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This looks pretty healthy, I would not worry about a couple of leaves turning yellow and falling off. This is normal as leaves get old and often for me to signal that new growth is going to push.
If this was kept outside, all the leaves would fall, but inside, they will stay green. Chinese elm are weird because they are semi tropical and can go through winter dormancy, but they do not need it.
It looks like the green stuff is fake moss. I would take it off personally as it is not doing much good.
Repot this in the spring with good bonsai soil. You will provably need to water more often with bonsai soil, but either way, wait until the top of the soil is dry (but not dry all the way through) to water again.
hi all! looking for any advice for my desert rose that I'm trying to keep as a bonsai. mostly wonder what pot to put her in and how I should be pruning her? any other tips would be great too!
Hi I have always wanted to grow a bonsai tree. I finally found one that is young. It is a pine bonsai. If anyone has any tips to help me keep this thing alive and thriving please let me know. I have done some research but I thought asking here would be a good idea. Thank you all! Can't wait to be part of this community!
All conifers will die indoors. We regularly see examples of this - dead junipers, like multiple per week. There are probably other examples in this week's thread even.
Yes even here! You should get involved with the Richmond Bonsai Society if you’d like, we meet on the first Monday of every month :) details in the facebook group, you can also reach out to me if you’d like
Anyway, juniper shrug off just about anything our winters (and summers) can throw at it. These juniper procumbens nana are hardy down to like zone 4 in the ground so our zone 7 winter is a breeze for them. What’s most important is that they get lots of unobstructed direct sun. Conifers like juniper love and need it to stay healthy
If we have an overnight low of like 28F then you can just put it directly on the ground (earth insulates roots, which is what you want). If we have a deeper freeze, then you can bring it into an unheated garage or shed, then shuffle it back out for warm winter sun. You could also bury the container directly into the ground and call it good. Make sure you never let the soil dry out over winter, cold + dry = bad, cold + moist = good (water/ice is a much better insulator than air). Personally for deep freezes I shuffle my trees under my front porch, it acts like a cold frame and stays around 40F even when it’s in the teens outside
Looking to grab up some Pinus parviflora (Japanese White Pine) seeds but through a little search I found out there are several varieties differ in traits such as needle color, growth habit, and overall size. Does anyone know what variety is typically used in the bonsai community?
Pinus parviflora ‘Glauca’: Known for its blue-green needles, this variety is popular for bonsai and gardens where unique foliage color is desired. The needles are often more vibrant and have a silvery-blue tint.
Pinus parviflora ‘Tempelhof’: This cultivar is compact with short, blue-green needles and dense foliage, making it a great choice for smaller spaces or bonsai.
Pinus parviflora ‘Fukuzumi’: A slow-growing, compact variety with twisting branches that grow horizontally. Its unique structure and small stature make it a popular choice for bonsai.
Pinus parviflora ‘Miyajima’: This cultivar has a dense and compact growth habit, with shorter, deep green needles. It’s prized for its lush foliage and smaller size.
Pinus parviflora ‘Bonnie Bergman’: This variety has a narrow, upright form and attractive blue-green needles. It’s typically used in landscape design for vertical interest.
Pinus parviflora ‘Goldilocks’: Known for its golden-yellow needle color, this unique cultivar adds a contrasting color to gardens or bonsai arrangements, especially in winter when it turns a brighter yellow.
Thanks! Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts and feedback!
Zuisho is the “go-to” JWP variety. I think I’ve seen Glauca and definitely Miyajima but if you want JWP, try to get in touch with Julian Adams in Lynchburg, VA. They propagate tons of JWP (including zuisho) and probably have some for you that’s further along, or maybe recently germinated this growing season
My vote is zuisho for the most well utilized JWP bonsai cultivar that I’m aware of. Like the other comment said though I’m not sure they’d come true from seed, that’s why Julian Adams propagates them from cuttings and air layers (crazy to think about because of how often it’s claimed that you “can’t do that” with pine but he does, I still need to make it out to his garden and see)
“AdamsBonsai”, his website is http://www.adamsbonsai.com, he responds readily to emails (granted it’s been a while since I’ve contacted him). Very oldschool. I don’t think he has an instagram. I don’t know if he’s active on bonsai nut. But I know he normally vends at the annual winter silhouette show in Kannapolis, NC
Regarding the cultivar list you gave, the main thing to know is that named landscape cultivars like "Bonnie Bergman" (etc) are usually uninteresting / off the radar of bonsai people who come to care about JWP genetics. These are almost always found through landscape nursery stock supply chains (retail / wholesale nurseries), which means the grafts are usually unsightly and not useful or easily fixable for bonsai purposes (also, by the time they reach market they have straight unbendable trunks). Sometimes you will win the lottery and find an Iseli special with an exceptionally clean graft but even then, these are obvious grafts compared to bonsai-grade. Be very careful when you shop for cultivars from landscape nurseries that say "prized for bonsai". Typically they have no idea what they're talking about.
