Biophilumia
Seedling
Location: Central Pennsylvania
I should start by saying I'm completely new to bonsai... so, there was a small boxwood shrub in my grandparents garden, and I've been REALLY wanting to get into bonsai for like, years now, and I overheard the gardener talking about how the other small boxwoods died and this one was the last surviving shrub, and how poor drainage would kill it soon if left to its own devices, so I took matters into my own hands and dug it up (it came up in 3 separate plants, picture attached), and am hoping to nurse them back to health to eventually make them bonsais. I have tons of questions, but honestly if anyone is willing to offer ANY kind of advice, I'm more than happy to listen and take any and all advice i can possibly get, bc it would seem a lot of the websites I've found previously have conflicting information and that makes it very hard to know what's best to do, so right now, as per the advice of an associate at a local garden center (I had to do this fast, digging it up and repotting bc its starting to get cold here, and as you can see in the pic, it wasn't looking great, so I did the best I could for now with the soil and whatnot, but again, I'm totally willing to take any advice anyone here can offer, as you all seem quite knowledgeable!!), I have them currently in bonsai pots (except for the largest of them bc its roots wouldnt fit in the size pots they had at the garden center, so I got a larger, regular pot for that one, and they are in a soil mix of like 80-85% cactus soil (Espona Organic Cactus soil mix, the only kind the guy at Garden center could recommend) and the rest Vermiculite, again, at the associates suggestion bc they had no lava rock, perlite, or pretty much anything else I've seen actually recommended for bonsai soil, so I realize I'll most likely have to repot them soon with all new soil, but my main concern for right now is getting them healthy again, and then I'll worry about the whole bonsai part, so now that I've explained the situation, and what I've got them in right now, any information anyone can provide on how to best care for them, how soon to repot, soil recommendations, anything that you all think may be useful for me to know, would be most appreciated! I am completely new to bonsai, but I am ready and eager to learn, willing to be patient, and to do whatever i need to (within my capability anyway) to do this right!! First pic is from right after I dug them up and put them in regular potting soil just to get it out of that location where it was dying, last 2 pictures are the 3 individuals after I put them in the new pots with the soil I got from the garden center, they were repotted to the pots they're in now about 2 days after I dug them up and threw them into the tan flower pots, it's been about a week since then, and so far they're doing ok, I trimmed (with sterilized, sharp shears!) some areas that were dead & defoliated some dead leaves off the branches that looked alive but had some dried out leaves on them, hopefully giving it a better chance to grow nicely? I've tried to do as much research as possible, but like I mentioned before, different places seem to say different things, although, from my research, I believe the orange color of some of the leaves may be from the cold weather and, hopefully, not a disease or parasite (haven't seen ANY bugs on any of them), although I did notice a few very small black spots on the largest plants bark (not on any of the green stems/branches though, and not very many) but if anyone spots anything you think could be an issue, or if the black (cankers, right?) sound concerning, please let me know! Thank you in advance for any help you all can offer!!
I should start by saying I'm completely new to bonsai... so, there was a small boxwood shrub in my grandparents garden, and I've been REALLY wanting to get into bonsai for like, years now, and I overheard the gardener talking about how the other small boxwoods died and this one was the last surviving shrub, and how poor drainage would kill it soon if left to its own devices, so I took matters into my own hands and dug it up (it came up in 3 separate plants, picture attached), and am hoping to nurse them back to health to eventually make them bonsais. I have tons of questions, but honestly if anyone is willing to offer ANY kind of advice, I'm more than happy to listen and take any and all advice i can possibly get, bc it would seem a lot of the websites I've found previously have conflicting information and that makes it very hard to know what's best to do, so right now, as per the advice of an associate at a local garden center (I had to do this fast, digging it up and repotting bc its starting to get cold here, and as you can see in the pic, it wasn't looking great, so I did the best I could for now with the soil and whatnot, but again, I'm totally willing to take any advice anyone here can offer, as you all seem quite knowledgeable!!), I have them currently in bonsai pots (except for the largest of them bc its roots wouldnt fit in the size pots they had at the garden center, so I got a larger, regular pot for that one, and they are in a soil mix of like 80-85% cactus soil (Espona Organic Cactus soil mix, the only kind the guy at Garden center could recommend) and the rest Vermiculite, again, at the associates suggestion bc they had no lava rock, perlite, or pretty much anything else I've seen actually recommended for bonsai soil, so I realize I'll most likely have to repot them soon with all new soil, but my main concern for right now is getting them healthy again, and then I'll worry about the whole bonsai part, so now that I've explained the situation, and what I've got them in right now, any information anyone can provide on how to best care for them, how soon to repot, soil recommendations, anything that you all think may be useful for me to know, would be most appreciated! I am completely new to bonsai, but I am ready and eager to learn, willing to be patient, and to do whatever i need to (within my capability anyway) to do this right!! First pic is from right after I dug them up and put them in regular potting soil just to get it out of that location where it was dying, last 2 pictures are the 3 individuals after I put them in the new pots with the soil I got from the garden center, they were repotted to the pots they're in now about 2 days after I dug them up and threw them into the tan flower pots, it's been about a week since then, and so far they're doing ok, I trimmed (with sterilized, sharp shears!) some areas that were dead & defoliated some dead leaves off the branches that looked alive but had some dried out leaves on them, hopefully giving it a better chance to grow nicely? I've tried to do as much research as possible, but like I mentioned before, different places seem to say different things, although, from my research, I believe the orange color of some of the leaves may be from the cold weather and, hopefully, not a disease or parasite (haven't seen ANY bugs on any of them), although I did notice a few very small black spots on the largest plants bark (not on any of the green stems/branches though, and not very many) but if anyone spots anything you think could be an issue, or if the black (cankers, right?) sound concerning, please let me know! Thank you in advance for any help you all can offer!!