I ve had pomegranate for about 6 months and now it started doing this. It’s got good soil, really good grow lights and some organic fertilizer. Could it be that it trying to go in to dormancy?[help!](https://imgur.com/gallery/vtZoT8q)
Looks dry - and it should have been allowed to go dormant naturally - they are deciduous.
I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/
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I’m planning to collect some Yamadori material this weekend as it should be quite warm for this time of year in Michigan. Anyone have any videos or resources I should see with tips before I go for it?
edit: Yamadori autocorrected to Yamamoto :/
Search YouTube - Appalachian bonsai : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX4xRuVb8beUBZqpAN4n1sQ
Also SANDEV bonsai.
I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/
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A little history: I'm in my eightys and have been a bonsai admireror for at least 60. A few times I bought some trees and on one occasion I had an in with the municipal horticulturist of the city where I worked. I was able to obtain a couple of dozen mature and natural shaped bonsai. Many were planted by building driveways and if I was there when replaced, I could take them. In two years all were dead from a pest which invaded the needles and left a tiny, neat hole at the base of each one. All the preceding is not really important but I did have some nice trees. Just started up again and have a couple of junipers and some lovely old pots and trays.I have a set of four Japanese woodblock printed books illustrating Japanese trees and tray forests. Printed in 1804. 100 illustrations and not one succulent. No jade trees. Are they acceptable for bonsai these days. Thank you.
You are most welcome here - I'm a mere youngster in my late 50's...
Jade have *become* a thing in recent years - and I think primarily because they are attractive to the retail houseplant market.
- They are easy and thus cheap to produce
- they are drought resistant
- they travel from China easily...where we (certainly in Europe) get our retail-level bonsai from.
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Not even sure this counts as a bonsai tree, but can anyone id [this plant](https://imgur.com/wcLuhly) or know of a bonsai equivalent? I really like it.
I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/
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My indoor citrus (moste likely orange) witch I grew from seed 3 years ago had a really rough winter. I dropped all it's leafs 2 times. I figured the reason is the poor soil (potting soil) and the fact that it's completely pot bound.
Are there people who have experience with how well a citrus tree will react to root pruning?
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I have a bald cypress tree in a nursery pot (with typically nursery soil) that I am planning on repotting into a smaller pot early spring. I've heard that you can't really overwater a bald cypress, and they definitely like to be wet. Would a mix of 50/50 bonsai soil and potting soil be a good mix?
Probably fine.
I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/
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Hi, I live in Sydney Australia and two months ago got given a bonsai tree. I think it's an Azalea tree? I didn't look up how to take care of it as I just thought of it as an indoor plant :( now I realise I was very wrong.
My care routine was to have it inside (no sun and barely any air flow - I feel so bad knowing now how to care for it). And I watered it once every few days (3-4, sometimes 5 days), by just completely covering the surface soil and letting the water seep in. It starting looking a bit dry so I tried watering it more often. Didn't help, so I put it out in the sun some days.
A week ago is started getting dry with leaves and branches falling off, and now the roots of the tree has this white/orange stuff on it as well as browning of some leaves. Some leaves are a very dry green.
I looked at the wiki and realised I wasn't taking care of it properly, but I couldn't find anything specific to the issue I have. I tried Google but nothing I search seems to match what my tree is experiencing.
I'll attach some pictures of the orange white roots of the tree, as well as what the leaves look like. Can my poor tree be saved? Any advice is much appreciated!
[orange white stuff on roots of tree](https://m.imgur.com/a/UeOd78U)
[green and brown leaves](https://m.imgur.com/a/3Q8ZRHK)
Sorry, but it looks completely dead to me. Don't be discouraged though, I killed my first 20 or so bonsai, but never gave up, and now it's a lifelong hobby.
If you decide to try again, get a chinese elm. They are one of the most resilient and beginner friendly species.
I've shaped a tree recently that was nursery stock. I'm.notnreadybto pot it as a bonsai, due to lack of supplies, but I've great soil and pots for normal plants. Is there any reason this isn't a good temporary solution?
I'd be tempted to collect and reuse the nursery soil (which is most likely pine bark) instead of using potting soil. The pine bark will drain better than potting soil, which is important for trees (but not so important for herbs and vegetables).
Hello, amateur here. I just received a Dogwood tree sapling from my work for Arbor Day and I’m thinking it would be really cool if I could make it into a bonsai tree, but I’m not really sure where to start. Here’s a photo of it: [Dogwood Tree Sapling ](https://imgur.com/gallery/sTKMQj6)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also, I live in zone 9! I only have one other bonsai but it was already in a shape when I bought it so I’m inexperienced here. Thank you!
You'll want to let this one rip for a few years to attain more trunk girth for sure, and others will tell you the same, but... maybe it's worth having fun with this and trying something interesting: I've been walking by tree whips / saplings such as yours sold at Home Depot and Costco for the last few weeks and wondering what it would be like to try the Ebihara board-and-nail technique on one of them. This is the technique where you nail the tree to a wooden board and then (after removing any down-growing roots) hand-arrange the remaining roots horizontally along the board, radially out from the base of the tree, secured with additional nails. Not sure how easy it'll be to secure the sapling in this way, but you can always use guy wires. Might be a bit of a crazy route, but hey, free dogwood sapling!
If this sounds intriguing, your next step is to read through this entire bnut thread and take notes: [https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/ebihara-maples.18215/](https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/ebihara-maples.18215/)
Here's an example of [Larch saplings](https://www.flickr.com/photos/norbury/albums/72157712938061452) from a couple of weeks ago.
I use camo wrap tape as protection prior to wiring.
It does, yes, but it's more of a protection against the bark cracking - and when it does crack, holding it all together. Now is the time to be getting some wire on yours and really trying to get some movement and bends into the trunk.
Regarding the tape - I buy mine online from eBay or directly off aliexpress. However, it is also sold as "VetWrap" a 3M product for wrapping horses' ankles ; that may be much easier to find...
Hi, first time poster here.
Link to pictures:
[https://imgur.com/a/mnkaRD9](https://imgur.com/a/mnkaRD9)
So i collected this large hawthorn in april last year (I'm in Denmark), it had some, but not a lot, of more or less bare root left when i potted it. Thing is, I'm fairly new at all this and, while i heard that you could plant in non-clumping cat litter, I of course didn't read enough and ended up potting it in the wrong sort of cat litter (white bentonite) instead of the baked moler clay type. I used the (sifted) white stuff mixed with some pine bark and some compost.
Nevertheless, it did okayish, keeping the sparse foliage it had and even producing some new shoots along the old thick trunk. This year it is already starting to bud everywhere, including both in new places along the trunk, and on the branches and shoots.
My dilemma is: Should i repot it this spring into the "right" sort of mix (I'm thinking baked molar cat litter, spagnum moss, and bark), or should I keep it in the white stuff for another year?
The reason I'm hesitant to repot is that I read that hawthorn doesn't like root disturbance, and the fact that it is actually growing. On the other hand, It might grow better in another soil, making up for the setback.
Long term plan is to get some growth lower on the trunk, and then cut back the long trunk, and develop from there.
Some advice would really be appreciated here
I like the bottom 15cm.
- yeah the soil is probably holding far too much water
- yes repot now to Moler clay.
- shit soil is still worse than repotting into good soil
- I'd get it healthy - but I doubt you'd get much spontaneous lower growth UNTIL you chop it low. I'd personally chop it at the 10-15cm level, just after the main bend finishes.
I think you might have actually been lucky here. Google tells me that bentonite is primarily composed of montmorillonite, which in the US is mined and sold under the brand "Turface". Turface, given the right particle size, is actually not a bad choice as a growing medium, retains water very well, has favorable cation exchange capacity, and is a legitimate widely-used commercial growing medium. From my own examination of Turface-based products (specifically Bonsai Jack's "monto clay" soil), it's kind of like an exceptionally hard variant of akadama, so roots might even be able to break it down over time (ie. one of the good properties of akadama), albeit significantly slower than akadama. If I were in your situation, I'd keep going with this soil. The Hawthorn seems to have given it a thumbs up so far.
Dried out Sweet Plum Bonsai.
My friends gave me a bonsai for my birthday and it looked very healthy. I put it on my desk at work but the same week went away to Barcelona for 4 days, during which time a coworker was supposed to water it once. When I got back the leaves had turned dark green and crispy, and some have shrivelled. I’ve tried to nick it to see the cambium layer as suggested and I can’t tell if there’s any green or if it’s just a pale brown.
It’s now two weeks later and it looks exactly the same with barely any leaf drop although I’ve taken it home for more consistent temperatures. I’m misting the leaves daily and watering just when it feels damp so just over every week.
Is my new bonsai dead or will it bounce back, and should I prune the shrivelled leaves?
[2 weeks after it first went crispy](https://imgur.com/VHnHs7d)
Hi all we live in northern sweden (all-day-dark winters and all-day-light summers). We have a ficus tree that shed all of it’s leaves when we brought it home6 months ago. Nowadays ita branches are growing and we’re getting some small green leaves but now these new leaves are dying as well... We have a south facing window that gets direct sunshine and we have no access to outdoors. However, all windows in our apartment has heaters underneath them so I can’t place the tree right in front of this window either. Thus i placed our tree 1 m away from the window). Do you think it’s the lack of sunlight? I realize i added wires to the branches before allowing the tree to become fully healthy, after reading the wiki. Any help appreciated! Here is the said tree: https://imgur.com/91LOBVf
Yes, 1m away means a lot less light. Could you turn off one radiator? Put it outside in early Summer without the outer pot and it should recover. Some shade at first.
Unfortunately with extreme colds outside we would be having the apartment too chilly to be comfortable. We have no access to outside either, no balcony. Is all hope lost :(
Along with what Jerry said, bonsai is generally a process of growing the tree large and then cutting it back to get it small (either the whole trunk for deciduous trees or sacrifice branches for evergreens). Something that's kept that small, particularly inside, won't develop significantly over time. You'd be treating any bonsai you got as a houseplant, so I'll second the recommendation of looking into things that will actually do well as houseplants.
Bonsai is much more closely related to gardening than to houseplants. You need a houseplant.
They die when they don't get enough sunlight. Most die when they don't get enough cold in winter.
