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neurotech posted:I took a few cuttings: For potting bonsai, you want a mix that has few organics and drains quickly. Rot from overwatering is how 95% of people kill bonsai/succulents. Most pre-made mixes are terrible, unless coming from a real bonsai shop. You can easily make your own that's better than almost anything prepackaged. Notes on pruning jades for people that want a good display: cut any foliage pointing down, cut anything obscuring the trunk, and pinch growth to create a nice thick canopy. Here's a pretty nice one I took a picture of a couple weeks ago, though I would remove the side trunk if it were my own. 
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Feb 1, 2013 15:40
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 09:46 |
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Make sure you visit their desert garden - it might be the best desert garden in the world. It'll make you love cacti/succulents. Also: those mushrooms are harmless. They come up a lot in potting mixes using soil from outdoors; we had them all the time at the zoo I work at, without any wood in them.
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Feb 23, 2013 13:40
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Your normal C. ovata needs chopped. I'd remove the secondary bottom shoot, and then chop it right above where it starts to branch. It needs more sun, too - it's etiolated. Your gollum doesn't look too bad. Time is the only thing that'll give them girth. I find the mostrose versions are harder to manipulate, but they end up making a better presentation on their own in the long run. Your Ficus elastica you can cut about a foot/foot-and-a-half tall, to make branch. Then, every time it leafs out, pinch the buds to create more branching. These are really easy trees to work with, and take a lot of abuse. When you repot, you can saw off all but the top two inches of roots, and it won't miss a beat. Be very careful when pruning Ficus; it has an extremely caustic sap that'll ruin your day.
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Feb 24, 2013 12:40
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Cutting off foliage will slow trunk growth a bit, but even as it puts energy into new leaves, you'll notice the trunk will still continue to grow. To make your stuff really happy, make sure you turn them every week, as they'll grow towards the sun, then put them outside in the summer. If you let your jade stay out until it starts to get close to freezing, you'll get a nice bloom near Christmas time. Most of those "air cleaner" plants are either ficus, philodendron, or dracenea. Nearly all take well to lot of hard pruning.
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Feb 25, 2013 02:59
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Looks like rot. You're not gonna like hearing this, but it's from too much water/moist-soil mix. The number one thing you need to do is repot into a mix with very few organics. Your mix is retaining far too much moisture - you could probably cut it in more than half with perlite. Do that, repot, and start cutting back wood until you get past the soft rotted part, get it in some good sun, and hope it buds. Also, when there's no leaves on the tree, it's using almost no water, so you can keep it very dry - maybe a drink a week.
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Mar 5, 2013 18:15
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Actually, if you use sand, you want it to be a very small portion of your mix. The problem with sand is it compacts and doesn't allow air-flow, which again, invites rot. If you're willing to do a little work and get the ingredients, this is a fantastic bonsai/potting mix. Like I said, though, if you're lazy/can't find good ingredients, just cut a bagged cacti-mix mix in half with perlite. You want to make it so you basically can't overwater.
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Mar 6, 2013 14:56
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I have a hard time believing that's a ten year tree. Half that growth is last year's growth. What sort of soil is it in? You want something that drains extremely well - the number one way people kill their potted plants is too much moisture on the roots, which causes rot within the mix.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:29
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I like Osmocote as a nice slow release fert that won't burn. When you repot, I would just make sure 50-75% of your mix is inorganics (perlite is good choice) for excellent drainage - the bagged mixes in big box stores are terrible. You want it so you can water nearly every single day in the summer and not worry about overwatering. Avoid sand, as it compacts and doesn't allow for good root oxygenation in pots. Your tree looks nice. Play around with it to get what you want; don't try just going by concrete steps you read in a book. My first step would be to cut back and then focus on pinching to create lots and lots of branching. This will get your leaf size down, trunk size up, and give you a good starting point.
