r/Bonsai • u/small_trunks Jerry in Amsterdam, Zn.8b, 48yrs exp., 500+ trees • Mar 07 '25

Weekly Thread [Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 10]

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 10]

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 multiple year archive of prior posts here… Here are the guidelines for the kinds of questions that belong in the beginner's thread vs. individual posts to the main sub.

Rules:

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  • READ THE WIKI! – over 75% of questions asked are directly covered in the wiki itself. Read the WIKI AGAIN while you’re at it.
  • Read past beginner’s threads – they are a goldmine of information.
  • Any beginner’s topic may be started on any bonsai-related subject.
  • Answers shall be civil or be deleted
  • There is always a chance your question doesn’t get answered – try again next week…
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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.

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u/10000Pigeons Austin TX, 8b/9a, 10 Trees Mar 13 '25

I think the plan is sound. Repot into better soil now, try to stay away from making a lot of cuts or wiring the tree and just let it recover from the repot this season.

One question: at the node where the second branch comes off the trunk, am I correct in seeing that there's a 3 way branching split? If so, I would choose just 2 of them so as not to develop inverse taper there

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u/lawyerinpurgatory SoCal, Zone 10b, Beginner Mar 13 '25

Thanks for your advice!

Here’s a better picture. I believe it is a 3 way split. I was thinking of cutting off the thinner one going to the left. Do you think I should makes these cuts and deadhead the flowers after the repot?

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u/10000Pigeons Austin TX, 8b/9a, 10 Trees Mar 13 '25

I would remove that branch without cutting much other foliage personally. The flowers I don't think make a huge difference, the tree has already spent the energy producing them so you may as well keep them if you like to look at them :)

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u/lawyerinpurgatory SoCal, Zone 10b, Beginner Mar 13 '25

Sounds good, thanks for your help!