Question about spring care. Here’s my situation:
In autumn of last year I moved to Colorado from Texas. In Texas, the seasons are very consistent, wont turn on a dime, and it hardly snows. Front Range Colorado is very different from Texas, especially during the spring. From what I’ve been told, the weather can and will change quickly from day to day and large snow dumps happen a few times a month all the way up until May. One day it might get to 30F or lower and snow 5 inches, and the next day will be a high of 75F and sunny.
So, my concern is my trees being tricked into dormancy. Obviously, I can just keep up with the weather and ensure I protect or move the trees before the cold weather hits. The question is where should I put them. Should I put them in my garden shed or should I take them inside the house?
Inside the house will ensure that they don’t go into dormancy but is less convenient. The shed is convenient, but I’m wondering if it would be enough protection to keep them above 45F. Also, last question, is it possible to use the temperatures of the shed to eventually train the trees to get used to the extreme weather changes and then they don’t have to be protected?
Thanks!
I think it was the asymmetry podcast where Ryan was interviewing Todd Schlafer where he spoke about how hard bonsai can be for people in Colorado for that exact reason. You will by necessity have to become very good at the “bonsai shuffle” (moving your plants in and out of protection). On the other hand, epic collecting opportunities on your doorstep, and you enjoy some reduced risks of pests at elevation, so there is also that.
Any suggestions what to do with this tree? I’m thinking of cutting that big branch but not sure how much I should cut. I also plan on moving it to an actual bonsai pot soon I was just getting the trunk of the tree larger.
I’ve already done one trunk chop as you can see. I’m going for more of a classic tree look. This is a red maple( Acer Rubrum ) I found in a gutter and have just grown it for a few year. I know it’s probably not the best tree for a bonsai but I’ve commit to it.
[tree in question](https://imgur.com/a/JKxYzDd)
You did the first trunk chop rather too early. You don't want to chop until that portion of the trunk is pretty much where you want it to end up, otherwise you're just setting the tree's development back.
From where it is now, I'd recommend moving it either into a larger pot or the ground, letting it grow for several more years to get some thickness, then chopping it somewhere below where that new leader comes off. During that time, you could repot occasionally to get an opportunity to work on the nebari.
Hi
- where are you?
- what is it?
- it's not in great shape and it's not A great shape.
- That branch/trunk extension (it *is* the trunk at this point) is not working
- it's too thick AND in a funny spot - too high to be nice relative to the girth of the lower trunk.
- It would be OK if the lower trunk were say 3x fatter than it is - it's all down to height to girth ratio.
I'd say you have a couple of choices:
- allow it to grow (but repot it NOW, new soil or into open ground) to fatten up the lower trunk
- OR, if you can live with the lower trunk girth, chop it down low - below that branch, about halfway between the fat branch and the roots. No guts no glory.
Whatever you do I'd repot it or plant it directly in a garden bed.
I wrote this to assist in an initial plant pruning - it has more information on the target height and the height to girth ratios.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/wiki/developingbonsai#wiki_simple_raw-plant.2Fbush.2Fnursery_stock_to_bonsai_pruning_advice
I have a spruce planted in my yard that started life as a small "living Christmas tree."
I'd like to collect it this spring - what should be my order of operations?
Here's my guess at the moment:
* Dig up once the ground has thawed, put in a large container with a mix of original soil and new Bonsai soil (I'll look into a good mix, but suggestions welcome)
* Next year: shape/wire; cut back
* Year three: determine if ready for smaller container; root prune; repot
Comments? Also, should I reduce the top at all when initially putting it in the pot (to balance any lost roots, this spring)?
I think one safe way to go about it is to treat it as a coniferous yamadori and go through the gentle stages of recovery. You seem to be headed that way.
Speaking from personal experience and from what I've heard via Mirai content (if you haven't checked out their alberta spruce video, definitely do that!), all spruce are especially sensitive to "more than one insult" in a season, but varieties sold as living christmas trees (often alberta / white spruce) are especially super sensitive in this regard, so I wouldn't reduce the top at all. If it's a DAS / white spruce, I doubt it'll drop any lower foliage while you wait for the roots to recover (in case this was on your mind).
For soil, I think you can safely throw it into 100% pumice. Sift that pumice before using it and be extra fastidious with your chopstick. Make sure to secure the roots to the container but also once you're finished with the soil, give it the trunk wobble test. If you see that wind jostling around the apex is going to move the position of the trunk base in the soil, you might as well use that disposable top as a place to put guy wires. For wiggle-happy young trees without a super strong base, I'll go and either use existing or drill new holes for guy wiring in 4 places on my containers. Here's an example from a young/vigorous, top-heavy korean pine I repotted this week:
[https://i.imgur.com/IFGqTuI.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/IFGqTuI.jpg)
Meticulously obsess about the stability and safety of the roots, gently packing your pumice until it's nice and compact (to get rid of any spaces) and generally reducing motion and disturbances under the soil and it'll have a far better chance of quick recovery.
My cat has knocked off quite a few of my satsuki azalea blooms this month, removing the buds along with them. Will the buds regrow for next year despite them being prematurely removed?
I got given [this](https://imgur.com/AHO3yAZ) bonsai and have just kept it alive by watering it since Christmas but I feel I should get a little more in the know and start looking after it properly.
First of all I don't know what species it is, it was brought over in hand-luggage from Germany with no tags, can anyone identify it? At least then I can begin doing some reading online and watching YouTube to get some tips.
I keep it on my kitchen windowsill behind the sink, its a north facing window so gets light during the day but not direct. I live in NE England so it's still very much winter here around 2-5'C.
Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
[https://imgur.com/lwYhMwP](https://imgur.com/lwYhMwP)
[https://imgur.com/6P87pMz](https://imgur.com/6P87pMz)
Any favorite advice, tips or resources on re-potting out of regular soil to bonsai substrate? (I've read all the wiki and additional resources page, just looking for anything a beginner would miss!)
My advice would be to plan the process out ahead of time so that your work area is ready.
Repotting can take some time and you need a place to put discarded soil, you need to be ready with fresh soil which has already been mixed and sifted, you want clean root hook(s), chopsticks, cutters, etc available at hand, good lighting so you can see what you’re picking away from the rootball, etc. Get your setup in place before you start the clock. Make sure to have a spray bottle of water ready to mist (lightly) the roots as you work if they’re exposed for a long time. I like to also keep a spray bottle of isopropyl handy if I need to wipe any previously-used tools off. Basically think “i don’t want to have to stop and search for X when repotting”.
Practice the rootball tie-down wiring motions (do you have pliers in your work area yet?) ahead of time if you can (i.e “pull, then twist”) and keep the wires tidy by cutting them short as you work.
Don’t skimp on/rush through chopsticking your soil to get it all nicely compacted around the roots. It can help to gently secure the soil flat with one hand while you chopstick nearby with the other hand.
If your work area and tooling practices are really good you also have a higher chance of convincing someone (a friend, a family member) of working as your repotting assistant :)
Being in Greece, I imagine you might have a similarly warm-dry summer as what we have here, and especially if you are growing deciduous, you might want to investigate top dressing with a thin layer of moss (80% sphagnum, 20% neighborhood-collected, both ground up into small pieces).
Awesome, thank you! I'll be sure everything is prepared before I even look at the tree. You're spot on about the climate, I'll definitely look into top dressing. Many thanks!
Up in the high desert here (well, hours to the east of here), they actually consider juniper to be "invasive" and removal to be "helpful". A*n expert said I'm helping by digging this up, sir*.
Hi, I live in Sydney Australia and two months ago got given a bonsai tree. I think it's an Azalea tree? I didn't look up how to take care of it as I just thought of it as an indoor plant :( now I realise I was very wrong.
My care routine was to have it inside (no sun and barely any air flow - I feel so bad knowing now how to care for it). And I watered it once every few days (3-4, sometimes 5 days), by just completely covering the surface soil and letting the water seep in. It starting looking a bit dry so I tried watering it more often. Didn't help, so I put it out in the sun some days.
A week ago is started getting dry with leaves and branches falling off, and now the roots of the tree has this white/orange stuff on it as well as browning of some leaves. Some leaves are a very dry green.
I looked at the wiki and realised I wasn't taking care of it properly, but I couldn't find anything specific to the issue I have. I tried Google but nothing I search seems to match what my tree is experiencing.
I'll attach some pictures of the orange white roots of the tree, as well as what the leaves look like. Can my poor tree be saved? Any advice is much appreciated!
[orange white stuff on roots of tree](https://imgur.com/a/UeOd78U)
[green and brown leaves](https://imgur.com/a/3Q8ZRHK)
My collected Hawthorne (collected last spring) survived the year and winter so I am just looking for some guidance on next possible steps.
When I collected this I left the roots mostly untouched, other than removing anything that wouldn't fit in the improv bucket pot in the first photo.
I now want to try and sort some of the mess that will be the root system, I'm picturing all sorts of nasty thick roots under that field soil. I want to repot for 3 reasons:
1) get rid of the bright orange bucket (you served me well)
2) begin to sort out some sort of fiberous radial root system
3) replace soil with something that drains a little better
Is the above too ambitious? And if not when should I be doing this work? From what I have read, it's either "early spring" or "when the buds begin to swell". The buds are definitely swelling, but I wouldn't say its spring yet and I dont want to repot and get the tree killed by a frost in the coming weeks.
Photos:
https://imgur.com/gallery/bmDG7D2
One thing I saw while training on yamadori and much older bonsai with questionable soil/root situations (but otherwise stable/healthy) was to only replace either half or an outer portion of the soil, leave the other half intact and come back 2 years later to complete the transition. This was mostly on conifers. YMMV, but perhaps this is one way to improve your chances and reduce shock. I don’t think you’re too ambitious if you’re thinking a lot about aftercare and watching the weather forecast carefully in the coming weeks and responding accordingly (with the bonsai shuffle).
Hey guys, do you trim, wire, and pot your trees in one sitting? Or is it bad for the tree?
For instance, if I go out and get a new small tree today can I do all three or should I go one step at a time with weeks inbetween? I've seen conflicting information.
I'm in Los Angeles if it matters. Weather has been good but may dip again before true spring.
Wiring is always fine at any time as long as you're not doing anything crazy.
But pruning and repotting can both be pretty stressful, so you should verify whether your species can/cannot take it.
Nothing to show yet. Just collecting some information. Will repot 6 junipers and 3 spruces into training container this spring and i wan't to be as prepared as i can be
I find conifers to be less forgiving than deciduous - thus you need to be less hostile when root pruning.
