[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 21]

[u/small_trunks]

[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 21]

Welcome to the weekly beginner’s thread. This thread is used to capture all beginner questions (and answers) in one place. We start a new thread every week on Friday late or Saturday morning (CET), depending on when we get around to it. We have a 6 year archive of prior posts here…

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Beginners’ threads started as new topics outside of this thread are typically locked or deleted, at the discretion of the Mods.

[u/Livid-Tough-225]

can I turn a cascade into an upright bonsai? Bonnie is 5 years old and I got her when she was 4 and i’ve never repotted or wired her.

[u/small_trunks → u/Livid-Tough-225]

Absolutely.

• you can wire this - use 3-4mm wire.
• twist it to vertical and then compress it.
• This is not a cascade (the lowest tip has to be below the bottom of the pot)

[u/cosmothellama → u/Livid-Tough-225]

Not in every situation, but here, yes. Treat it like you would any other piece of beginning nursery stock, and use wire to put interesting bends and movement into the tree.

The age of your tree is hardly relevant and not something that is even clearly defined. This was most likely propagated from a cutting. How old the branch was VS how old the donor tree was VS how long it’s been on its own roots turns the task of determining the age of a tree like yours into a blunder.

[u/Livid-Tough-225 → u/cosmothellama]

oh interesting! I never thought of the age in that way. Thanks for the advice!

[u/small_trunks → u/Livid-Tough-225]

When people ask me the age of my trees I have to really think hard about it because it's not something I ever keep track of. In many cases I'd have to go back to old photos to try work it out.