| Topic Summary |
| Posted by rikita on Mar 24, 2011, 10:31pm |
anyone an expert with them? i decided a couple of years ago to turn some young trees i got from my mom's garden into bonsai, and moved them into small pots. now i think they are old enough to start cutting them down a bit and cut their roots and move them into a bonsai dish... though so far i can't find the bonsai pots in any of the shops...
anyway, i didn't find a thread about bonsais so i thought i start one... |
| Posted by casimira on Mar 25, 2011, 12:09am |
What an admirable endeavor Rikita!!. I adore bonsai and have tinkered with them over the years. I have a plethora of beautiful pots ,pity you're not nearby,I'd give them to you.
One of the things about them that I encountered difficulty with is, left in someone else's care when I'd have to be gone for any period of time,they would invariably be fussed over or neglected by whomever was "caring" for them in my absence. I had some gorgeous specimens and it was heartbreaking to come home and find them either withered or a soggy mess,dead either way...
I fancy I'll become more enamored of fussing with them when my gardening abilities diminish over time. In other words,when I'm old and grey...and can't move about as well. Hopefully,a long way off.
Good luck with this!!! |
| Posted by rikita on Mar 25, 2011, 10:35am |
well i think i can trust both my parents, my dad can be forgetful when he is supposed to come to my place to water my plants, but bonsais i can bring to his place, and both my parents have a lot of plants (they are also the ones i call for advice each time i don't know what to do with one of my plantes), even if they have no bonsais, so they might be better at taking care of them than i am... but first of course i gotta see if it works out...
i cut one of them down a bit yesterday, testwise, and put it into a normal pot for now, but with flatter earth in it, and see how it reacts before i move on to the next one... might end up ordering some proper pots online... |
| Posted by bixaorellana on Mar 28, 2011, 3:00am |
When I was in my mid-thirties I was telling my grandmother about bonsai. As she loved gardening, she was intrigued by the idea and suggest I bonsai a tree. I said, "Gosh, they take about thirty years to mature!", whereupon she, then in her eighties, replied, "So?"
Wish I'd listened to her! |
| Posted by kerouac2 on Mar 29, 2011, 5:23am |
| Until they invent high speed bonsais, I just don't have the patience. |
| Posted by rikita on Mar 29, 2011, 1:27pm |
| well i researched a bit and looks like i am doing everything wrong. oh well. got a really cute little maple tree, which i kept in a small pot for two years, and now wanted to start moving into a flatter pot and start cutting it a bit and all. now i read that maples are supposed to be grown to a meter and then cut down to half a meter, because they don't make good small bonsais, but look better a bit bigger, because of their leaf size. well i might go ahead and ignore what i read though, i will see... |
| Posted by casimira on Mar 29, 2011, 1:54pm |
I don't have the patience for either,it's clearly a zen kind of thing....maybe someday I'll get there.
Another thing about bonsai,is the frequent mispronunciation of the word bonsai, it's proper pronunciation is the first syllable bone, not bonn...
Just thought I'd throw that in...  |
| Posted by cheerypeabrain on Apr 4, 2011, 8:10am |
| I've killed more than one bonsai tree... managed to keep one for about six years. |
| Posted by rikita on Apr 4, 2011, 4:46pm |
| mine haven't changed much yet. maybe tomorrow they will start looking like bonsai, right? |
| Posted by kerouac2 on Apr 4, 2011, 5:08pm |
| Yes, I can feel the process speeding up even from here. |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Apr 6, 2011, 12:18pm |
| Succulents are ideal Bonsai plants. I'll dig out some pictures. |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Apr 6, 2011, 12:27pm |
| Look out a book called "Four Seasons of Bonsai". Very inspirational although not a techniques book as such.. |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Apr 6, 2011, 12:36pm |
They don't have to be trees. This is lily of the valley -
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Garden/PICT1027.jpg "[image]")
Ficus ginseng -
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Succulents/PICT1106.jpg "[image]")
Pelargonium species-
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Succulents/PICT0549.jpg "[image]")
Pelargonium cortusifolium
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Succulents/PICT0551.jpg "[image]")
|
| Posted by kerouac2 on Apr 6, 2011, 4:54pm |
| Looks good. I think I'll turn my dill plants into bonsai. They are about a week old now. |
| Posted by bixaorellana on Apr 6, 2011, 6:11pm |
Outstanding examples, Mick, and so imaginative!
Does P. cortusifolium have naturally small foliage? I'm thinking some of the scented geraniums with very small, grayish leaves would be great for relatively quick bonsai result. |
| Posted by rikita on Apr 6, 2011, 9:06pm |
the ficus looks interesting... we have some ficus plants... i wonder, do they re-grow from cut-off parts? like, if i stick them into the ground? then i could grow another one and turn it into a bonsai...
btw, what exactly is the definition of bonsai? just wondering... like, from when on i can say i have a bonsai.... |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Apr 8, 2011, 2:24pm |
Not sure about the Ficus rikita but give it a go.
Apparently Bonsai translayes as "plantings in tray".