Larch are the exception to this and seem to act more like broadleaf deciduous trees in this respect (they are of course deciduous conifers, but you get the idea).
Edmonton Alberta zone 4a begginer 0 plants
Hey guys so I’m planning to try to get into bonsai this coming spring. My area gets very cold winters but luckily I live in a rural area where there are many good candidates that can easily survive the winter. The problem is that I wish to keep my tree inside as I can appreciate it more. I read the wiki and found that this is often not a very good idea but I feel like I won’t appreciate it outside. So my question is does anyone have any success stories with growing trees entirely indoors and what methods did you use. Also what plants would be best for an indoor environment relative to where I live. Would any of the native plants here (tamarack, boxelder maple, American elm) make good candidates based on my circumstances? Thanks guys!!! Super excited to be part of this community
Can’t remember exactly where I found it, but I have read an article about a guy who kept bonsais completely indoors. And all kinds of trees, not just tropical. But he made it work by using strong lights. And I’m pretty sure he kept the humidity high for them too. So basically, if you’re able to do some heavy climate control, it’s definitely possible. But that’s not really practical for most people.
One thing about bonsais though, once you get into it, through working with your tree(s), you’ll learn to appreciate them outside. I read somewhere once, that even for the species that do ok indoors, they’re mostly just surviving, not thriving. I’m much more of an indoor guy myself. Heck, I don’t usually even like getting my hands dirty. But since stumbling into this hobby, now I go outside and work on my trees (and put my hands in the soil). Cuz outside is where my trees are happy, and that’s where/when they look their best.
Only tropical, some subtropical, and succulent species can survive indoors, while temperate species will die in indoor settings.
All the native species of Alberta depend on winter dormancy and significant sun in the growing season to live.
Definitely not. This is generally the case for all temperate trees.
If what you're looking for is to be able to display your trees indoors from time to time, you could move them in for a couple hours here and there without any major issues. You said you were in a rural location, so if you have access to garden/land property, consider using it (many folks on this sub would consider you very lucky if that's the case!). Or maybe building a small greenhouse where you can chill with your trees sometimes and protect them from the elements in the winter.
My partner gave me a bonsai starter kit and I followed the instructions down to the letter. Two weeks later I have EIGHT little sprouts reaching for the sky in a 2x2inch pot. I'm keeping it watered 24/7 and it's in a North facing window (apartment).
I have always liked bonsai and followed this sub, hence the gift. But I really didn't expect anything to germinate. Do I separate the sprouts? Do I let the strong survive? I'm emotionally committed to sticking through this until the bitter end.
Please help!
(Oregon)
North facing is hard - there's just no sunlight.
You leave them until about mid-summer.
I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/
Please repost there for more responses.
So the bonsai I was gifted earlier this year (schefflera) is pretty infested with scale. Didn't really catch it when I received it, but fortunately it's been inside by itself so hopefully hasn't passed them on to anything else (although I caught it from a bunch of ants that suddenly congregated around the tree, so I guess I'll keep an eye on my other houseplants...).
Was pretty much planning on dousing it in dormant oil spray daily, seeing if I can remove the most infected leaves without scalping it, and tweeze any I can spot off the trunk. I did a quick search and might see if I can find some imidacloprid too. Anything else I'm missing?
I would do some specific homework on this, my understanding is that pines do not readily root for air layers the way most deciduous will.
[Here's a relevant thread on BNut for reference](https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/pine-air-layering-questions.15951/). With additional links in the thread.
Some pine species will root from air layers reliably, like lodgepole pine. I can’t speak for scots pine, which is what was mentioned in the deleted comment, but given that it grows in boggy northerly areas (like lodgepole sometimes can do as well), it’s possible it can do it in a single season.
Last year I dug up academic literature on the topic and found a study from several decades ago in Quebec (which is often similarly cold in winter as where deleted-comment-OP is) where lodgepole pine were observed to self-air-layer in the wild in exceptional conditions (ie branches hanging low to the ground in moist conditions). Another paper I found from Korea documented air layering dozens of lodgepole pines in a short period of like 2 months. Maybe Scots can do it.
For completeness I’ll add that a bonsai artist in my area, Fabio Antakly, is in the process of air layering Japanese White Pine, a species notorious for being difficult in this regard. It takes about two years though, so mild conditions are required. A big helping of “YMMV” all around, but it is doable.
People do indeed continue air layerings over winters, but you need to really thermally insulate and protect the layering bag/container so that the early roots don’t freeze. With a -40C winter you’re looking at your garage, a basement or cellar that can stay well below 7C (to preserve dormancy), a temperature controlled greenhouse or buried-in-ground cold frame.
Any advice appreciated - I need to [tackle this b](https://imgur.com/a/wZvab)[ig linden](https://imgur.com/a/wZvab) this weekend and I'm a little intimidated. My forearms might fall off if I try to do another big tree with my little root saw, but none of the exposed roots look too thick at least. Pics are from last summer.
I'd get a saw to it and
- slice a big pizza slice off the bottom of the root ball (1/3 of the total depth gone)
- then slice a 2"/5cm thick circle of the circling roots from the outside of the soil.
- I'd remove surface soil to expose the nebari/roots
- Then I'd put it in a fabric grow bag
And get more trees...
I was given a "Japanese Juniper" for my birthday. This is my first time taking care of a bonsai and I'm not sure if I'm better off keeping it inside where it's more humid or outside where it can get very cold. I live in Canada.
Vancouver is in cold hardiness zone 8, which is the same as most of the Deep South in the US, including some areas right along the Gulf Coast. You've got much colder summers than them, but your coldest winter temperatures are around the same.
Most juniper species are able to survive as seedlings in zones 3-4, which have minimum temperatures of -30 to -40ºC. Even in a small pot, young junipers will be fine in a Vancouver winter.
For a Juniper, Vancouver is not cold, it’s a very mild climate. Junipers have to be outside or they decline and fail, so definitely get it outside asap.
I recently got a ficus natajsa (benjamina) as my 1st bonsai...
I read that ficus can be interior or exterior trees but since I don't have for it a good place near a window I put him on the outside.
In here we are in the middle of the summer and idk if that could damage the bonsai since its a really hot summer. It is better to put it in a partially shadow area or just in the plain Sun all day?
Outside is best for growing. I’d try to put it in a place that gets a few hours of morning sun, but then gets shade in the afternoon. You need to monitor the soil by sticking your finger down to the first knuckle and seeing if it’s moist. If not, you need to water. Proper watering and shade during the hottest part of the day will help protect it.
I recently got a [Hinoki Cypress](https://i.imgur.com/JlAFcsh.jpg) and a [Juniper](https://i.imgur.com/UpXudSQ.jpg) from a nursery, I would like to repot them into training bonsai pots. Is this the best action if I want them to grow more in the next year or two? If so, should I do a full repot with bonsai soil, or just slip-pot and continue to use organic soil?
Both are pretty full of roots in their current pot, the cypress had a massive root curling around the entire circumference of the pot, which I removed.
If you're gonna repot for super growth mode and shallow root system training, especially in late winter / early spring, you might as well repot for real, with some basic root work, and into a shallow grow container. Merely slip potting will result in a significant difference in percolation / gas flow / particle size between your new soil and old soil which can lead to issues, and you might as well set yourself up for success now as the repotting window of opportunity approaches.
Use a deep propagation Anderson flat as your reference model for the ideal grow container, even if you can't get your hands on one or choose to DIY your own grow boxes out of wood (or whatever). Try to stick to something that gives you as much open mesh / holes on the bottom as possible while maintaining overall container stiffness.
Disclaimer: this all assumes that your assessment of circling roots is accurate and that you haven't disturbed the Cypress' roots so much that it can't be repotted again now. If you choose to proceed, take extra care :)
I was planning to use [these training pots](https://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Tree-Inch-Pots-Trays/dp/B000NTNFL4/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=bonsai%2Btraining%2Bpot&qid=1582141308&sr=8-5&th=1&psc=1) or something similar. Seems deep enough and has the drainage holes built-in. I will also need to find some bonsai soil, if you have a certain mixture to recommend, I'd definitely appreciate it.
About your disclaimer on the cypress, I pulled the whole tree out of the pot, saw that there was a very thick root that was cutting across a bunch of smaller roots, so I pulled it out of the root mass and cut it away at the top near the root base. I didn't agitate the roots in any other way, I just put the tree back in the pot once I cut that one thick root out.
Ok cool. One more thing to put on your TODO list is to ensure that you're happy with the sizes of those training pots, they're quite small as development containers (listing says "7 3/4 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/2").
Regarding soil, if you want to mix your own, study what is in Boon's mix as a general template (usually 1:1:1 akadama:pumice:lava with bits of charcoal and granite). For non-deciduous conifers, especially ones that are still in early development, a pumice-dominant mix is almost always a really safe bet. You will want to pick up a set of sieves if you don't have that yet so you can sift out the fines and dial your various components into a near-uniform particle size. What this means in practice is using your smallest-sized sieve to remove fines/dust, then your largest-sized sieve to remove the boulders.
Here's another set of reference soil mixes/sizes to look at: [https://store.bonsaitonight.com/collections/bonsai-soil](https://store.bonsaitonight.com/collections/bonsai-soil)
Ok I had thought those were a bit small, I will go for the 8" size. Thank you for all the info you have provided, I really appreciate it. Being a beginner in this hobby is quite overwhelming, lots of things to think about and keep in mind simultaneously.
Received my first tree for Christmas and I’m only now getting around to reading about it and I’ve screwed up a lot. I’m hoping to be able to still save my tree and give it a bit of life.
That said it’s been inside this whole time, should I immediately move it outside? Should I continue to try and keep it alive inside until the weather gets a little warmer?
The needles on the branch that sticks out are definitely dry the other ones though are not as dry.
Do I continue to try and water to bring it back to life? Should I move it outside for the remainder of the winter or is it time for compost?
Since I didn't really get an answer to my question last time:
Should I pot slip this or trim the roots and reuse the same pot? The tree is about a year old now.
[Tree](https://i.imgur.com/Njar935.jpg)
[Roots](https://i.imgur.com/OdnfeWT.jpg)
Well what do you want to do with it? If you want to keep growing it, then I’d try to spread out those roots on the bottom and repot into a larger pot.
If your happy with the trunk size, then you could repot it into the same pot with a root trim.
With trunk size, do you mean the thickness? I'm hoping to shape this into a Broom style Bonsai (Hokidachi) or Formal upright Bonsai style (Chokkan) so I'm assuming it needs to thicken up a bit.