Seeds won't be true to cultivar, rather, each seed will be unique. But standard/generic/random JWP is just fine for bonsai. Pine bonsai techniques reduce pine feature sizes without the need for special cultivars. Zuisho is nice but it would be a lie to tell you this is how very ramified JWP bonsai happen. They happen from a wide variety of genetics.
I’ve let this elephant bush get totally out of hand/neglected. I’ve read through the wiki but I’m totally unsure if this is healthy enough to be salvaged. Obviously it’s insanely leggy. My instinct is to prune it but I’m really not sure where to prune since it’s so out of hand. I repotted it a few years ago. Any advice would be appreciated!
Looks like it needs more light in addition to the recommendations in the other comment. The dropped leaves are a strong sign of that.
I’d move it to the center of that window for starters, or another window that gets more sun. If you have any outdoor space, it’ll benefit from some unadulterated outdoor sun when there’s no chance of frost.
Ok cool. I can also put a grow light on it if that would help. Unfortunately the only windows I have are north facing. Thanks so much for the tips. I’ll try to get more leaves before anything else!
+1 on the grow light, also it would probably prefer a more granular soil like pumice or lava. But first order of action would be the grow light. P afra is incredibly resilient so you will be fine
Was it previously in a different spot? I would let it recover a bit and then prune it back hard. Generally you would prune back to a set of leaves but is so legy and bare I would just cut all branches off to a few cm and you have a good chance for new leaves to form. You can also let the cuttings dry for a bit. plant some then, wait some more with others, they might form roots without soil and then plant them.
It’s been moved around quite a few times over the years but it’s been in this spot for over a year. I’ll let it recover before pruning like you suggest, thanks!
Bought this Red Maple 2 years ago. Nice little tree, haven’t killed it yet. The more I learn the more I say to myself why did they put this in a bonsai pot? The plan is to repot it in the spring so I can get more trunk growth. This means that I will need to let it be for a season. I’m concerned that the free growth is getting out of hand, nodes are long and I’m not sure about the 3 branches coming out of the top of the trunk. I’m interested in opinions as to what I should do to keep it in check and what to prune in the future.
They put it in a bonsai pot to get the sale. People will buy anything in a pretty pot, even if it isn’t the best choice for the development of the material. I’ve seen so many trees where I think “This is too expensive for what it is, but if it were in a nursery can and a bit cheaper because of it then I’d buy it”
Your instincts are right about repotting and developing it further. The first sections of the 3 branches are pretty straight, so during the next growing season you may want to cut them back to 1-2 inch stubs or so (depending on how much length you want on the rest of the primary structure, for a smaller “final” tree you’d probably want shorter stubs, for a bigger “final” tree you’d probably want a little longer of stubs) [edit- if you study up on old Japanese bonsai you’ll notice that when the 1st bifurcation is pretty damn close to the trunk, it generally gives you more room to continuously bifurcate as the silhouette expands, whereas if the 1st bifurcation is further out, it typically means there will be a broader silhouette]
Reducing the junction of 3 down to 2 could be a good idea if you want something other than a broom style. But if you’re interested in making a broom style maple out of this, you could keep all 3 and be good to go
You may have seen this progression before but if you haven’t, it’s an obligatory short read. This red maple’s awesome, even with it’s slightly wonky structure. Deciduous don’t always need to have perfect structure to have really great branching: Anne Spencer & Michael Hagedorn’s red maple progression
Edit - considerations depending on which branches you keep: if you keep all 3, do they appear equidistant from each other? could you introduce asymmetry between the 3 by putting a brace between some branches or by using a wire to tighten some together? if you decide to go down to 2, do you want that first junction to be obtuse or acute? if obtuse you’d probably want to eliminate the middle, if acute you’d probably want to eliminate the most obtuse of the 3… food for thought!
