Bonsai treasures Jiuli incense

Jiuli is a kind of evergreen shrub, which belongs to the family Rutaceae and is of the same clan as citrus. With the characteristics of short and vigorous, strong leaves and twigs and intertwined roots, bonsai lovers can emulate painting techniques and turn them into vigorous or chic bonsai art treasures through pruning, plastic surgery and other methods.

The shape of Jiuli incense bonsai branch support mostly adopts the unique Lingnan school "storing branches and cutting dry" method, which appears to be vigorous and powerful, with proper levels; and each branch is independent into a tree, and each tree is a separate landscape, if a branch is casually cut off, all meet the independent bonsai modeling standards.

Guangdong is famous for its Jiulixiang bonsai. In 1962, beloved Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Premier Chen Yi visited abroad via Guangzhou and specially selected a pot of Nine Lixiang and a pot of sparrow plum from Kong Taichu to present to his Majesty King Selassie of Ethiopia.

Jiuli incense is very abundant in India, and can be seen from time to time in the mountains and sparse forests in the south of China. In the early Qing Dynasty, qu Dajun, a poet in Lingnan, had the famous phrase "custom Jiuli incense". It can be seen that Jiuli incense was cultivated in various parts of Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty, and many people in the folk still like to put it in the patio to take its auspicious and longevity meaning.

Jiuli incense is fond of warm and humid climate, cold and drought in winter, potted plants in the north, indoor in winter, and open air in the south. It has strong germinating power, sturdy growth, and is extremely resistant to pruning. In addition to bonsai care, general greening cultivation is easy to manage. The common Jiuli incense bonsai, the pile head is mostly wild, take its wild interest, branch proportion, not very strict. It has developed into a cultivated species over the years, cultivated from an early age, and created excellent works artificially.

However, for beginners to make bonsai, be careful not to choose the wrong tree species. The shape of "Shilixiang" of the same family is very similar to that of Jiuli incense, except that its leaves are large and pointed, and the leaves are thin. The bark is brown and yellow, mostly produced in northern Guangdong, so it is not suitable to make bonsai.

The growth rate of Jiuli incense is fast, the branches are soft, and it is not easy to break. It can be propagated by sowing, cuttings, striping and other methods. Using the sowing method, the ripe red fruits were collected from April to July to take out the seeds, sowed in the seedbed and germinated more than a month later. Cutting branches can be carried out from April to May, select 2-year-old branches, cut into cuttings of 15cm to 20cm, remove underground leaves, leave only top 3 to 4 leaves, use mud to cut the lower end of cuttings, insert them in seedbeds or pots, keep the soil moist, place in shady places, and root and grow leaves in about 50 days.

Striping propagation is to press the branches of the mother plant close to the ground into the soil to make them sprout new roots, then cut them off, and become new plants that live independently.

The high-pressure method is generally used in Jiuli incense striping, which is more suitable for taller plants whose branches are not easy to bend to the ground. Before sprouting, select strong branches, ring peeling, about 2 cm to 3 cm wide, then knead sandy loam and culture soil into paste, wrap them in moist moss, cover them with plastic film, fasten them with plastic ropes at both ends, help to moisturize, wait for them to grow new roots, cut off the mother plant from under the root, and plant it in the basin.