Incidentally the idea for the lily of the valley came from that book I mentioned above. He showed one about 18 years old which looked like a miniature mountain... |
| Posted by bixaorellana on Apr 8, 2011, 3:00pm |
| Hey Rikita ~~ look at this: I put growing ficus from cuttings into Google, and the very first hit was from a bonsai site. http://www.bonsaihunk.8m.com/info/FigPropagate.html |
| Posted by rikita on Apr 8, 2011, 7:03pm |
| cool, thanks! |
| Posted by rikita on Apr 10, 2011, 9:20pm |
well was at my moms, cut off lots from various plants and put that into pots (will put the plastic bags on tomorrow, was getting late today).
also got three little trees, one is a larch, very pretty, but kind of taller than i want (over 50 cm already i'd say), another is a kind of fir tree, shorter but still quite tall already - put both in pots, wondering now, should i leave them alone for a while or cut them already - and especially the larch, as i want it to be shorter, should i just cut off the top ten or twenty cm? or would that be contraproductive? i suppose it will make it sprout out more to the sides there, maybe that'd spoil the triangle form it has now... hm, not sure, will need a while to make up my mind i guess. i read loads on loads of bonsai forums now, and my head is kind of buzzing... |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Nov 22, 2011, 1:01pm |
Some bonsai at Kew Gardens-
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Kew/PICT3074.jpg "[image]")
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Kew/PICT3073.jpg "[image]")
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Kew/PICT3072.jpg "[image]")
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Kew/PICT3071.jpg "[image]")
![[image]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu60/Stapelia1/Kew/PICT3070.jpg "[image]") |
| Posted by rikita on Nov 22, 2011, 2:22pm |
wow, thy are beautiful! i hope mine look like that one day...
i got a chinese elm tree bonsai as a wedding present though! it looks very nice, but is currently packed away for winter (on the balcony but right next to the wall, in a bigger put around the smaller pot with more earth, and some bubble wrap and i have a "blanket" to cover it with when it gets colder. i hope that is enough. so far, in fact, its leafs haven't even turned yellow.) |
| Posted by bixaorellana on Nov 22, 2011, 4:40pm |
| I just looked up Chinese elm, & it appears to be perfect for bonsai and a really tough tree in general, with great cold tolerance. I hope your baby thrives! |
| Posted by tod2 on Nov 22, 2011, 4:41pm |
Gosh Mick, every single one an amazing work of art! I'm guessing the red one is a Japanese Maple but my fav one is number three with the branches going out in different twirly configurations.
Your grandson looks as if he is having great fun with his i-Pad.
My son raves about his and now has the i-phone which you only speak to and it talks back........what next  |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Nov 22, 2011, 4:46pm |
I think the last single one is my favourite tod2. Note that the top one is not even grown in a pot - just on a slab of stone.
If I had more spare time I would like to get into bonsai. Many years ago I read a book on Chrysanthemums grown as bonsai and would love to try that. |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Nov 22, 2011, 4:51pm |
Nov 22, 2011, 4:41pm, tod2 wrote:Gosh Mick, every single one an amazing work of art! I'm guessing the red one is a Japanese Maple but my fav one is number three with the branches going out in different twirly configurations.
Your grandson looks as if he is having great fun with his i-Pad.
My son raves about his and now has the i-phone which you only speak to and it talks back........what next |
|
Joe took some superb pictures with his i-pad particularly of a large fish in one of the aquariums. He's got a good eye. It would be good enough to enter into a wildlife competition. |
| Posted by tod2 on Nov 22, 2011, 5:07pm |
| Hanging out with you Mick must be so nice for him - not many kids these days want to be seen with the 'old fuddy duddy's' especially if they're related. Much rather be cruising the shopping malls and getting up to nonsense. Does he have / or is getting an interest in photography? It interests me to find out what nice boys of that age like doing for a hobby - besides cricket that is! |
| Posted by mickthecactus on Nov 22, 2011, 5:19pm |
I don't know about nice for him but it's lovely for me. Never have a problem about getting either of them to come out with us and we always take them for a week's holiday each year which they haven't tired of - yet...
He really loves anything to do with computers or electronics particularly taking stuff apart and mending it - very good with his hands. |
| Posted by rikita on Nov 22, 2011, 8:52pm |
| thanks bixa... i hope so too... since it was a wedding present it kind of also has a high symbolic meaning for me... winter is making me a bit nervous though, but i guess i just have to hope it works out well - i am still learning... |
| Posted by spindrift on Nov 22, 2011, 10:52pm |
I love mick's lily of the valley 'bonsai' and other specimens. I had no idea you could grow such plantings. Very clever.
I was given a bonsai cherry (sakura hana) by a Japanese friend for my birthday last year. I was alarmed because I seemed to know in advance that it would die on me. And so it did within weeks.
It was in a very nice pot too... |
![[Home]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920049/button23550481.png "[Home]")
![[New Topics]](http://images.proboards.com/menu/topics.png "[New Topics]")
![[Help]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920083/button28195714.png "[Help]")
![[Search]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920086/button25710789.png "[Search]")
![[Login]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920112/button20487816.png "[Login]")
![[Register]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920117/button97266159.png "[Register]")