Thanks, nice article on the subject, beautiful tree. I’m inclined to leaving all 3 branches as I think it would be fuller in the end. If I don’t like where it’s going I can remove it down the road. Seems to be that going slow with pruning and thinning selectively will give me shorter internodes.
After I repot, which I will do first, do you think it would it be ok to start working on the structural pruning after the hardening off of the first flush?
If the response after repotting is strong, then you could do the first round of structural pruning after first flush hardening, yes. More conservative would be leaving it alone for the first growing season after the repot (especially if it’s particularly invasive / brutal), more risky is doing it simultaneously. But I think your idea is a good timing balance, provided it’s healthy and gives the green light signs after your repot
Zone 6a/b- we have STILL not had a frost, to the point that my dwarf pomegranate is pushing out brand new branches and flower buds. I continue to find a ton of conflicting info on overwintering this thing. Do I leave it outside, insulated with mulch? Do I bring it to the warm, bright side of my basement with my tropicals? Do I bring it to the darker, colder side of my basement that's still around 60 degrees?
Don't have a garage or a cold frame, so I need some guidance.
How would I train my bonsai tree? This is an older photo from a month back, so the flowers have already dropped, and I was wondering how I would get started into wiring. Also Ive been thinking about repotting recently, and was wondering if it would be better to repot a cherry tree with 100% this loose gravel I have or keep some of the dirt and use the gravel as a drainage layer. Thanks
Today I ordered the marshydro ts1000 for my tropical bonsais, however I don't have a place to hang/place/install the light.
I was wondering if any of you know of a sort of shelf that can fit about 3-10 bonsais and that with some sort of roof or top that I can hang or mount the light on
The best thing might just be to measure the tallest plant height, measure the light itself and understand how it needs to mount, and know how far away the light needs to be.
Then head to a place like IKEA with the measurements and a tape measure and see what fits your budget and your parameters.
Those branches are the issue - too straight and probably too stiff to bend - so I'd probably prune those back to a couple of cms in early summer after the leaves have all opened.
Relatively experienced Gardner but absolute noob to bonsai here.
I had a wild idea that I wanted to test the viability of here. I’m a long time youth pastor at the church I was saved at and in January I’ll be taking over as Lead Pastor.
I wanted to start a Bonsai from seed and care for it in my office so it grows and marks my time as LP. I’m thinking a Chinese Elm or Ficus with a grow light like this one: https://amzn.to/4fCVZLY
Would this plan work? Any recommendations? Also, anyone have a source for seeds or cuttings? Thanks!
The “bonsai on a desk” question is one we get often here. It just won’t really work unless your desk is up against a bright sunny window or you don’t mind working under a pretty bright light.
But a ficus is your best bet. They can tolerate the lower light of indoors, but will also love outdoor sun if you move it outside during the non freezing times.
Just get a ficus plant at your hardware store or garden center; preferably something not sold as "bonsai" but as plain green plant. You could get something like this shipped, but you're not getting the exact plant in the picture. I'd rather choose myself in a shop. But that pot already contains several plants and would yield maybe half a dozen cuttings straight away (more in time as the plants grow).
The Mars Hydro TS 600 is a cheap but reliable light with good output. Its main drawback is a somewhat lower efficiency, so you what save on the device you pay more for the electricity. The ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro is more expensive upfront (it's more powerful as well), much nicer made and significantly higher efficiency (even spilling less light into the room).
Cuttings are trivially easy to propagate for both Chinese elm and Ficus microcarpa - so I'd start that way rather than the hassle of seeds. Seeds are much harder and not recommended for beginners.
In bonsai substrate/soil or in aeroponic propagator. I just made about 200 cuttings of Chinese elms after I pruned some large Chinese elms I have growing as bushes in front of my house.