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Apr 8, 2013 12:13
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With a slow release fert, you need only fertilize once a year or so, after spring growth is well established. As you progress, you can research more specific fertilizers. You can top coat fertilizers, but they'll best be used if incorporated into your growing medium (might not be good option for you at this point, in that pot). Re: Pinching - see how there's so much branch growth between leaves? When you prune your tree back, shoots will appear. Let the first set of leaves stay on, then pinch the growth that emerges right after them. This will cause the tree to branch into two shoots from behind your pinched spot. Let these two branches make a leaf or two each, then pinch the new growth that continues out from them, creating four branches. Continue to repeat this process, creating tiny leaves and tons and tons of branching. This will create a dense, full canopy. Trees that are well done show this best in the wintertime, actually. See here.
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Apr 8, 2013 15:11
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That article is awesome. Good advice, too. There are lots of ways to accomplish the same goals. I know there are lots of bonsai people that would advocate for you ripping that tree out of its pot and putting it in the ground for a few years to get some size on it - it's all how you want to go about it.
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Apr 8, 2013 15:24
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Neem oil is a popular organic option, but to have the best chances, it's going to be important to figure out what's eating it.
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Apr 8, 2013 17:56
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Where are you at? It's still getting pretty cold around here for a leafed out tree to be outside at night. The leaves will fall off, but maples are pretty hardy - I would expect to see it rebud soon enough. If it drops all its leaves, you can ease up on water (once a week) 'till it buds out.
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Apr 10, 2013 15:04
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Jade, an unheated garage or place like that would do for any night that's getting close to or is going to freeze.AwwJeah posted:now I want to grow a bonsai from trimmings and basically what I'd like to know is what should I be on the look out for when choosing a good trimming? Of interest to some of you might be a few conifer grafts I did this year. Won't be bonsai'ing any of them, but will be doing a niwaki type pruning to some of the pines. Pinus densiflora 'Oculus-draconis'  Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Aurea'  Picea orientalis 'Skylands'  Here is a mature 'Skylands'  
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Apr 11, 2013 15:34
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AwwJeah posted:Thanks for the great article. I honestly had no clue that most bonsai are reduced down dramatically from their original size and that's probably THE most valuable piece of beginner information I've gathered so far. That's a HUGE development in my understanding of bonsai. All three are good choices. Black cherries are especially hardy and take abuse like crazy. For starting out, don't spend more than $10-$15 on a tree. The earlier in the season you can get them, the better.
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Apr 12, 2013 12:43
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Mix your perlite in, but looks good so far. My only concern would be the amount of organics in your mix (just judging by the look of the picture); from one of the garden professors: "Most landscapes that support trees and shrubs require 5-10% organic matter - not 20%. Overkill is overkill." People are way too scared about cutting their potting mix with inorganics, but it really does make your root system healthier and less prone to rot. There's nothing wrong with letting them grow for a season to ensure nice healthy trees. Take a look at the link Illudere posted earlier on an easy way to develop your trees from here on out.
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Apr 15, 2013 13:12
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I accidentally poured dishsoap on an orchid once - no amount of washing it off saved it. Good luck.
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May 28, 2013 21:19
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The idea of the metasequoia fusion is fantastic.
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Jun 29, 2013 18:44
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Many Jap maples burn in the summer here in michigan, so sounds like what you're doing is working. The alternative would be to build a lathe house for it, which is where our local botanical garden keeps their bonsai collection.
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Sep 10, 2013 18:29
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I picked up an adenium to play around with during the winter hours. Nice to have something bonsai-ish for the office.
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Nov 22, 2013 20:25
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Vaginaface posted:This is a sapling I dug up from the yard, I think it's a Chinese elm? It'll take a few years before I can really do anything with it, but if I can keep it alive that long it should be a good specimen. On that note, it's been about a month or two since the transplant, and it has seemed mostly healthy, but the leaves are starting to dessicate and turn yellow as you can see in the photo. Does this look like normal deciduous shedding or am I a plant murderer? 'Blue Star' is a very blue cultivar of Juniperus squamata, and yours doesn't have the right color/leaf pattern to me. I think it's more likely a Juniperus communis, which requires a dormancy period. How you accomplish that is up to you, but 70 degrees indoors year round will end in a sick/dying tree.
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Dec 17, 2013 13:40
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Pinus thunbergiana needs a cold dormancy period. Best thing you can do is put them outside on the south side of your house or in an unheated garage.
