Recent content by thailand-steve

interesting. i'm trying to get aerial roots so i can take cuttings and use the cuttings as a peg grafts so i don't care so much what it looks like at the air layer because i want it to grow over anyhow, but your method looks cleaner and i think will look a lot nicer if you are not cutting but...

i figure even if a bud did come up, which i'm sure it will, in fact some have started already, but that flat top would still be ugly. i think this will help the transition to a top branch, i guess we'll see. i haven't finished with it yet

my peg graft on top of this ficus is doing fine, lots of new growth and its in full sun. i had no doubt really since it had a nice root to keep it alive but the problem now is that size transition from the old truck to the new is pretty ugly. i'm wondering if i should carve some of the inside...

i'm still working on it but basically i'm doing and air layer then let the roots grow out of the moss not covered with anything but keep them damp and shaded from direct sun but when you do the air layer you have to cut deep because ficus will just heal up without producing roots if you don't...

i think this is very cool but not sure how to get to it. its hard to tell the size but i'm guessing about 1/2 to 3/4" in the main trunk. clearly there is very little space for the roots so i'm guessing the roots and the trunk are pruned at the same time and a low branch is used as a leader...

i've been throwing my cuttings away, i had no idea they would root! ok, next time i prune i'm going to try plant them in the perlite/sand mix

i'm just not that big a fan of multi tree bonsai, forest bonsai, just a personal taste thing. although i was looking at a lot of trees in rock pots from a bonsai show in Viet Nam I think and realized its not necessary to have the tree bigger than the rock always

i put this juniper in this really cool rock. i hollowed out the inside so there is quite a lot of space in there for the roots, about as much as an 8" pot i want the tree to bulk up a lot because right now its dwarfed by the rock a bit so i'm wondering how much, if any pruning i should do now...

what's the point of the wire cone? why not just bend the cuttings at about 2-3" above the cut line, root them in sphagnum moss so they are easy to manipulate without risking the young roots, then when the bent shape has taken hold and you have some roots (about 1-2 months), wire all the cuttings...

i'm doing the same thing as soon as my retusa cuttings are a bit stronger, i'll race you!

i thought this was quite amazing i was trimming back a ficus retusa about 2 weeks ago and didn't have time to pot all the cuttings so i wrapped this one in sphagnum moss and tin foil and left it in the shade and pretty much forgot about it. today i checked and look at all those roots...

2 more pots, the ones i show at the start of the video i'm really pleased with the blue one. i love those colors, its a mixture of blue and black cement additive. here in Thailand, bonsai pots start at about $150US for a small one and this size would be well over $250 so buying them...

thanks for the advice. i'll almost circularly lop off that root when the tree is a bit more established, like in the photoshoped one here, and remove a lot of the fine roots above ground. i think maybe you are right about the cascade not right. i'll try get some low branches onto trunk on all...

i've posted several videos starting at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ6AMu3x13A unfortunately, i had an accident on the final video so i plan to make an update in a few days, but all the relevant info is in there I think enjoy steve

i have this nice root system growing over a rock now but this was one of the first trees i bought and didn't choose well. it doesn't have any nice fat lower branches. so i'm wondering how to style this? as you can see, i'm going for a cascade but not 100% sure. maybe i should graft in a...