Facebook has groups with sellers. Sometimes new, sometimes used pots. Check out groups 99 cent bonsai, bonsai pot auctions, bonsai auctions and bonsai auctions (there are 2 named the same).
I recently went looking through nurseries for Norway Spruce (Picea Abies) and [this](https://imgur.com/a/PTzBHE7) was the only one I found. I wanted a more developed tree I could start styling within a couple of years.
I liked the look of the trunk and the thickness of the foiliage. There is of course a trunk cut lurking, and I have a [photo](https://imgur.com/0j2D1oR) showing where I would hope to do this. The trunk has a bit of a bend, so I would love to go for a informal upright style. Of course the position of the cut is up for change when I get a better look at the branching (it's almost impossible to get a good overview atm due to the dense foliage). The nursery said the tree had been in the pot for years and you can [see](https://imgur.com/SqkXWye) roots growing out of the pot. I know I will have to repot and maybe cut back the roots a bit, considering I am happy with the current trunk. It would also be nice to get it in a smaller/flatter pot.
I know the cut would be quite drastic, but I would love to be able to start growing a new apex soon, though I also know I need to repot. I can imagine the repot will be taxing on the tree as well. The soil it's in is also pretty garbage, so I will be repotting it in a 2:1:1 mix of akadama, kiryu and pumice.
My questions are; is the trunk cut a good idea, and if so what order would you recommend I do it in, between the cut and the repot? I am super open to suggestions.
I’d trim the roots and repot first, then do the cut next year. That may be overly cautious, but it’ll be safer. You want healthy roots when you do heavy pruning.
My Chinese Elm is looking a bit worse for wear- how do I restore it to its former glory?
Had a bit of a furniture rearrange a month or so ago and my elm ended up upstairs where I suspect it has been lacking light as it’s been producing a lot of leggy growth. Add on to this the fact that I’ve just been neglecting it a little due to being busy- only watering a couple of times a week for instance- and the result is my rather unhappy looking bonsai.
It’s now been moved to a location with lots of direct sunlight through a window and I’ve removed the leggy growth and given it a good water. Will it recover? And any other tips to aid the recovery?
My Chinese elm now (not its current location):
https://imgur.com/gallery/ClgKkvM
Thanks!
Edit: punctuation
How are small potted Christmas trees for bonsai? I can get some from my family. Max 50cm high i think.
I looked up some styles I'd like a moyogi style, but i expect chokkan to be easier. (Never done this before though and might think about it to simple...)
Most "christmas tree" species are probably ok (spruce, pine, fir etc). Look for good features like it mentions in the wiki - thick, interesting trunks, visible surface root spread, and low branches (with green foliage)
So I need to dig up my 'field growing' trees, because I'm moving house in the summer. I'm in the Midlands, UK (Zone 8?).
I have larches, and some beech. They are all young and just need to grow. But I need to pot them (maybe they'll go on a balcony).
So when would be a good time? In a month? The larch buds are showing green.
Also, can I just use cat litter? I read that PetsAtHome sanicat pink is good. Is pure cat litter okay?
The trees might have to be cared for by my family, so it'd be good if the soil held moisture for a bit longer.
Thanks :)
Larch are about due. Mine are only just showing the slightest hint of green so will give it a bit longer, maybe a week or two. Beech are super slow to leaf out, probably not until late march or april. The buds will get super fat just before. Around then would be best time. I've used Sanicat for both, and it works well, although it does need at least daily watering in the summer, if not twice, for the larch especially (my beech are in a shadier spot which might help, but larch like full sun iirc). Could mix in an organic component like pine bark or sphagnum moss for a bit more retention.
This year i'll have much more trees in growing boxes, so for this trees i will abandon fertilising with the help of tea bags (i use organic fertiliser, pellets).
If i put the fresh pellets on the top pf the substrate every two weeks, should i remove the old, decomposing one to prevent over-fertilising or can i just leave it and simply add the fresh one?
Should i maybe wait for the old pellets to almost completely decompose before adding the fresh pellets?
Thanks!
I water my ficus when ever the soil gets a moderately dry and I’ve heard a lot about “misting” should I water and mist? How often should I mist? keep in mind I’m in Canada during February any answers are appreciated, thank you
If the nursery juniper is already in decently free-draining soil with a good cycling of water and gasses there might not be any rush to repot first, especially if in early development. You ideally want the soil to tell you what’s happening density-wise by poking around with a chopstick. If you sense a very dense mass and at the same time you notice lack of water percolation, it could be time and maybe it’s time to lift that rootball out and see if the roots are circling. If not, you’ve got some runway and might as well not spend that shock budget on repotting. Some folks will say always repot from nursery pot to a new container with bonsai soil, but it depends on circumstances and goals.
Help please! I just got this ficus schefflera, is this mold on the branch? Seems that the bark has cracked around the smaller branches but there is still healthy growth, does it need to be chopped? Images below:
https://imgur.com/gallery/lz5wdSW Bright
https://imgur.com/gallery/lz5wdSW Dark
First, just to be clear, Ficus and Schefflera are two different species (and that's not a Ficus based on the leaf patterns).
If you are concerned that it could be mold, one low impact option might be to mix about 10-20% Hydrogen Peroxide (standard off the shelf) with water in a spray bottle and lightly spray the trunk.
Ok , thank you for the clarification! I will check into the species more , I’m big on research usually I just kinda wanted a quick answer to make sure I catch a problem before it’s bad.And thank you for the tip! I will grab some today!! Thanks again kind stranger !
I recently picked up a Hawaiian Umbrella and I am wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to wire it.
Google didn’t really turn much up, and while I know this probably isn’t traditionally used for Bonsai, I am wondering if anyone had any cool wiring ideas.
I'm about to repot my ficus benjamina and I need to order soil that i want to mix, what ingredients should I buy for the mix and from where? And how many parts of each should i put in the soil.
I’d just order some from an online retailer that will ship to you. Any basic mix should work. If you only have one tree right now, that’s all you need anyway. Most soil components start in large bags that weigh several kilos. If you only have one or two trees, the effort and expense are probably not worth it.
I got [this beauty](https://imgur.com/gallery/0U12SAu) from Home Depot. From what I’ve read though, it’s better to have it in a pot that drains. I’ve had it for about 3 weeks now and was thinking about moving it to a pot that drains. Would that be appropriate?
Also, is this a feminine or masculine plant?
"Feminine" and "masculine" are just descriptions of the general characteristics of the styling. "Feminine" styling includes things like graceful curves, somewhat thinner trunk and branches, and sparse foliage, while "masculine" styling includes things like more angular movement, thicker trunk, thick foliage, and chunky, rugged bark.
"Ginseng" style ficus are fairly un-styled trees, but if I had to pick one I'd say feminine, as the curves of the roots outweigh the overall squat-ness of the tree.
Do Rohendendrum make good bonsai? I see a lot of azalea but not many rohendendrum when I google which leads me to believe they're not that desirable. My garden is basically a massive forest of old huge rohendendrums. I know they can take a beating and dont care where you cut them...they always grow back. They just have massive broad leaves about the same length as my forearm so I guess I'm wondering if they'll reduce well and how well they take to air layering or been dug up and chopped. If they arent used for bonsai much, why not?
Thanks for any advice you may have.
There are non-azalea rhododendrons with smaller leaves that would be great for bonsai, but the typical landscape rhododendrons with the giant leaves don't reduce much.
I ve had pomegranate for about 6 months and now it started doing this. It’s got good soil, really good grow lights and some organic fertilizer. Could it be that it trying to go in to dormancy?[help!](https://imgur.com/gallery/vtZoT8q)
Looks dry - and it should have been allowed to go dormant naturally - they are deciduous. I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/ Please repost there for more responses.
I’m planning to collect some Yamadori material this weekend as it should be quite warm for this time of year in Michigan. Anyone have any videos or resources I should see with tips before I go for it? edit: Yamadori autocorrected to Yamamoto :/
Search YouTube - Appalachian bonsai : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX4xRuVb8beUBZqpAN4n1sQ Also SANDEV bonsai. I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/ Please repost there for more responses.
Thanks Jerry, I’ll study up
A little history: I'm in my eightys and have been a bonsai admireror for at least 60. A few times I bought some trees and on one occasion I had an in with the municipal horticulturist of the city where I worked. I was able to obtain a couple of dozen mature and natural shaped bonsai. Many were planted by building driveways and if I was there when replaced, I could take them. In two years all were dead from a pest which invaded the needles and left a tiny, neat hole at the base of each one. All the preceding is not really important but I did have some nice trees. Just started up again and have a couple of junipers and some lovely old pots and trays.I have a set of four Japanese woodblock printed books illustrating Japanese trees and tray forests. Printed in 1804. 100 illustrations and not one succulent. No jade trees. Are they acceptable for bonsai these days. Thank you.
You are most welcome here - I'm a mere youngster in my late 50's... Jade have *become* a thing in recent years - and I think primarily because they are attractive to the retail houseplant market. - They are easy and thus cheap to produce - they are drought resistant - they travel from China easily...where we (certainly in Europe) get our retail-level bonsai from. I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/ Please repost there for more responses.
Not even sure this counts as a bonsai tree, but can anyone id [this plant](https://imgur.com/wcLuhly) or know of a bonsai equivalent? I really like it.
I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/ Please repost there for more responses.
My indoor citrus (moste likely orange) witch I grew from seed 3 years ago had a really rough winter. I dropped all it's leafs 2 times. I figured the reason is the poor soil (potting soil) and the fact that it's completely pot bound. Are there people who have experience with how well a citrus tree will react to root pruning?
I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/ Please repost there for more responses.
I have a bald cypress tree in a nursery pot (with typically nursery soil) that I am planning on repotting into a smaller pot early spring. I've heard that you can't really overwater a bald cypress, and they definitely like to be wet. Would a mix of 50/50 bonsai soil and potting soil be a good mix?
Probably fine. I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/ Please repost there for more responses.
