Violet D'Souza, a neighbour from Mona Lisa Apartments nearby, appeared to be better informed about the mango cultivation, when she commented on this yield.

Said she: "Mango, ‘the king of fruits’, is generally available only in the summer season.  When the hot summer arrives, we keep seeing the branches loaded with the most delicious mangoes. They contain a rich source of vitamins namely A, C and D." 

"When I happened to spot the bonsai-grown mangoes at the Noronhas, it was a pleasant surprise for me. I could not believe my eyes because it was the early winter season bringing in good tidings of joy and happiness in anticipation," Violet added.

By the way, there could be similar yield elsewhere, not necessarily of mangoes. Do any other readers have something to share with others - mind you, not the fruit, but information and pictures?


Bonsai-grown mangoes elsewhere (courtesy: Harekrishnaji's blog)

More on Bonsai

(from Internet sources)

Bonsai, literally "potted plant" in Japanese is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees by growing them in containers. Originating in Chinese 'penjing ("tray scenery"), Japanese bonsai developed its localization of techniques and aesthetics after its introduction to Japan by imperial embassies returning from China in the ninth century. In Western culture, the word "bonsai" is commonly used as an umbrella term for all miniature trees.

History

The history of bonsai is cloaked in the mist of the past, but it is now widely believed to have started during the Han Dynasty in China. It was the Chinese who first created the miniature landscapes and trees that we now know as bonsai or penjing. Since originating in China many centuries ago, it has developed into many new forms in various parts of China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

At first, the Japanese used miniaturized container-grown trees for decorating their homes and gardens.

During the Tokugawa period, landscape gardening attained new importance. Cultivation of plants such as azalea and maples became a pastime of the wealthy. Growing dwarf plants in containers was also popular, but by modern bonsai standards the container plants of this period were inappropriately large. The then-term for dwarf potted trees was "a tree in a pot".

Cultivation
 

Bonsai are not genetically dwarfed plants. They are created from nearly any tree or shrub species and remain small through pot confinement and crown and root pruning. Some specific species are more sought after for use as bonsai material. This is because they have characteristics that make them appropriate for the smaller design arrangements of bonsai. There are many different ways to acquire, cultivate and grow bonsai. Several of the most common include:

  • Growing from seed
  • Cuttings
  • Air layering
  • Grafting


Common styles
 
Many different styles of bonsai exist. In English, the most common styles include: formal upright, slant, informal upright, cascade, semi-cascade, raft, literati, and group/forest.

The formal upright style, or Chokkan, is characterized by a straight, upright, tapering trunk. The trunk and branches of the informal upright style, or Moyogi, may incorporate pronounced bends and curves, but the apex of the informal upright is always located directly over where the trunk begins at the soil line.

Slant-style, or Shakan, bonsai possess straight trunks like those of bonsai grown in the formal upright style. However, the slant style trunk emerges from the soil at an angle, and the apex of the bonsai will be located to the left or right of the root base.

Cascade-style, or Kengai, bonsai are modeled after trees which grow over water or on the sides of mountains. The apex, or tip of the tree in the Semi-cascade-style, or Han Kengai, bonsai extend just at or beneath the lip of the bonsai pot; the apex of a (full) cascade style falls below the base of the pot.

Raft-style, or Netsunari, bonsai mimic a natural phenomenon that occurs when a tree topples onto its side (typically due to erosion or another natural force) and branches along the exposed side of the trunk, growing as if they are a group of new trunks. Sometimes, roots will develop from buried portions of the trunk. Raft-style bonsai can have sinuous, straight-line, or slanting trunks, all giving the illusion that they are a group of separate trees -- while actually being the branches of a tree planted on its side.

The literati style is characterized by a generally bare trunk line, with branches reduced to a minimum, and typically placed higher up on a long, often contorted trunk. This style derives its name from the Chinese literati, who were often artists, and some of whom painted Chinese brush paintings, like those found in the ancient text, The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, depicting pine trees that grew in harsh climates, struggling to reach sunlight. In Japan, the literati style is known as bunjin-gi . (Bunjin is a translation of the Chinese phrase wenren meaning "scholars practiced in the arts" and gi is a derivative of the Japanese word, ki, for "tree").

The group or forest style, or Yose Ue, comprises a planting of more than one tree (typically an odd number if there are three or more trees, and essentially never 4 because of its significance in Japan) in a bonsai pot. The trees are usually the same species, with a variety of heights employed to add visual interest and to reflect the age differences encountered in mature forests.

The root-over-rock style, or Sekijoju, is a style in which the roots of a tree (typically a fig tree) are wrapped around a rock. The rock is at the base of the trunk, with the roots exposed to varying degrees.

The broom style, or Hokidachi is employed for trees with extensive, fine branching, often with species like elms. The trunk is straight and upright. It branches out in all directions about 1/3 of the way up the entire height of the tree. The branches and leaves form a ball-shaped crown which can also be very beautiful during the winter months.

The multi-trunk style, or Ikadabuki has all the trunks growing out of one root system, and it actually is one single tree. All the trunks form one crown of leaves, in which the thickest and most developed trunk forms the top.
The growing-in-a-rock, or Ishizuke style means the roots of the tree are growing in the cracks and holes of the rock. There is not much room for the roots to develop and take up nutrients. These trees are designed to visually represent that the tree has to struggle to survive.

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