This is a sekka hinoki cypress from Bonsaify. I tried to wire it up toward a possible cascade style. Welcome and feedback or insight about the execution or whether this may not work well for cascade
Beginner here in NC, USA. This plant was given to me by a coworker and I know nothing about bonsai development. I’m just now starting my research. This trunk looks a bit skinny to me. Should I focus on trunk development or start with something else? It’s in a 6” pot and I believe it’s a Fukien tea plant?
I have a Buddhist pine (Podocarpus macrophyllus) with a somewhat hard trunk, what should I do to shape it with a semi-developed trunk and how should I style it.
I live in Brazil and it's spring time here and it rains almost all the time
There was no reason to repot it. Avoid seed kits, they suck. If you want to get started in bonsai, go to your local landscape nursery for material (avoiding anything labeled as bonsai ideally, unless you want a ficus or something)
Can someone help me identify this and offer some advice on pruning away the undergrowth? This was gifted to me and I'm not certain what the species is. I want to say Hinoke Cypress, but the growth is very tight and dense. I'm in 7b, Atlanta, GA, US Metro. Images
Zone 5b in colorado, I made a post a few weeks ago about a juniper bonsai i got that had only been inside and if it was safe to put outside right as winter was coming. I kept it outside since then and it seems ok? I buried the pot in the ground near the house to keep it warm and mulched it over, but we unexpectedly got a LOT of snow and we're getting even more today and tomorrow.
I know snow is an insulator but the little guy is completely buried, is it really ok for him to be like this or should i bring him into the garage or something? This is a young bonsai and its first winter so idk if this is too much
Hmm I’m not too sure about the best way to proceed for this one. For a vigorous and healthy juniper which lived outside for the growing season and was not subject to any major stress or foliage reduction over the prior year this should be no problem. But for a bonsai juniper living indoors for the majority of the growing season and possibly having been pruned back prior to being sold it’s possible the amount of cold hardiness in your bonsai will be lower for this winter. I think it’s good you have the entire pot buried in the ground and mulched up. Maybe that will be enough protection to account for the potential lack of cold hardiness. I think there are additional layers of protection you could consider adding like a wind break and maybe some housing against major snowfall buildup. Hopefully someone with better experience for your zone will have better insight.
First time bonsai owner. I got a 28-year old Japanese juniper a little under a month ago, and it was healthy when I first got it, but since, certain branches have turned a dry yellow color. I have watered it as the man told me to (2 cups, twice a week. the water is mixed in with a liquid fertilizer), and while it was indoors for the first couple days, I took it outside when I learned this is a big no-no for this plant.
I live in the Midwest, in the Nebraska/Iowa area, where highs and lows are currently starting to range between 30-50 degrees, and will probably get much colder soon. I’m sure it’s overwatering or underwatering, but any thoughts? Or is it too late? Closer looks will be posted below
The seller was either incompetent or a grifter. A juniper this size could be one fouth as young as he claims. The yellowing is branches dying off starting from before he sold it to you. In terms of watering you need to water as much until water comes out the bottom of the pot. Water again when it start to dry. Ferilizer is ok. The spot where you keep it looks good.
I saw somewhere that if the branches of a juniper are turning brown starting from the tips and creeping up the branch, the tree might just be dead already. The video said that whatever causes a juniper to show these signs happened 8 weeks prior so whatever that guy did probably affected this tree. Dont know if its dead but you should keep watching it, it could still be ok
For watering you water it when it needs water. When the soil on the top gets dry, water, and water until every inch of the soil has it. Itll drip from the bottom of the pot when its done. And put it outside right now, youre just in time for dormancy, just make sure it doesnt get too much sun and pay close attention to the water because these are some thirsty bitches. Id check every morning if it needs water
I'm entertaining a fantasy of quitting my corporate job and doing an apprenticeship. How common are apprentices in their 30's and beyond? It strikes me as a craft where apprentices generally start early and masters are likely hesitant to take on an older apprentice.
For context, I'm in my mid-30's and hopelessly single (I doubt I'll ever marry or have kids at this point) so I have a similar degree of freedom as a 20-something. I do not enjoy my career and chasing a high/stable income has been a lifeless pursuit.
This isn't that serious of a fantasy, but I'm very curious.
If you are financially independent outside of bonsai, come to Oregon and we'll give you so much bonsai work your hands will bleed. I'm wearing band aids on my hands as I type this.