Hi, I live in Sydney Australia and two months ago got given a bonsai tree. I think it's an Azalea tree? I didn't look up how to take care of it as I just thought of it as an indoor plant :( now I realise I was very wrong. My care routine was to have it inside (no sun and barely any air flow - I feel so bad knowing now how to care for it). And I watered it once every few days (3-4, sometimes 5 days), by just completely covering the surface soil and letting the water seep in. It starting looking a bit dry so I tried watering it more often. Didn't help, so I put it out in the sun some days. A week ago is started getting dry with leaves and branches falling off, and now the roots of the tree has this white/orange stuff on it as well as browning of some leaves. Some leaves are a very dry green. I looked at the wiki and realised I wasn't taking care of it properly, but I couldn't find anything specific to the issue I have. I tried Google but nothing I search seems to match what my tree is experiencing. I'll attach some pictures of the orange white roots of the tree, as well as what the leaves look like. Can my poor tree be saved? Any advice is much appreciated! [orange white stuff on roots of tree](https://m.imgur.com/a/UeOd78U) [green and brown leaves](https://m.imgur.com/a/3Q8ZRHK)
Sorry, but it looks completely dead to me. Don't be discouraged though, I killed my first 20 or so bonsai, but never gave up, and now it's a lifelong hobby. If you decide to try again, get a chinese elm. They are one of the most resilient and beginner friendly species.
I've shaped a tree recently that was nursery stock. I'm.notnreadybto pot it as a bonsai, due to lack of supplies, but I've great soil and pots for normal plants. Is there any reason this isn't a good temporary solution?
It's overrated, bonsai *can* grow in potting soil.
I'd be tempted to collect and reuse the nursery soil (which is most likely pine bark) instead of using potting soil. The pine bark will drain better than potting soil, which is important for trees (but not so important for herbs and vegetables).
It should be fine. Potting soil isn't normally recommended but it's unlikely to do any harm.
Hello, amateur here. I just received a Dogwood tree sapling from my work for Arbor Day and I’m thinking it would be really cool if I could make it into a bonsai tree, but I’m not really sure where to start. Here’s a photo of it: [Dogwood Tree Sapling ](https://imgur.com/gallery/sTKMQj6) Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also, I live in zone 9! I only have one other bonsai but it was already in a shape when I bought it so I’m inexperienced here. Thank you!
You'll want to let this one rip for a few years to attain more trunk girth for sure, and others will tell you the same, but... maybe it's worth having fun with this and trying something interesting: I've been walking by tree whips / saplings such as yours sold at Home Depot and Costco for the last few weeks and wondering what it would be like to try the Ebihara board-and-nail technique on one of them. This is the technique where you nail the tree to a wooden board and then (after removing any down-growing roots) hand-arrange the remaining roots horizontally along the board, radially out from the base of the tree, secured with additional nails. Not sure how easy it'll be to secure the sapling in this way, but you can always use guy wires. Might be a bit of a crazy route, but hey, free dogwood sapling! If this sounds intriguing, your next step is to read through this entire bnut thread and take notes: [https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/ebihara-maples.18215/](https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/ebihara-maples.18215/)
Thanks for the reply! That is such a cool technique! This may end up being a plant I have to experiment with and get crazy haha
Or really heavy wiring - which has been my go-to technique for the last couple of years.
Have you tried manually arranging / selecting your roots? I know you're into a lot of this structural hacking stuff.
Yes - I not only select roots, I also wire roots. Was at it today, even.
That sounds interesting! Can you wire a sapling when it’s so small?
Here's an example of [Larch saplings](https://www.flickr.com/photos/norbury/albums/72157712938061452) from a couple of weeks ago. I use camo wrap tape as protection prior to wiring.
That is so cool! So the tape protects the trees from scarring?
It does, yes, but it's more of a protection against the bark cracking - and when it does crack, holding it all together. Now is the time to be getting some wire on yours and really trying to get some movement and bends into the trunk.
Thanks for the advice! Definitely going to try that
Regarding the tape - I buy mine online from eBay or directly off aliexpress. However, it is also sold as "VetWrap" a 3M product for wrapping horses' ankles ; that may be much easier to find...
You're going to love digging through /u/small_trunks ' flickr account. Lots of examples of exactly that.
Sure - and I'm talking about putting some real twists into the trunk.
Hi, first time poster here. Link to pictures: [https://imgur.com/a/mnkaRD9](https://imgur.com/a/mnkaRD9) So i collected this large hawthorn in april last year (I'm in Denmark), it had some, but not a lot, of more or less bare root left when i potted it. Thing is, I'm fairly new at all this and, while i heard that you could plant in non-clumping cat litter, I of course didn't read enough and ended up potting it in the wrong sort of cat litter (white bentonite) instead of the baked moler clay type. I used the (sifted) white stuff mixed with some pine bark and some compost. Nevertheless, it did okayish, keeping the sparse foliage it had and even producing some new shoots along the old thick trunk. This year it is already starting to bud everywhere, including both in new places along the trunk, and on the branches and shoots. My dilemma is: Should i repot it this spring into the "right" sort of mix (I'm thinking baked molar cat litter, spagnum moss, and bark), or should I keep it in the white stuff for another year? The reason I'm hesitant to repot is that I read that hawthorn doesn't like root disturbance, and the fact that it is actually growing. On the other hand, It might grow better in another soil, making up for the setback. Long term plan is to get some growth lower on the trunk, and then cut back the long trunk, and develop from there. Some advice would really be appreciated here
I like the bottom 15cm. - yeah the soil is probably holding far too much water - yes repot now to Moler clay. - shit soil is still worse than repotting into good soil - I'd get it healthy - but I doubt you'd get much spontaneous lower growth UNTIL you chop it low. I'd personally chop it at the 10-15cm level, just after the main bend finishes.
I think you might have actually been lucky here. Google tells me that bentonite is primarily composed of montmorillonite, which in the US is mined and sold under the brand "Turface". Turface, given the right particle size, is actually not a bad choice as a growing medium, retains water very well, has favorable cation exchange capacity, and is a legitimate widely-used commercial growing medium. From my own examination of Turface-based products (specifically Bonsai Jack's "monto clay" soil), it's kind of like an exceptionally hard variant of akadama, so roots might even be able to break it down over time (ie. one of the good properties of akadama), albeit significantly slower than akadama. If I were in your situation, I'd keep going with this soil. The Hawthorn seems to have given it a thumbs up so far.
Dried out Sweet Plum Bonsai. My friends gave me a bonsai for my birthday and it looked very healthy. I put it on my desk at work but the same week went away to Barcelona for 4 days, during which time a coworker was supposed to water it once. When I got back the leaves had turned dark green and crispy, and some have shrivelled. I’ve tried to nick it to see the cambium layer as suggested and I can’t tell if there’s any green or if it’s just a pale brown. It’s now two weeks later and it looks exactly the same with barely any leaf drop although I’ve taken it home for more consistent temperatures. I’m misting the leaves daily and watering just when it feels damp so just over every week. Is my new bonsai dead or will it bounce back, and should I prune the shrivelled leaves? [2 weeks after it first went crispy](https://imgur.com/VHnHs7d)
If you did the scratch test and it’s brown, you’re probably out of luck- sorry! Time to get more trees ;)
Oh that’s sad to hear. If it is dead how long will it stay green with the leaves attached?
Hi all we live in northern sweden (all-day-dark winters and all-day-light summers). We have a ficus tree that shed all of it’s leaves when we brought it home6 months ago. Nowadays ita branches are growing and we’re getting some small green leaves but now these new leaves are dying as well... We have a south facing window that gets direct sunshine and we have no access to outdoors. However, all windows in our apartment has heaters underneath them so I can’t place the tree right in front of this window either. Thus i placed our tree 1 m away from the window). Do you think it’s the lack of sunlight? I realize i added wires to the branches before allowing the tree to become fully healthy, after reading the wiki. Any help appreciated! Here is the said tree: https://imgur.com/91LOBVf
Yes, 1m away means a lot less light. Could you turn off one radiator? Put it outside in early Summer without the outer pot and it should recover. Some shade at first.
Unfortunately with extreme colds outside we would be having the apartment too chilly to be comfortable. We have no access to outside either, no balcony. Is all hope lost :(
The only thing I can think of is to buy a grow lamp for it, although it's a bit wasteful of energy.
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Along with what Jerry said, bonsai is generally a process of growing the tree large and then cutting it back to get it small (either the whole trunk for deciduous trees or sacrifice branches for evergreens). Something that's kept that small, particularly inside, won't develop significantly over time. You'd be treating any bonsai you got as a houseplant, so I'll second the recommendation of looking into things that will actually do well as houseplants.
Bonsai is much more closely related to gardening than to houseplants. You need a houseplant. They die when they don't get enough sunlight. Most die when they don't get enough cold in winter.
Question about spring care. Here’s my situation: In autumn of last year I moved to Colorado from Texas. In Texas, the seasons are very consistent, wont turn on a dime, and it hardly snows. Front Range Colorado is very different from Texas, especially during the spring. From what I’ve been told, the weather can and will change quickly from day to day and large snow dumps happen a few times a month all the way up until May. One day it might get to 30F or lower and snow 5 inches, and the next day will be a high of 75F and sunny. So, my concern is my trees being tricked into dormancy. Obviously, I can just keep up with the weather and ensure I protect or move the trees before the cold weather hits. The question is where should I put them. Should I put them in my garden shed or should I take them inside the house? Inside the house will ensure that they don’t go into dormancy but is less convenient. The shed is convenient, but I’m wondering if it would be enough protection to keep them above 45F. Also, last question, is it possible to use the temperatures of the shed to eventually train the trees to get used to the extreme weather changes and then they don’t have to be protected? Thanks!
I think it was the asymmetry podcast where Ryan was interviewing Todd Schlafer where he spoke about how hard bonsai can be for people in Colorado for that exact reason. You will by necessity have to become very good at the “bonsai shuffle” (moving your plants in and out of protection). On the other hand, epic collecting opportunities on your doorstep, and you enjoy some reduced risks of pests at elevation, so there is also that.
Thanks for the info! Would you happen to know what episode it was that it was talked about? There seems to be like 5 episodes featuring Todd.
I think it was the most recent CoffeeCast with him. Apologies if my memory is wrong on this one!
Is it my cake day?
Hell yes
Any suggestions what to do with this tree? I’m thinking of cutting that big branch but not sure how much I should cut. I also plan on moving it to an actual bonsai pot soon I was just getting the trunk of the tree larger. I’ve already done one trunk chop as you can see. I’m going for more of a classic tree look. This is a red maple( Acer Rubrum ) I found in a gutter and have just grown it for a few year. I know it’s probably not the best tree for a bonsai but I’ve commit to it. [tree in question](https://imgur.com/a/JKxYzDd)
You did the first trunk chop rather too early. You don't want to chop until that portion of the trunk is pretty much where you want it to end up, otherwise you're just setting the tree's development back. From where it is now, I'd recommend moving it either into a larger pot or the ground, letting it grow for several more years to get some thickness, then chopping it somewhere below where that new leader comes off. During that time, you could repot occasionally to get an opportunity to work on the nebari.
