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Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
If you want to actually do anything you probably need to get it in the ground to get some trunk size, otherwise you can just buy some cheap stock from your local garden center and mess around and kill those. No sarcasm, just the way it goes with most people starting out. Its more a serious time thing and less a do something now and see the end result any time soon thing

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Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Bacon Terrorist posted:

I’ve been gifted a Mexican Heather bonsai, tell me how I don’t kill this thing :downs:

Already I tried to slowly water it but the water seemed to just run off the mossy soil so I misted it instead :ohdear:

post a pic!

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

CodfishCartographer posted:

Stumbled onto this thread recently, and have always wanted to try raising a bonsai. I think it would be cool to use air layering to make bonsai out of trees at various places I've lived that have been important in my life. Is this a dumb idea? Should I start with something more traditional for the first few years? I'm in zone 8b with a back yard, and there's a nursery right down the street so I have no worries about finding something local I can grow*.

great idea, post pics when you start! I'm not being sarcastic either I really like the idea




*kill. its a patience/time game :D

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

CodfishCartographer posted:

Thanks for the encouragement! Is this a good time of year to start something like that project, or should I wait for a better season? Spring is just getting going and I know that it's a good time for growing, but I'm not sure if it'd take too long to air layer a branch and then get it secured in a pot until it's healthy.

collecting yamadori should be done before the tree starts to grow in the spring, I dunno about air layering sorry. I would bet it would be similar or depend on the species

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

Ice cube thing is a terrible myth. If I were you I would purchase supplemental lighting and get the tree on well draining bonsai soil. Did you lift the moss to see what was underneath? The moss will likely die indoors, so you might as well remove it.


Air layering is a good way to start stock.


Air layering is best performed after the spring growth has hardened off. This growth will feed the roots that you want to develop.

good stuff thanks!

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
Oh lol I thought you were well informed about air layering already

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

CodfishCartographer posted:

I've read a few articles on it online but nothing beyond that. :v:

You should try and buy a few trees on sale somewhere and see if you can keep them alive before you try air layering or even wiring

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

I'm still failing at air layering every year. I'm working with a guy on air layering this Japanese maple this year.



awesome, good luck. just imagine how it'll feel when you don't fail!

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

SniperWoreConverse posted:

I have these bullshit rhododendrons in front of my house that have been pissing me off for years. Is this a kind of plant that could be bonsai'd?

Depends on the species as there are over 1,000 in the genus but azalea are pretty common and gorgeous when in bloom

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
Beautiful! How old?

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
Both my azalea basically require me to get at them regularly or the branches die when they touch each other

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

lemonslol posted:

I was recently given a maple grown from a seedling. It's probably three feet tall. It's in my yard now in a five gallon bucket with soil. It gets a lot of sun. I wanted to thicken up the trunk and then chop it. How do I avoid loving this up?

Put it in the ground for a few years

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

I'm actually trimming my azalea today and repotting it.



oh my... flowering pics please?! Beautiful and thick dayum

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

silicone thrills posted:

You make me want to bonsai. How could you do this to me?

Because that tree is competition worthy. Grab some trees and try to keep them alive its fun!

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
Almost everyone gets a mallsai to start at some point :/ I would guess it didn't like the direct sun combined with the heatwave

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
I've had a couple serious aphid infestations on a few plants of mine out of the blue. Not sure specifically about your mugo but I used an organic insecticidal soap after trying out a cayenne/water mixture that seemed to work pretty well. Good luck :/

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
oh no idea on organic vs inorganic, I just bought the organic because I also needed to use it for peppers that I'm going to eat soon. I'd imagine the inorganic would be more serious so I'd be wary on using large amounts of it without being sure it wasn't going to hurt my plant in some way

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Pham Nuwen posted:

There's a guy named Lui selling a set of 4 tools on 99c bonsai, current bid is $40. Worth it? I don't have any proper tools, just some regular garden trimmers, which have been fine for coarsely fooling around with ficuses but I'd kind of like to get into more traditional trees too.