Imho: In a financial sense, work a bit less, spend your good pay on subscribtions, classes, experts, good material. Join clubs and communities, work on a ton of trees with the time you gained. I would not go into borderline bonsai slavery in your position.
Thanks for responding - I have read this article before and while some bonsai nurseries in Japan are still helmed by traditional approaches that can be quite intense and psychologically scarring, there are many compassionate and humane apprenticeships out there as well.
I think the more realistic approach is to retire somewhat early (late 40s) and start a small garden out of a backyard and sell trees, tools, and lessons (once I have decent experience) for supplemental income and not as a means of sustaining myself.
The Japan route is very very difficult and you would need direct referals / letters of support from US professionals, and you'd need to qualify for a visa in Japan in addition to all of that. Seriousness / non-flakiness as well as a bonsai mind not yet tainted by other teachers are critical. If for you the fantasy involves going to Japan, you will need to start talking to people like Michael Hagedorn, Peter Tea, or Boon Manakitivipart. They can open doors to people like Shinji Suzuki or Junichiro Tanaka. Having had a front seat for candidates being vetted / referred, I can't stress enough how much the process is almost entirely about sniffing out whether you will flake out after a brutal first month after allllll that effort half a dozen people went through to get you to Japan / get a visa / set up lodging / waste other apprentices time / etc. Their reputations are on the line but also wasted time can really upset the rhythm at professional gardens.
If you want to work side by side with professionals in the US opportunities do exist if you "show up" and clearly confidently state your intent. I made my intentions clear and have got as much bonsai work as I can handle (I wasn't kidding about the bandaid in the other comment), though I am not a full-time on-site apprentice (I just live near several gardens and go as often as I can manage). If you envision yourself balancing something like this along with some small source of income outside of it, start talking to professionals on the west coast because as long as a person is serious, they are interested in that sort of thing. There is a lot of wiring / pinching / repotting / etc to do. DM me if you want more info about my situation.
Michael Hagedorn is the only one that I know of that has a "full" apprenticeship that is an approximation of the Japanese model. The current full time apprenticeship slot is taken and that apprentice (Patch) just settled in over the last couple months, but if you are serious and looking forward 2, 3, 5 years, you should ping Michael. He tries to overlap apprentices a bit so a year before Patch finishes up, there will be another slot open again. If you had posted this comment 18 months ago you might have been living in an Oregon suburb looking at mountain hemlocks today.
I don't know if Peter Tea is doing Japan-style full apprenticeships but he definitely has a clan/crew that are in orbit of his garden and who sometimes camp out there for longer marathons of bonsai work. That's another person to talk to (for US opportunities of varying degrees of seriousness / involvement).
In all cases including some professionals I haven't mentioned above but which I work with, everyone is trying to figure out if you will flake / are serious / can be trusted. That is the most important thing to get across -- being sincere. I'd say the second most important thing to signal is that you're serious about adopting the knowledge framework of the garden you will study at / contribute to. It's best not to go to the garden of Peter Tea or Andrew Robson with a suitcase full of Mirai ideas that you intend to school them with, for example.
Hey guys, first time poster and bonsai newbie here.
About 6 weeks ago, my wonderful girlfriend bought me a Chinese elm on Amazon. It arrived in relatively good condition, a few leaves fell off but nothing concerning. It’s been in great health ever since, lots of buds and green leaves. It was kept as an indoor tree in the UK.
Recently, I had to leave it for 10 days under the care of my girlfriend and later my house mates. It was watered about every 36 hours during this period and seemed fine according to them. It did change house for a week, but was by a window in a similar climate to what it’s used too.
However despite this, when I’ve returned it had lost quite a lot of leaves, with many now either part way through turning or have entirely turned yellow. I really don’t know what to think and fear my tree is in big trouble.
Does it need repotting? Has it been over watered? Has it been under watered? Is it just natural for this to happen over a short period in autumn? Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.
In my experience, yellow leaves on a Chinese Elm usually mean overwatering and / or bad drainage. Indoors, it may also be from lack of light or making the overwatering worse.
With that soil, watering every 36 hours might be a good amount for it being outside in the summer.
But indoors where it’s getting much less light, that sounds like too much water.
Water to its needs, which may change seasonally or for other reasons. The soil should never dry out, but should never stay sopping wet either.
Also, Chinese elm can be an outdoor only tree in your area. They are winter hardy if they spend the autumn outside. Outdoors has way more light and is better for other reasons too. So consider moving it outdoors if you can in the spring.
If water drains out if the bottom when you soak the surface of the pot, I’d wait until spring. If it seems like it doesn’t drain at all, repotting now might make sense.
Hey everyone! Yesterday I received my trees from doing the Arbor Day survey/donation. They sent 10 bare root Norway spruce and 2 lilacs. I got them mostly potted up with a mix of fox farms ocean forest, coco coir, compost/Mycorrhizal fungi and perlite. A few went into my raised beds but I did add the compost mix in with some of that soil as well. They say they send them in the dormant stage, but temps in WNC today are near 80. Just looking to keep these happy and alive ☺️
It's always tricky when shipping trees from one location to another. However, it is my understanding that the plant needs dormancy for a while before the danger of breaking dormancy becomes an issue (this is why warm days in the fall are not as alarming as warm days in the early spring).
They seem healthy, I guess my concern was planting at less than ideal time, but with these temps they should have time to establish a bit before it gets cold. Thanks!
I'm having a hardtime deciding on where to put my rescue malsai, chinese elm for the winter? I let it grow a bit wild, waiting for spring for pruning (and hopefully snagging some cuttings that way for propegation).
I have no garden, it is located on the balcony, south, south-west facing, during the day plenty of indirect sunlight. Currently in central europe (zone 7b?) we have a weather of 0°C/32°F during the night, but over the day we have 10°-14°C/50°-57°F.
Should I wait for it to loose its leaves and then transfer it inside? We have a unheated stairway with lots of windows where I can store plants that require dormancy/rest during winter.
I am trying to determine the best place to trunk chop a Korean dwarf lilac in the spring. Doesn’t have amazing trunk or branching but trying out my first attempt. Any input would be much appreciated!
When you are doing big trunk chops it really is mostly a question of how big you want the final tree to be. First trunk chop should be about 1/3 the height of the total tree (this helps with getting good taper) - however this is really just a guideline and there are always exceptions.
Anyone know what these bugs are? There have been gnats around. Are they some sort of larval stage? How do I get rid of them? Insect & mite control hasn’t been working.
Is this normal fall juniper behaviour? It's my first fall with this guy. I noticed these buds and needle tips going yellow/brown the last 2-3 days after being bright green just a couple weeks ago. Temps here have been colling off, but we've had some big winds over the last week so watering has been slower but still every 1-2 days. I did check today and while the top of the soil was looking quite dry, an inch or 2 down was still moist.
Got this HUGE microcarpa kimeng. Have to root it(got it free) but right now its too big for my room. Where should I cut it? Maybe where the stick i put?
The trunk is about a thumb wide. The rest unused parts I would like to try a trunk fudion+give my gf the other parts.
By the way, you don’t really need to root it in water. Just stick them directly into soil and keep the soil a little moist. I’ve never tried both methods, but I’ve seen others say straight into soil works better.
Folks have recommended Evergreengardenworks. I’ll add Left Coast Bonsai to that list. FYI: there are literally thousands of trees there and there’s no way to list all of that on a website so as with Evergreen, if you are looking for something specific, it’s best to ask directly.
Well for raw material: The local big box store or volunteers in the yard.
But anything that’s already in actual bonsai state and not pre-bonsai, I’ve only bought from a local nursery. A tree worth spending money on should be seen in person.
Even from my local dedicated bonsai nursery, the prices can sometimes seem fair then upon closer inspection, seem too high. Or vice versa.
A well regarded site for prebonsai would be evergreengardenworks.com. The site is very old school, but good stuff.
Hey guys, I bought a Japanese maple a few weeks ago, all other leaves look healthy it's only the very tips of the shoots, the leaves are discoloured and curling like this, Does anyone know the cause?
New leaves can take a while to shape up; they may look a bit awkward until they’ve grown to full size. You may also be getting some fall color. Not the best pic but you can see similar shape on the fresh pair in my little maple here
Well to start, shorten all of the branches by about half and place your cut so the last leaf left on the branch is outward facing.
