This tree:
Is due to get its first real bonsai pot.
I purchased it from Plant City about 5 years ago. They had purchased three JBP from Lone Pine nursery in California, and they had been dug, and shipped bare rooted to Georgia. Steve asked me to pot them for him when they came in. I cut down big plastic pots, and got them in some homemade Boon Mix (equal parts lava, pumice, and akadama). I bought this one. The other two were eventually purchased by my students.
After potting, I didn’t do anything but water and fertilize for a year. They had been bare rooted, and needed to recover.
After a year, I started cutting back the longest branches, hoping to induce backbudding. I put in a guy wire and put in the heavy bend, using a jack. The jack does the bending, the wire just takes up the slack.
After another year, I added a couple grafts.
A year later, I added two more grafts.
Last weekend, I took the opportunity to consult with Tyler Sherrard, and we did more cut backs. And I gave it this initial wiring/styling. We also used the guy wire to add more bend.
Back home, I decided to pot it. After a bit of futzing around, I was able to remove it from the cut down plastic pot:
All that white stuff is mychorrazzae. I didn’t add any when I potted it, and remember, it had been bare rooted! It just grew by itself.
I then proceeded to cut back some heavy roots. And seriously reduce the root ball. Back when I initially potted it, I didn’t cut any roots. Since it was straight out of the field, and bare rooted, I kept everything! Even roots I knew were too long. I just circled them in the plastic pot.
Today was the day to tame the roots! I scraped all the flat mat of roots off the bottom, and I was pleased to see no ugly downward roots! So I trimmed it flat. Going around the edges with my bent tip tweezers was a lot of work, but easy to work since the soil, Boon Mix, stays pretty open, even after 5 years. I cut back some heavy roots with my big root cutters and concave knob cutters.
The final root ball:
Now for the fun part!
Which pot?
Or...
I could use either.
I chose the larger pot because I had been pretty hard on the roots, and I wanted to get it grow. The smaller pot would make a good show pot in the future.
Here it is potted up:
Is due to get its first real bonsai pot.
I purchased it from Plant City about 5 years ago. They had purchased three JBP from Lone Pine nursery in California, and they had been dug, and shipped bare rooted to Georgia. Steve asked me to pot them for him when they came in. I cut down big plastic pots, and got them in some homemade Boon Mix (equal parts lava, pumice, and akadama). I bought this one. The other two were eventually purchased by my students.
After potting, I didn’t do anything but water and fertilize for a year. They had been bare rooted, and needed to recover.
After a year, I started cutting back the longest branches, hoping to induce backbudding. I put in a guy wire and put in the heavy bend, using a jack. The jack does the bending, the wire just takes up the slack.
After another year, I added a couple grafts.
A year later, I added two more grafts.
Last weekend, I took the opportunity to consult with Tyler Sherrard, and we did more cut backs. And I gave it this initial wiring/styling. We also used the guy wire to add more bend.
Back home, I decided to pot it. After a bit of futzing around, I was able to remove it from the cut down plastic pot:
All that white stuff is mychorrazzae. I didn’t add any when I potted it, and remember, it had been bare rooted! It just grew by itself.
I then proceeded to cut back some heavy roots. And seriously reduce the root ball. Back when I initially potted it, I didn’t cut any roots. Since it was straight out of the field, and bare rooted, I kept everything! Even roots I knew were too long. I just circled them in the plastic pot.
Today was the day to tame the roots! I scraped all the flat mat of roots off the bottom, and I was pleased to see no ugly downward roots! So I trimmed it flat. Going around the edges with my bent tip tweezers was a lot of work, but easy to work since the soil, Boon Mix, stays pretty open, even after 5 years. I cut back some heavy roots with my big root cutters and concave knob cutters.
The final root ball:
Now for the fun part!
Which pot?
Or...
I could use either.
I chose the larger pot because I had been pretty hard on the roots, and I wanted to get it grow. The smaller pot would make a good show pot in the future.
Here it is potted up:
