Hey Matt I love the new video! I am accustomed to see rafts as “a trunk placed horizontal on the ground with branches shooting upwards”. So this was eye opening! I do have a question though, which I can’t answer behind the screen: what is happening with the Apex in your setup? To add some more context, in the traditional setup (horizontal trunk under ground), while you would expect the apex to grow in the ground, the apex actually shifts to the now upward facing branches. At first glance, it seems to me that your Apex did not change and is in the middle?

I am unaware of the workshop you have attended. As a rule of thumb, if you DON’T apply fertiliser from spring, the internodes will develop closer to each other. You want nodes closer to each other at a later stage of development, when defining branch ramifications. This information would fit to what you have heard.

Hello, I’m Răzvan. I have started my bonsai journey in 2021. Currently, I have a handful of trees in development (Wisteria, Japanese Black Pine, Orange Dream maple, Scots Pine, Oak and Black Locust). My oldest tree, is an air layered (by myself) wisteria chinensis. It can flower so it should be 10-20yo. This summer I have attempted my 1st Hans van Meer technique on a Black Locust Tree. I have some Japanese tools and also a Dremel for smooth cleaning wounds.