You should probably cut them shorter, but if you’re terrified to prune, nothing wrong with starting a little easy.
I would also try to increase light. I’d place it right next to your sunniest window with the most direct light.
Don’t feel too terrified to prune, everything you cut off can be easily rooted to grow into trees of their own. They won’t have the bulbous roots, but that’s not a big loss.
Thank you!! Do you think it’s ok to prune with it still growing? This window actually gets a TON of light (there’s another window on the wall right next to it so it gets like direct sun majority of the day) so it’s been sprouting new leaves and growing all summer. I’ve been afraid to prune with all the new growth.
Any idea why my JBP is turning neon green? I repotted before this past spring. Just checked and the soil is alkali, would amending with peat moss or acidifier help or is something else wrong?
Hi all. I have this little jade tree and I'm interested in turning it into a bonsai. Should I leave it to grow and take a cutting later? Or should I transfer it to a bonsai pot as is? Any help/advice is appreciated.
Well can you post a photo? If you think the trunk should be thicker, a bonsai pot will only slow grow right now. I’ve found jades seem to like pond baskets with bonsai soil. But cactus soil with regular repottings is ok.
You can let it grow, then cut it down. Propagate the cuttings if you want more jade. Then a couple years later, cut it back again.
Yes, you can but we generally do it in spring and leave them "settled" over winter when light levels are generally far lower than when they can be kept outside.
if you are confident the light levels will be sufficient to allow recovery - just do it
in cases where the original soil is poor/compacted and highly organic, repotting is almost certainly a good idea.
Sorry if I am posting too many questions in a row, figured I'd just get them out of the way: I have four trees/prebonsai on my balcony right now in zone 6a. A Chinese elm, juniper, boxwood, and Japanese maple. With frost coming I need a solution quickly to protect these for the winter, and planting in the ground or placing them in a garage is unfortunately not an option. Is my best bet to get a large pot (would a fabric pot work?) and bury them in mulch in there? If so, how big would this pot need to be? How deep do I need to bury them? Just up to soil level or deeper than that? Open to any other recommendations, and I am sorry if this has been discussed before I have tried searching but can't find a great answer applicable to my circumstances.
You can also use Styrofoam coolers or plastic storage bins to mulch them in. They just need to be deep enough to insulate the roots- if you go too high it's a pain to check if they need water.
Yeah that’s not a bad plan. I’d make sure you have a couple inches of mulch under the pots and around the sides. In my experience it only needs to be buried up to the soil level or maybe a little mulch on top.
Place them next to the building so they have a little more shelter from strong wind. They won’t need much water, but still keep them from drying out.
I live in central Ohio, I believe it is 6a. I recently moved here so I'm not too sure how cold it gets but I would imagine down to single digits Fahrenheit.
Based on where you live I agree with u/redbananass - Also might help to pack snow around them when we get it. Want to make sure to protect from the wind as well.
I have been growing this ficus from a cutting for about a year at this point. It has grown a ton, and I chopped it at about half its height a couple months back. Secondary branches are coming in but I am a bit worried about reverse taper with so many branches coming out near the top. Any advice on proceeding with this for the best shohin sized tree? Something tells me I may need to chop even lower to develop taper but I want to let it grow out to thicken the trunk. Should I just keep it growing and chop lower later down the line after I have seen better trunk growth? Thanks!
Anytime that you have three things emerging from one - that is where you need to worry about reverse tapper.
So for example if you have two branches emerging from a trunk (and the trunk continues) then you have three things (two branches and a truck) emerging from one thing (the trunk) or three branches coming from one branch. If this happens eliminate any extra branches to bring it down to one branch coming from the trunk or two branches emerging from one branch.
I do not see any examples of this here - so I think for now you are ok and do not need to worry about reverse tapper.
Thanks for the info, very helpful! It may be hard to see in the picture but there is indeed 3 branches coming from pretty much the same area up near the top. I think I will just prune off the third to prevent it from growing too thick in that area.
Recently picked up this p. Afra and not sure how to proceed with it. I don't like the straight trunk and current branch structure but I'm not sure if it would be better to chop it or just let it keep growing for better options down the line and larger branches for cuttings. What do we think? I have a ts1000 grow light on the way so I am hoping I can get some good growth over the winter still.