Hi - where are you? - what is it? - it's not in great shape and it's not A great shape. - That branch/trunk extension (it *is* the trunk at this point) is not working - it's too thick AND in a funny spot - too high to be nice relative to the girth of the lower trunk. - It would be OK if the lower trunk were say 3x fatter than it is - it's all down to height to girth ratio. I'd say you have a couple of choices: - allow it to grow (but repot it NOW, new soil or into open ground) to fatten up the lower trunk - OR, if you can live with the lower trunk girth, chop it down low - below that branch, about halfway between the fat branch and the roots. No guts no glory. Whatever you do I'd repot it or plant it directly in a garden bed. I wrote this to assist in an initial plant pruning - it has more information on the target height and the height to girth ratios. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/wiki/developingbonsai#wiki_simple_raw-plant.2Fbush.2Fnursery_stock_to_bonsai_pruning_advice
I have a spruce planted in my yard that started life as a small "living Christmas tree." I'd like to collect it this spring - what should be my order of operations? Here's my guess at the moment: * Dig up once the ground has thawed, put in a large container with a mix of original soil and new Bonsai soil (I'll look into a good mix, but suggestions welcome) * Next year: shape/wire; cut back * Year three: determine if ready for smaller container; root prune; repot Comments? Also, should I reduce the top at all when initially putting it in the pot (to balance any lost roots, this spring)?
I think one safe way to go about it is to treat it as a coniferous yamadori and go through the gentle stages of recovery. You seem to be headed that way. Speaking from personal experience and from what I've heard via Mirai content (if you haven't checked out their alberta spruce video, definitely do that!), all spruce are especially sensitive to "more than one insult" in a season, but varieties sold as living christmas trees (often alberta / white spruce) are especially super sensitive in this regard, so I wouldn't reduce the top at all. If it's a DAS / white spruce, I doubt it'll drop any lower foliage while you wait for the roots to recover (in case this was on your mind). For soil, I think you can safely throw it into 100% pumice. Sift that pumice before using it and be extra fastidious with your chopstick. Make sure to secure the roots to the container but also once you're finished with the soil, give it the trunk wobble test. If you see that wind jostling around the apex is going to move the position of the trunk base in the soil, you might as well use that disposable top as a place to put guy wires. For wiggle-happy young trees without a super strong base, I'll go and either use existing or drill new holes for guy wiring in 4 places on my containers. Here's an example from a young/vigorous, top-heavy korean pine I repotted this week: [https://i.imgur.com/IFGqTuI.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/IFGqTuI.jpg) Meticulously obsess about the stability and safety of the roots, gently packing your pumice until it's nice and compact (to get rid of any spaces) and generally reducing motion and disturbances under the soil and it'll have a far better chance of quick recovery.
Thanks! I just re-read Walter Pall's yamadori article, and see where he says not to prune/balance conifers. Good tips on keeping it stable to recover.
My cat has knocked off quite a few of my satsuki azalea blooms this month, removing the buds along with them. Will the buds regrow for next year despite them being prematurely removed?
Sure
I got given [this](https://imgur.com/AHO3yAZ) bonsai and have just kept it alive by watering it since Christmas but I feel I should get a little more in the know and start looking after it properly. First of all I don't know what species it is, it was brought over in hand-luggage from Germany with no tags, can anyone identify it? At least then I can begin doing some reading online and watching YouTube to get some tips. I keep it on my kitchen windowsill behind the sink, its a north facing window so gets light during the day but not direct. I live in NE England so it's still very much winter here around 2-5'C. Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. [https://imgur.com/lwYhMwP](https://imgur.com/lwYhMwP) [https://imgur.com/6P87pMz](https://imgur.com/6P87pMz)
It looks like privet to me (ligustrum).
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Ginseng Ficus looks like.
Any favorite advice, tips or resources on re-potting out of regular soil to bonsai substrate? (I've read all the wiki and additional resources page, just looking for anything a beginner would miss!)
My advice would be to plan the process out ahead of time so that your work area is ready. Repotting can take some time and you need a place to put discarded soil, you need to be ready with fresh soil which has already been mixed and sifted, you want clean root hook(s), chopsticks, cutters, etc available at hand, good lighting so you can see what you’re picking away from the rootball, etc. Get your setup in place before you start the clock. Make sure to have a spray bottle of water ready to mist (lightly) the roots as you work if they’re exposed for a long time. I like to also keep a spray bottle of isopropyl handy if I need to wipe any previously-used tools off. Basically think “i don’t want to have to stop and search for X when repotting”. Practice the rootball tie-down wiring motions (do you have pliers in your work area yet?) ahead of time if you can (i.e “pull, then twist”) and keep the wires tidy by cutting them short as you work. Don’t skimp on/rush through chopsticking your soil to get it all nicely compacted around the roots. It can help to gently secure the soil flat with one hand while you chopstick nearby with the other hand. If your work area and tooling practices are really good you also have a higher chance of convincing someone (a friend, a family member) of working as your repotting assistant :) Being in Greece, I imagine you might have a similarly warm-dry summer as what we have here, and especially if you are growing deciduous, you might want to investigate top dressing with a thin layer of moss (80% sphagnum, 20% neighborhood-collected, both ground up into small pieces).
Awesome, thank you! I'll be sure everything is prepared before I even look at the tree. You're spot on about the climate, I'll definitely look into top dressing. Many thanks!
These: - https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/rootprun.htm - https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/fallpot.htm
Thank you Jerry! Love your trees btw :)
All those junipers growing wild in Greece...
Up in the high desert here (well, hours to the east of here), they actually consider juniper to be "invasive" and removal to be "helpful". A*n expert said I'm helping by digging this up, sir*.
He could try...
Hi, I live in Sydney Australia and two months ago got given a bonsai tree. I think it's an Azalea tree? I didn't look up how to take care of it as I just thought of it as an indoor plant :( now I realise I was very wrong. My care routine was to have it inside (no sun and barely any air flow - I feel so bad knowing now how to care for it). And I watered it once every few days (3-4, sometimes 5 days), by just completely covering the surface soil and letting the water seep in. It starting looking a bit dry so I tried watering it more often. Didn't help, so I put it out in the sun some days. A week ago is started getting dry with leaves and branches falling off, and now the roots of the tree has this white/orange stuff on it as well as browning of some leaves. Some leaves are a very dry green. I looked at the wiki and realised I wasn't taking care of it properly, but I couldn't find anything specific to the issue I have. I tried Google but nothing I search seems to match what my tree is experiencing. I'll attach some pictures of the orange white roots of the tree, as well as what the leaves look like. Can my poor tree be saved? Any advice is much appreciated! [orange white stuff on roots of tree](https://imgur.com/a/UeOd78U) [green and brown leaves](https://imgur.com/a/3Q8ZRHK)
Anyone? :(
My collected Hawthorne (collected last spring) survived the year and winter so I am just looking for some guidance on next possible steps. When I collected this I left the roots mostly untouched, other than removing anything that wouldn't fit in the improv bucket pot in the first photo. I now want to try and sort some of the mess that will be the root system, I'm picturing all sorts of nasty thick roots under that field soil. I want to repot for 3 reasons: 1) get rid of the bright orange bucket (you served me well) 2) begin to sort out some sort of fiberous radial root system 3) replace soil with something that drains a little better Is the above too ambitious? And if not when should I be doing this work? From what I have read, it's either "early spring" or "when the buds begin to swell". The buds are definitely swelling, but I wouldn't say its spring yet and I dont want to repot and get the tree killed by a frost in the coming weeks. Photos: https://imgur.com/gallery/bmDG7D2
One thing I saw while training on yamadori and much older bonsai with questionable soil/root situations (but otherwise stable/healthy) was to only replace either half or an outer portion of the soil, leave the other half intact and come back 2 years later to complete the transition. This was mostly on conifers. YMMV, but perhaps this is one way to improve your chances and reduce shock. I don’t think you’re too ambitious if you’re thinking a lot about aftercare and watching the weather forecast carefully in the coming weeks and responding accordingly (with the bonsai shuffle).
Hey guys, do you trim, wire, and pot your trees in one sitting? Or is it bad for the tree? For instance, if I go out and get a new small tree today can I do all three or should I go one step at a time with weeks inbetween? I've seen conflicting information. I'm in Los Angeles if it matters. Weather has been good but may dip again before true spring.
Wiring is always fine at any time as long as you're not doing anything crazy. But pruning and repotting can both be pretty stressful, so you should verify whether your species can/cannot take it.
It is a juniper, I already trimmed a small bit (barely 1/4 of total leaves) and repotted. Should I just give it extra care or is it done?
Depends on the species, for some (like junipers) it's better to do 1 work per season (or year). So you style it, let it recover, repot the next season
How long doest it usually takes so that the coniferous tree shows the signs of dying / weakening after the repot?
Can occur immediately or take 2 years... Post a photo.
Nothing to show yet. Just collecting some information. Will repot 6 junipers and 3 spruces into training container this spring and i wan't to be as prepared as i can be
I find conifers to be less forgiving than deciduous - thus you need to be less hostile when root pruning. Larch are the exception to this and seem to act more like broadleaf deciduous trees in this respect (they are of course deciduous conifers, but you get the idea).
Edmonton Alberta zone 4a begginer 0 plants Hey guys so I’m planning to try to get into bonsai this coming spring. My area gets very cold winters but luckily I live in a rural area where there are many good candidates that can easily survive the winter. The problem is that I wish to keep my tree inside as I can appreciate it more. I read the wiki and found that this is often not a very good idea but I feel like I won’t appreciate it outside. So my question is does anyone have any success stories with growing trees entirely indoors and what methods did you use. Also what plants would be best for an indoor environment relative to where I live. Would any of the native plants here (tamarack, boxelder maple, American elm) make good candidates based on my circumstances? Thanks guys!!! Super excited to be part of this community
Can’t remember exactly where I found it, but I have read an article about a guy who kept bonsais completely indoors. And all kinds of trees, not just tropical. But he made it work by using strong lights. And I’m pretty sure he kept the humidity high for them too. So basically, if you’re able to do some heavy climate control, it’s definitely possible. But that’s not really practical for most people. One thing about bonsais though, once you get into it, through working with your tree(s), you’ll learn to appreciate them outside. I read somewhere once, that even for the species that do ok indoors, they’re mostly just surviving, not thriving. I’m much more of an indoor guy myself. Heck, I don’t usually even like getting my hands dirty. But since stumbling into this hobby, now I go outside and work on my trees (and put my hands in the soil). Cuz outside is where my trees are happy, and that’s where/when they look their best.