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Dec 31, 2013 16:10
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Do you have a decent amount of snow? If you can bury them under a foot or so of snow, it'll insulate them at a good temperature. I know a witch's broom collector in Europe who collects brooms as he finds them in winter, buries them until early spring, then grafts 'em up.
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Jan 1, 2014 01:05
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Sounds perfect. It'll still need the occasional watering even in dormancy.
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Jan 1, 2014 14:51
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Most conifers like water about once a week or so. Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' is actually a full-size tree. You can keep it in a pot, but it's going to do best (read: live) outside. It does take well to pruning, if you want to keep it fairly small. Now would be a fine time to repot. Pot with something that's more than 50% inorganic, and you can water right away. New growth will come in the spring.
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Jan 6, 2014 00:52
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Mr. Soop posted:my Horticulture major 
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Feb 3, 2014 14:53
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As long as that spot gets 6 good hours of sun per day, you should be fine. Start with just keeping it alive in a pot until next year. This is how most people actually fail. Once you know and love your tree, you'll have a better idea what you want to do with it. Personally, I really like all the very orange JM hybrids coming out.
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Apr 22, 2014 01:27
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I'd be talking out of my rear end to act like I know much about all the JM hybrids. My knowledge of conifers is hard to beat, though. I just remember seeing a picture from Buchholz's Flora Wonder Blog that had some field planted maples, and god did the orange ones glow.
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Apr 23, 2014 12:10
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Gold Cone (true name is 'Suecica Aurea')is a lovely cultivar. Here's a nice mature one in my friend's garden:
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Jun 1, 2014 16:15
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Anybody know any posts online from somebody overwintering tropical pines indoors? I'm sure it can be done, but better to work with some info than go into it blind. I have a few ideas already that I think will work, but would love some extra advice/experience.
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Jul 13, 2014 12:02
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Densiflora's an easy one to work with here in Michigan. Strobus is a great species, but it's a 5-needle pine with very soft needles, and generally not preferred for bonsai. I would work with a cultivar originating from a witches broom. Another good cultivar choice would be 'Niagara Falls', which has a weeping habit, but supposedly back-buds (though I am skeptical about this claim and will be testing it come spring). I could send you some scions of 'Niagara Falls', if you're set up for grafting. Does strobus naturally make it through your climate? I would've thought it would need more cold hours than you could naturally provide.
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Sep 12, 2014 13:13
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Overwatering, and I'd say repot them immediately. My succulent mix is 80-90% inorganic. You want something that dries almost completely between watering. I use a lot of perlite, but pumice is a great alternative. I have a feeling you're going to find some rot when you unpot those. Do a flush cut and pot them up in completely dry media. Check after a month or so to see if some roots have developed, then start minimal watering again. Make sure they're getting as much direct sunlight as possible. All should turn a nice reddish hue when kept in proper sunlight levels/dry media.
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Sep 18, 2014 15:06
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Crocoduck posted:That's the kind of thing that prompts stabbings in my experience. I know of several bonsai appraisers - if it's a substantial piece I can put you in contact with them. Before the second half of the picture loaded, I thought that was planted in the landscape. Awesome pine - looks like P. nigra, maybe? If you don't mind sharing, how much did it set you back?
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Jun 11, 2015 12:17
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It looks great. Are you a part of the bonsai auction group on Facebook? Seems like lots of people with deep pockets on it.
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Jun 13, 2015 01:35
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Question for you: do you happen to know anybody in the US with a chichi from a gingko? I would like to graft a shoot from one onto normal rootstock and see if it produces chichis at a younger age, the way grafted shoots from older trees will produce cones/seed at a younger age. None of the species types in the US are old enough to have them yet, aside from the dwarf cultivar named 'Chi Chi', and I want a full size tree with them. I know I've seen one or two for sale in the bonsai community, so obviously somebody's importing them. Pics of phenomenon here, for those interested: http://kwanten.home.xs4all.nl/bonsai.htm
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Jun 18, 2015 12:50
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 09:46 |
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Any decent tutorials for a beginner to work with Metasequoia?
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Jul 6, 2016 13:06
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