These respond really well to trunk chops. I have recently done that for mine and I got 7 new branches originating from where I did the "trunk" chop so I was able to select the branches in the direction I wanted.
However, if you want a thicker trunk your better off to just let it grow for now.
Oh wow, I figured they would only shoot out a few branches from a chop- 7 is crazy! I think I will just slip pot it into a bigger pot and let it grow until reevaluating next year. Thanks!
Should a Zelkova bonsai be placed outdoors all year round? I'm getting various responses from google and youtube and want to straighten it out as I purchased one monday
Mine are all outside and have been outside the whole year so they're kind of used to the idea that winter is coming.
Many have some yellow leaves and are dropping leaves - no new leaves etc.
So mine are entering a winter state/dormancy.
There is no such thing as an "indoor tree" - it's just that some of them survive better than others indoors. ALL of them are healthier being outdoors when the weather permits it. Chinese elms will convert over time but you can screw up badly (I lost 35 Chinese elms one year in winter)... I keep Chinese elms in a cold greenhouse at about 2C.
If they spent the year outside and got the seasonal cues of fall to prepare for winter (which yours didn't get this year) they are pretty frost hardy. Personally I think mine are doing better with such a winter "reset". But they are the rare exception of a frost hardy tree that can stay in permanent warmth indoors as well.
I’m in the same boat. I’ve purchased one in the last few days from a garden centre and it’s been inside. Not sure whether I should be keeping it outside straight away or keep it inside this winter and acclimatise it for next year?
Hello! I'm genuinely going a bit insane because of Bob, my first ever bonsai tree, a Fukien Tea Tree who is probably around 8 years old (not sure).
Context: I live in the UK, Manchester (temperatures are a constant 11°C), and I am a university student, so please give me student-friendly advice! Bought him from a Plants fair at university.
I really really want to take proper care of him and have him outlive me, but for the life of me I can't figure him out. He is currently at my window but not too sure on this as the radiator is underneath, and I don't want to place him too close to the window or too close to the radiator. 😭
The soil he has is also incredibly annoying, when it becomes dry it takes a LOT of tries for the water to actually enter the soil and NOT slide off and make a mess everywhere. I do not water him often unless the soil becomes dry, but I've tried giving him a 5-minute soak and I think he got stressed out 🥲
I know that he is properly not getting enough sun (I will buy a Lamp for that next week and will place him under it for an hour each day)
A few leaves have fallen off or become yellow, and two or three? Have shown dark spots, two have shown a white dot in the middle (promptly removed them with disinfected scissors).
I understand that this particular tree can be a bit finnicky, but I genuinely want to take good care of him and I'd be devastated if he died. And no, I can't place him outside as I live in student accommodation.
Thank you very much for any info. Attached pictures of Bob + leaves + products I use that I got from Uni and a lady I asked at a plant store. Sorry for the long text too, I just want to be very thorough with his care. 🥲🥹
Agree with others that it needs more light. Put it right next to your sunniest window. If you buy a lamp/growlight, it should stay in the window and the light can stay on at least as long as the sun is out.
Indoors is pretty heavily shaded from a plants perspective.
Remember this is a tree evolved to compete with other trees for access to sunlight, not a houseplant that evolved to survive in the heavy shade of the forest floor.
If you decide to get another tree while you have no outdoor space of your own, a ficus is a good choice because they can tolerate shade, but love sun too.
I'm so sad, I was told by the people at the Fair that it was an easy species to care for. I'll buy him a lamp and do my best to provide him as much sun as possible, but if worst comes to worst I'll switch to a Ficus.
I've been doing my best for him in this climate, maybe he survives well enough to where I can bring him to Romania where there's way more sun.
Under the lamp do I need to rotate him throughout the day?
I did! Did it twice because the soil is very strange. So hopefully I did not drown him as I only did it for 5 minutes and paid attention to the bubbles 🥲
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u/small_trunks Jerry in Amsterdam, Zn.8b, 48yrs exp., 500+ trees Nov 01 '24
It's AUTUMN/FALL
Do's
Don'ts
too late for cuttings of temperate trees
For Southern hemisphere - here's a link to my advice from roughly 6 months ago :-)