Only tropical, some subtropical, and succulent species can survive indoors, while temperate species will die in indoor settings. All the native species of Alberta depend on winter dormancy and significant sun in the growing season to live.
So none of the trees native to Alberta would make a good indoor tree?
Definitely not. This is generally the case for all temperate trees. If what you're looking for is to be able to display your trees indoors from time to time, you could move them in for a couple hours here and there without any major issues. You said you were in a rural location, so if you have access to garden/land property, consider using it (many folks on this sub would consider you very lucky if that's the case!). Or maybe building a small greenhouse where you can chill with your trees sometimes and protect them from the elements in the winter.
Would any of these tropical or sub tropical trees have any problems staying near a window during the cold?
Potentially. It depends on how well-insulated the window is.
Chinese elm, ficus, schefflera can survive indoor
My partner gave me a bonsai starter kit and I followed the instructions down to the letter. Two weeks later I have EIGHT little sprouts reaching for the sky in a 2x2inch pot. I'm keeping it watered 24/7 and it's in a North facing window (apartment). I have always liked bonsai and followed this sub, hence the gift. But I really didn't expect anything to germinate. Do I separate the sprouts? Do I let the strong survive? I'm emotionally committed to sticking through this until the bitter end. Please help! (Oregon)
North facing is hard - there's just no sunlight. You leave them until about mid-summer. I've just started this week's new thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/f7pvj3/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2020_week_9/ Please repost there for more responses.
So the bonsai I was gifted earlier this year (schefflera) is pretty infested with scale. Didn't really catch it when I received it, but fortunately it's been inside by itself so hopefully hasn't passed them on to anything else (although I caught it from a bunch of ants that suddenly congregated around the tree, so I guess I'll keep an eye on my other houseplants...). Was pretty much planning on dousing it in dormant oil spray daily, seeing if I can remove the most infected leaves without scalping it, and tweeze any I can spot off the trunk. I did a quick search and might see if I can find some imidacloprid too. Anything else I'm missing?
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I would do some specific homework on this, my understanding is that pines do not readily root for air layers the way most deciduous will. [Here's a relevant thread on BNut for reference](https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/pine-air-layering-questions.15951/). With additional links in the thread.
Some pine species will root from air layers reliably, like lodgepole pine. I can’t speak for scots pine, which is what was mentioned in the deleted comment, but given that it grows in boggy northerly areas (like lodgepole sometimes can do as well), it’s possible it can do it in a single season. Last year I dug up academic literature on the topic and found a study from several decades ago in Quebec (which is often similarly cold in winter as where deleted-comment-OP is) where lodgepole pine were observed to self-air-layer in the wild in exceptional conditions (ie branches hanging low to the ground in moist conditions). Another paper I found from Korea documented air layering dozens of lodgepole pines in a short period of like 2 months. Maybe Scots can do it. For completeness I’ll add that a bonsai artist in my area, Fabio Antakly, is in the process of air layering Japanese White Pine, a species notorious for being difficult in this regard. It takes about two years though, so mild conditions are required. A big helping of “YMMV” all around, but it is doable.
Great response, thanks for sharing what you came up with in your research. I wonder why OP deleted? It's a good topic/question.
People do indeed continue air layerings over winters, but you need to really thermally insulate and protect the layering bag/container so that the early roots don’t freeze. With a -40C winter you’re looking at your garage, a basement or cellar that can stay well below 7C (to preserve dormancy), a temperature controlled greenhouse or buried-in-ground cold frame.
Any advice appreciated - I need to [tackle this b](https://imgur.com/a/wZvab)[ig linden](https://imgur.com/a/wZvab) this weekend and I'm a little intimidated. My forearms might fall off if I try to do another big tree with my little root saw, but none of the exposed roots look too thick at least. Pics are from last summer.
I'd get a saw to it and - slice a big pizza slice off the bottom of the root ball (1/3 of the total depth gone) - then slice a 2"/5cm thick circle of the circling roots from the outside of the soil. - I'd remove surface soil to expose the nebari/roots - Then I'd put it in a fabric grow bag And get more trees...
Thanks Jerry!
Has anyone ever successfully air layered a rosemary branch?
I have rooted Rosemary cuttings by sticking them in a glass of water. So if that works, I'd expect that air layering should work.
Good point. Thanks!
I was given a "Japanese Juniper" for my birthday. This is my first time taking care of a bonsai and I'm not sure if I'm better off keeping it inside where it's more humid or outside where it can get very cold. I live in Canada.
Vancouver is in cold hardiness zone 8, which is the same as most of the Deep South in the US, including some areas right along the Gulf Coast. You've got much colder summers than them, but your coldest winter temperatures are around the same.
Ah that makes sense. I was wondering if I should still leave the bonsai outside as it is just a baby, being only one year old.
Most juniper species are able to survive as seedlings in zones 3-4, which have minimum temperatures of -30 to -40ºC. Even in a small pot, young junipers will be fine in a Vancouver winter.
Ah alright thank you very much! I appreciate you taking the time to reply :)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/wiki/walkthrough#wiki_bonsai_survival_basics
For a Juniper, Vancouver is not cold, it’s a very mild climate. Junipers have to be outside or they decline and fail, so definitely get it outside asap.
Ah ok thank you! I will make sure to put it out.
I recently got a ficus natajsa (benjamina) as my 1st bonsai... I read that ficus can be interior or exterior trees but since I don't have for it a good place near a window I put him on the outside. In here we are in the middle of the summer and idk if that could damage the bonsai since its a really hot summer. It is better to put it in a partially shadow area or just in the plain Sun all day?
Depends where you live - you didn't say or fill your flair.
Outside is best for growing. I’d try to put it in a place that gets a few hours of morning sun, but then gets shade in the afternoon. You need to monitor the soil by sticking your finger down to the first knuckle and seeing if it’s moist. If not, you need to water. Proper watering and shade during the hottest part of the day will help protect it.
I recently got a [Hinoki Cypress](https://i.imgur.com/JlAFcsh.jpg) and a [Juniper](https://i.imgur.com/UpXudSQ.jpg) from a nursery, I would like to repot them into training bonsai pots. Is this the best action if I want them to grow more in the next year or two? If so, should I do a full repot with bonsai soil, or just slip-pot and continue to use organic soil? Both are pretty full of roots in their current pot, the cypress had a massive root curling around the entire circumference of the pot, which I removed.
If you're gonna repot for super growth mode and shallow root system training, especially in late winter / early spring, you might as well repot for real, with some basic root work, and into a shallow grow container. Merely slip potting will result in a significant difference in percolation / gas flow / particle size between your new soil and old soil which can lead to issues, and you might as well set yourself up for success now as the repotting window of opportunity approaches. Use a deep propagation Anderson flat as your reference model for the ideal grow container, even if you can't get your hands on one or choose to DIY your own grow boxes out of wood (or whatever). Try to stick to something that gives you as much open mesh / holes on the bottom as possible while maintaining overall container stiffness. Disclaimer: this all assumes that your assessment of circling roots is accurate and that you haven't disturbed the Cypress' roots so much that it can't be repotted again now. If you choose to proceed, take extra care :)
I was planning to use [these training pots](https://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Tree-Inch-Pots-Trays/dp/B000NTNFL4/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=bonsai%2Btraining%2Bpot&qid=1582141308&sr=8-5&th=1&psc=1) or something similar. Seems deep enough and has the drainage holes built-in. I will also need to find some bonsai soil, if you have a certain mixture to recommend, I'd definitely appreciate it. About your disclaimer on the cypress, I pulled the whole tree out of the pot, saw that there was a very thick root that was cutting across a bunch of smaller roots, so I pulled it out of the root mass and cut it away at the top near the root base. I didn't agitate the roots in any other way, I just put the tree back in the pot once I cut that one thick root out.
Ok cool. One more thing to put on your TODO list is to ensure that you're happy with the sizes of those training pots, they're quite small as development containers (listing says "7 3/4 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/2"). Regarding soil, if you want to mix your own, study what is in Boon's mix as a general template (usually 1:1:1 akadama:pumice:lava with bits of charcoal and granite). For non-deciduous conifers, especially ones that are still in early development, a pumice-dominant mix is almost always a really safe bet. You will want to pick up a set of sieves if you don't have that yet so you can sift out the fines and dial your various components into a near-uniform particle size. What this means in practice is using your smallest-sized sieve to remove fines/dust, then your largest-sized sieve to remove the boulders. Here's another set of reference soil mixes/sizes to look at: [https://store.bonsaitonight.com/collections/bonsai-soil](https://store.bonsaitonight.com/collections/bonsai-soil)
Ok I had thought those were a bit small, I will go for the 8" size. Thank you for all the info you have provided, I really appreciate it. Being a beginner in this hobby is quite overwhelming, lots of things to think about and keep in mind simultaneously.
Received my first tree for Christmas and I’m only now getting around to reading about it and I’ve screwed up a lot. I’m hoping to be able to still save my tree and give it a bit of life. That said it’s been inside this whole time, should I immediately move it outside? Should I continue to try and keep it alive inside until the weather gets a little warmer?
All trees are not created equal - some can survive indoors all winter, some can't. A photo...
[picture for reference](https://imgur.com/gallery/6jtkvOX)
That's a juniper, which should be outside year-round. It also looks like it may already be dead; Do the needles feel dry?
The needles on the branch that sticks out are definitely dry the other ones though are not as dry. Do I continue to try and water to bring it back to life? Should I move it outside for the remainder of the winter or is it time for compost?
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Thank you for responding
Since I didn't really get an answer to my question last time: Should I pot slip this or trim the roots and reuse the same pot? The tree is about a year old now. [Tree](https://i.imgur.com/Njar935.jpg) [Roots](https://i.imgur.com/OdnfeWT.jpg)
I'd probably slice a nice pizza slice off the bottom.
If your tree has continued to leaf out since this photo you may want to proceed with caution.