I'd say yes but with the caveat that actually shaping a tree with trimmers is like 5% of bonsai work, the rest is just growing and time. When I first started I bought a bunch of wire and tools thinking I was going to Get At It, nope

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Pham Nuwen posted:

Yeah I've got several ficuses that I've had for like 3 years now and finally one of them is approaching sufficient trunk thickness that I'm actually considering doing something with it beyond basic "keep this houseplant alive".

I'll probably just murder it

Yea I saw those I'm excited to see the results. I forgot to add to my earlier post "make sure its the right time of year for the plant" because I let an experienced bonsai grower mess with a maple of mine a month or two ago and it is extremely unhappy if not dead now. :rip:

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

Nah dude, don't be thinking that way. Bonsai is all tasks, learning how to work a tree at the right time, for the right reasons is insanely important. I would say that ideally every bonsai artist should have a giant set of tools, including non traditional ones like broken glass bottles, sharpened screwdrivers, children's hammers, aquarium tubing, etc. Learning how to grow a tree is important, but learning how to work a tree is what separates bonsai from houseplants.

Trees gotta make it sexy or they don't get to stay in the garden ;)


After care is huge. I've definitely worked trees to death, every year for the past 6 years or so. It's hard, but learning how to read a tree, how to push a tree, and the nature of your garden are things that you can only do by taking risks.

I don't disagree I was more pushing a minimalist approach. I don't think you need a giant set of tools to succeed at bonsai. I learned a lot about shaping a tree so its not a loss, just a bummer

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
Oh my god look at that trunk!!! Did you collect that or inherit it? How much work are you going to do/are you going to show it? Ga drat I'm not worthy

I think you need to get it in the ground and thicken it up ;)

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

Bought it from Todd Schlafer out at https://www.firstbranchbonsai.com. First thing to do is graft it with kishu or itoigawa foliage - both do pretty well in my garden. That will take maybe 5 years before it's ready for its first styling. At that point I'm going to wire the bejeezus out of it and tilt it to the right. I might show it - I'm thinking of showing in the Mid Atlantic Bonsai show next year, I've got a few junipers to submit. After that nationals is up in 2020, but I'm not sure if my skills are up to snuff. We'll see.

Definitely need to ground plant it :P

Wow I'd love to check out his garden, some seriously nice trees there. Do you run a blog or instagram or something? I'd love to soak up knowledge from you... like spam the heck out of this thread with pictures and info pleaseee.

My only experience with junipers is firefighting in the southwest and they are little monstrous shrubs that were incredibly frustrating to cut so I have some stupid misguided hatred for them. They make pretty amazing bonsai though

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
Are they normally ok inside?

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
The most common way I've killed plants over the years is definitely overwatering #1 and then leaving them outside overnight when it's too cold. I'd say wait until spring to call it dead. This is the fun part of bonsai!

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

ante posted:

Cool, I better get started, then

The bonsai is not you working on the tree; you have to have the tree work on you

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
drat, nice tree and cool idea

fuzzy_logic posted:

I recommend getting super high and then just sitting down and attempting to communicate with the tree for like an hour. I do it like every other week and it works great.

Same and it works.

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
For sure, there are plenty of cool plants that can grow inside, try and keep those alive.

Plant in a pot is the smoothest insult for someone's bonsai, I've heard that a few places now

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

fuzzy_logic posted:

The amur maple is mine! Gaze upon my thicc boy:





I could've had the cascade crabapple for 400, but a number of trees from that donor, including the other crab, were found to be dead or dying, and were auctioned for "pot price" only and I didn't want to take the risk. I'm very happy with this guy :) Should I note what some of the others went for or would it break Crocoduck's heart?

rip the bandaid off on us all, sweet tree too.

Crocoduck posted:

Yes please, I'm curious. Nice little amur maple. You know about how to care for them?

is it different than other maples? drop some knowledge!

