Recent content by bougie nights

I have always loved, "...but that is just my opinion, which along with $1.50, might buy you a cup of coffee." I must confess to shamelessly stealing that one.

If your hornbeam has an exceptional base, then I would chop, especially if you plan to put it in a grow box. I know it sounds callous, but air layering takes time and doesn't always work. You will want to capitalize on the time the tree spends in the grow box.

I think it is Rhamnus cathartica. European buckthorn.

You may want to read up on silverfish. I don't believe they eat live plant tissue, but are scavengers that feed on decaying stuff. They might just be a symptom of decay in and around the plant.

Came here to say this. Witches broom tends to hit plants in the Ulmaceae. Hackberries get it too.

Charcoal (biochar) has a very high cec and tons of pore space which can harbor colonies of beneficial bacteria and hold some water. The cec is probably the biggest difference between pumice and charcoal. Some of the people that promote its use, recommend that the charcoal be "charged" -...

Kingslayer, or should I say..."Jaime" Your soil mix may be too heavy for this piece. I think you were on the right track with lava rock and orchid bark, but topsoil may not be a good ingredient. Water needs to flow freely through your container. Since most bonsai pots are shallow, the soils...

Jim- I'm afraid the timing is not on your side. You can dig at this time, but you should preserve as much of a rootball as possible. That may likely be a problem for you since these are so big and probably have sprawling roots. If you manage to get one out, plant it in the ground somewhere...

Doug Hawley from Cincinnati uses those as well and said he got them from a hardware store. I don't recall coming across any, though.

Study the threads started by Brian Van Fleet.

I mixed some packing peanuts (not the corn starch ones) with soil to pot up a collected taxus in a large nursery can. I didn't have enough soil for the job. It worked okay for that.

Everyone listed are great. I also like Gary Wood - super smart guy. Someone who has mysteriously disappeared that I thoroughly enjoyed was Tachigi. His postings helped me with some yew yamadori. His posts were informative and funny at times.

I am more of a lurking learner and enjoy this forum more than any other. Sometimes if someone posts a tree and asks for help, I may chime in and offer my suggestion as a question. For example, "Would it be possible to to wire down this branch for this effect?" Sometimes there will be a reply...

Make sure you take a wool cap.

I think Dick Benbow is correct on the lacewing - one of the good guys.