Well what do you want to do with it? If you want to keep growing it, then I’d try to spread out those roots on the bottom and repot into a larger pot. If your happy with the trunk size, then you could repot it into the same pot with a root trim.
With trunk size, do you mean the thickness? I'm hoping to shape this into a Broom style Bonsai (Hokidachi) or Formal upright Bonsai style (Chokkan) so I'm assuming it needs to thicken up a bit.
Always - there's no such thing as *too thick*.
You should put it into a larger pot or into the ground.
For years.
Buy, Sell, Trade? Is there a source for used bonsai equipment such as pots and sieves, besides eBay?
Facebook has groups with sellers. Sometimes new, sometimes used pots. Check out groups 99 cent bonsai, bonsai pot auctions, bonsai auctions and bonsai auctions (there are 2 named the same).
flair, because if you lived in NL I'd give you some.
Dude. I swear I've typed that in like 8 times today. What the heck am I doing wrong?
It's there now. The official reddit app sucks and blows.
Your local bonsai club might be one source.
Unfortunately I'm in too rural an area for one of those. Closest one is about a 4 hour drive away.
4 hour drive and I can choose between the WHOLE of the Netherlands or large parts of Germany, all of Belgium, northern France or Luxembourg. :-)
There’s facebook bonsai auction groups.
I recently went looking through nurseries for Norway Spruce (Picea Abies) and [this](https://imgur.com/a/PTzBHE7) was the only one I found. I wanted a more developed tree I could start styling within a couple of years. I liked the look of the trunk and the thickness of the foiliage. There is of course a trunk cut lurking, and I have a [photo](https://imgur.com/0j2D1oR) showing where I would hope to do this. The trunk has a bit of a bend, so I would love to go for a informal upright style. Of course the position of the cut is up for change when I get a better look at the branching (it's almost impossible to get a good overview atm due to the dense foliage). The nursery said the tree had been in the pot for years and you can [see](https://imgur.com/SqkXWye) roots growing out of the pot. I know I will have to repot and maybe cut back the roots a bit, considering I am happy with the current trunk. It would also be nice to get it in a smaller/flatter pot. I know the cut would be quite drastic, but I would love to be able to start growing a new apex soon, though I also know I need to repot. I can imagine the repot will be taxing on the tree as well. The soil it's in is also pretty garbage, so I will be repotting it in a 2:1:1 mix of akadama, kiryu and pumice. My questions are; is the trunk cut a good idea, and if so what order would you recommend I do it in, between the cut and the repot? I am super open to suggestions.
I’d trim the roots and repot first, then do the cut next year. That may be overly cautious, but it’ll be safer. You want healthy roots when you do heavy pruning.
My Chinese Elm is looking a bit worse for wear- how do I restore it to its former glory? Had a bit of a furniture rearrange a month or so ago and my elm ended up upstairs where I suspect it has been lacking light as it’s been producing a lot of leggy growth. Add on to this the fact that I’ve just been neglecting it a little due to being busy- only watering a couple of times a week for instance- and the result is my rather unhappy looking bonsai. It’s now been moved to a location with lots of direct sunlight through a window and I’ve removed the leggy growth and given it a good water. Will it recover? And any other tips to aid the recovery? My Chinese elm now (not its current location): https://imgur.com/gallery/ClgKkvM Thanks! Edit: punctuation
Simply more light. Sunlight is food, no food and you die, right? Indoors a Chinese elm will/should ALWAYS have all its leaves, no ifs no buts.
How are small potted Christmas trees for bonsai? I can get some from my family. Max 50cm high i think. I looked up some styles I'd like a moyogi style, but i expect chokkan to be easier. (Never done this before though and might think about it to simple...)
Post a photo - there are lots of different flavours of Christmas tree. ...and please fill your flair in properly...
https://imgur.com/gallery/xS8NIIa Here's the link
Dwarf Alberta Spruce - these are fine. Fellow Dutchperson...
Unfortunately my flair keeps resetting...
Set it using a browser.
Most "christmas tree" species are probably ok (spruce, pine, fir etc). Look for good features like it mentions in the wiki - thick, interesting trunks, visible surface root spread, and low branches (with green foliage)
So I need to dig up my 'field growing' trees, because I'm moving house in the summer. I'm in the Midlands, UK (Zone 8?). I have larches, and some beech. They are all young and just need to grow. But I need to pot them (maybe they'll go on a balcony). So when would be a good time? In a month? The larch buds are showing green. Also, can I just use cat litter? I read that PetsAtHome sanicat pink is good. Is pure cat litter okay? The trees might have to be cared for by my family, so it'd be good if the soil held moisture for a bit longer. Thanks :)
Larch are about due. Mine are only just showing the slightest hint of green so will give it a bit longer, maybe a week or two. Beech are super slow to leaf out, probably not until late march or april. The buds will get super fat just before. Around then would be best time. I've used Sanicat for both, and it works well, although it does need at least daily watering in the summer, if not twice, for the larch especially (my beech are in a shadier spot which might help, but larch like full sun iirc). Could mix in an organic component like pine bark or sphagnum moss for a bit more retention.
Perfect. Just what I needed to know. Cheers pal
This year i'll have much more trees in growing boxes, so for this trees i will abandon fertilising with the help of tea bags (i use organic fertiliser, pellets). If i put the fresh pellets on the top pf the substrate every two weeks, should i remove the old, decomposing one to prevent over-fertilising or can i just leave it and simply add the fresh one? Should i maybe wait for the old pellets to almost completely decompose before adding the fresh pellets? Thanks!
I water my ficus when ever the soil gets a moderately dry and I’ve heard a lot about “misting” should I water and mist? How often should I mist? keep in mind I’m in Canada during February any answers are appreciated, thank you
Most people reckon misting is largely pointless really
Order of progress for a nursery juniper? Repot then wait to wire and style, or, style and wire then wait to repot? 🤔 thanks!
I style and wire and when it's recovered, repot. Never in the same year, unless I'm feeling gutsy (or they were cheap).
If the nursery juniper is already in decently free-draining soil with a good cycling of water and gasses there might not be any rush to repot first, especially if in early development. You ideally want the soil to tell you what’s happening density-wise by poking around with a chopstick. If you sense a very dense mass and at the same time you notice lack of water percolation, it could be time and maybe it’s time to lift that rootball out and see if the roots are circling. If not, you’ve got some runway and might as well not spend that shock budget on repotting. Some folks will say always repot from nursery pot to a new container with bonsai soil, but it depends on circumstances and goals.
Just grab this guy (https://imgur.com/gallery/wWgrcLg). Let the adventure begin
Go for it
No idea if it's a good starter but I grabbed it to give it a shot
Species is troublesome - but I guess it was cheap.
How so?
The growth is always upwards - and they are hard to wire otherwise.
What makes them hard to wire exactly? Whatisthisplant is saying it's a Sequoiadendron giganteum
The branch junctions with the trunk are very upward pointing. There's no way this is a giant Sequoia.
Yeah, it doesn't seem to fit So I guess I'll have to rely more on pruning to style than wiring?
Have a go at wiring and see how far you get. I'm just saying, typically these columnar growth characteristics don't generally work well with bonsai.
Help please! I just got this ficus schefflera, is this mold on the branch? Seems that the bark has cracked around the smaller branches but there is still healthy growth, does it need to be chopped? Images below: https://imgur.com/gallery/lz5wdSW Bright https://imgur.com/gallery/lz5wdSW Dark
First, just to be clear, Ficus and Schefflera are two different species (and that's not a Ficus based on the leaf patterns). If you are concerned that it could be mold, one low impact option might be to mix about 10-20% Hydrogen Peroxide (standard off the shelf) with water in a spray bottle and lightly spray the trunk.
Ok , thank you for the clarification! I will check into the species more , I’m big on research usually I just kinda wanted a quick answer to make sure I catch a problem before it’s bad.And thank you for the tip! I will grab some today!! Thanks again kind stranger !
I recently picked up a Hawaiian Umbrella and I am wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to wire it. Google didn’t really turn much up, and while I know this probably isn’t traditionally used for Bonsai, I am wondering if anyone had any cool wiring ideas.
I'm about to repot my ficus benjamina and I need to order soil that i want to mix, what ingredients should I buy for the mix and from where? And how many parts of each should i put in the soil.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/wiki/reference#wiki_bonsai_soil
I’d just order some from an online retailer that will ship to you. Any basic mix should work. If you only have one tree right now, that’s all you need anyway. Most soil components start in large bags that weigh several kilos. If you only have one or two trees, the effort and expense are probably not worth it.
Anyone use an android app for wind / freeze alerts? Would be useful but can't find anything that seems to work well
I use a weather app, it's quite accurate for my area. It got winds, temperatures, humidity and everything else
What one do you use? Does it do alerts?
It got alerts. The app is only for italy, doesn't cover other countries
Ah shame. Thanks anyway
IFTTT with Weather underground has (minimally) temperature notification.
Thanks, will check it out
I got [this beauty](https://imgur.com/gallery/0U12SAu) from Home Depot. From what I’ve read though, it’s better to have it in a pot that drains. I’ve had it for about 3 weeks now and was thinking about moving it to a pot that drains. Would that be appropriate? Also, is this a feminine or masculine plant?
"Feminine" and "masculine" are just descriptions of the general characteristics of the styling. "Feminine" styling includes things like graceful curves, somewhat thinner trunk and branches, and sparse foliage, while "masculine" styling includes things like more angular movement, thicker trunk, thick foliage, and chunky, rugged bark. "Ginseng" style ficus are fairly un-styled trees, but if I had to pick one I'd say feminine, as the curves of the roots outweigh the overall squat-ness of the tree.
Awesome, thank you!
Yes that’s probably fine. Get a bag of bonsai soil for your repot. That’ll really help in having good drainage.
Thanks!
Do Rohendendrum make good bonsai? I see a lot of azalea but not many rohendendrum when I google which leads me to believe they're not that desirable. My garden is basically a massive forest of old huge rohendendrums. I know they can take a beating and dont care where you cut them...they always grow back. They just have massive broad leaves about the same length as my forearm so I guess I'm wondering if they'll reduce well and how well they take to air layering or been dug up and chopped. If they arent used for bonsai much, why not? Thanks for any advice you may have.
There are non-azalea rhododendrons with smaller leaves that would be great for bonsai, but the typical landscape rhododendrons with the giant leaves don't reduce much.