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

drat guys I'm getting excited for spring. Despite the recent snow, Mauro Stemberger and I will be working not this Friday but next Friday on establishing structure for that big RMJ. Will Baddeley will be looping through and doing some carving work with me. Boon Manakitivipart is coming to our local club and I'm hoping to gain some knowledge from him. Every year I think is going to be a banner year, but I'm feeling it this year. Who else is getting serious?

I mean... I'm super serious about trying to keep my little group alive! But I'm not doing it like you're doing it. I let someone who has been doing it a while hit one of my maples pretty hard at the wrong time so I'll be finding out soon enough if its bouncing back or not. It's a slow learning process but every year I get some more stock and keep having fun with it. I have some killer jades but those dont count haha. What I should really do is get in with a club

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Hey resident expert, nothing to do with this quoted post but I snagged a coral bark maple volunteer from a big one in my yard. Its the only one I've seen in years, I didn't grab it the first year because it was so tiny but I had to grab it this year before it got destroyed. Any tips for this specific species? Also, there is no reason I should keep it in a pot rather than getting it back into the ground for girth right? From my limited understanding there is no comparison for getting mass going. I'll post a pic later. Does yamadori cover all plants found in "the wild" including my yard?

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
I appreciate the info sharing as well.. for instance seaweed extract? Never heard of it

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

Playing with a privet - hard to control rot on these guys, super important to minwax and lime sulphur.



Is this a crocoduck joke or is it me or is the picture blurry for everyone

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Internet Explorer posted:

That looks really nice. I had a bonsai once and I killed it because I suck. I am going to lurk this thread for a few years and maybe some knowledge will rub off. :)

Buy stuff and keep it alive is a good second step, specifically not things being sold as bonsai. No need to go crazy with trimming or wiring or tools or pots.

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

Peter Chan is a good source. Nigel Saunders is not. Guy really annoys me on a personal level, lol.

Yeah Hubis, you mostly got it right. Letting trees grow in the ground you can get feet of growth per year, but this doesn't promote the ramification that you want in a finished bonsai.

This is a pretty good article , with the caveat that a lot of times, when you let conifers run there won't be any foliage left near the trunk; that's when grafting comes in.

How do you feel about grafted bonsai? Is it totally acceptable as long as it heals well and you can't tell? I'm always curious about how people actually in the bonsai game feel about grafts

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

Really depends on the tree. A lot of the Japanese maple you see out there in garden centers are grafted with the root stock, and these hardly ever look passable. Cheap JWP are often grafted to JBP root stock and these can sometimes look good after a long period of time. Grafted 'ginseng' ficus always look awful.

But grafting is a really important tool in your bonsai kit. Most varieties of American juniper have inferior foliage to itoigawa or kishu and look 5000x better if you change out the foliage. I've got grafts going on a half dozen san jose, a couple rockys, etc. Occasionally given how variable RMJ foliage can be you'll get one that looks halfway decent.

For less dramatic interventions, grafting can allow you to put a branch right where you want it, and you can't beat that.

Oh my god my minds blown again for remembering the last time you explained grafting juniper foliage. That is so cool to me. That all makes sense to me, thanks. I've turned down buying some trees with lovely grafts that I figure would just get worse.

Also cross posting from the weed thread

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
I could sit and stare at those for a long time if they were in my backyard

Crocoduck posted:

Lol those are japanese maples.

:350: I wanted to believe

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
How can I propagate my Azelea?

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED

Crocoduck posted:

Cuttings? I dunno, I'm not good at propagation. I'm trying an air layer next week to remove the bottom section of a Japanese maple and I'm scared out of my fuckin mind.

drat good luck! Share the pics. I like plants that you can pop off and put on soil and get more plants like succulents haha, cuttings were what I've read though

Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
I don't think you can keep a japanese maple indoors like that but I hope for your sake I'm wrong

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Harry Potter on Ice
Nov 4, 2006


IF IM NOT BITCHING ABOUT HOW SHITTY MY LIFE IS, REPORT ME FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HIJACKED
That deadwood is gorgeous. Great work

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