Beginner with too many questions? Probably..

[ShadyStump]

I'm guessing this trick works better in more inorganic soil? Due to organic soil staining the chopstick and coloring it darker making it harder to see how wet/dry the chopstick is? At least that's been my experience with house plants in potting mix at least.

That's a thing, for sure, but just feel it and you can tell too.

 

[Shibui]

I've read/heard that bends tend to straighten out as the trunk gets bigger, but seeing you phrase it in terms of where growth occurs suddenly makes sense to me why now. The same amount of growth occurs within a section of a trunk and in young trees and since they're more flexible, due to having less sapwood/heartwood, they're prone to straightening out due to more "pressure" in the inner curve of a bend vs the outside. Analogous to those balloons used for balloon animals in that you breath to blow up the balloon represents the grown in diameter that occurs and since there's no solid inner core, the natural tendency for the balloon is to straighten out with each breath. I could be way off base as well, so please feel free to correct me.

The actual trunk does not straighten. Inside the core is exactly the same shape but because the outside is growing thicker in some spots and not in others the inside of curves fills in faster which, over time, makes the outside of the tree straighter.
Maybe this rough drawing will help?

Now add more layers each year with thicker growth inside any bends and thinner on the outside of bends. Eventually the trunk grows to become a cylinder just by filling in the hollow parts more than the outside of bends.

 

[invaderzim]

The actual trunk does not straighten. Inside the core is exactly the same shape but because the outside is growing thicker in some spots and not in others the inside of curves fills in faster which, over time, makes the outside of the tree straighter.
Maybe this rough drawing will help?
View attachment 449270
Now add more layers each year with thicker growth inside any bends and thinner on the outside of bends. Eventually the trunk grows to become a cylinder just by filling in the hollow parts more than the outside of bends.

Thanks for the correction, that makes perfect sense!

 

[Paradox]

I'm guessing this trick works better in more inorganic soil? Due to organic soil staining the chopstick and coloring it darker making it harder to see how wet/dry the chopstick is? At least that's been my experience with house plants in potting mix at least.

Works in any soil. If the stick is discolored you can still tell by feel. Might seem weird but I used to touch the stick to the skin below my nose and above my lip. It was easier to really feel the moisture there than with my more callused fingers

 

[invaderzim]

Works in any soil. If the stick is discolored you can still tell by feel. Might seem weird but I used to touch the stick to the skin below my nose and above my lip. It was easier to really feel the moisture there than with my more callused fingers

Thanks for the add-on!

And thanks for everyone taking the time out to drop me knowledge bombs!

 

[Blksmth88]

As a beginner as well. I have been at bonsai for about a year now. I can tell you the two things that have helped me more than anything is this. 1 keep collecting. And not so much nursery stock, theres nothing wrong with it, but go out a dig up some seedlings and some trees and lop the top off and get them planted. (In the right season for collecting of course) that will give you an idea of what it takes to keep local plants alive throughout the seasons. I went nuts collecting when I started but I also started in the fall so it worked out well. I learned so much like that. Like how the root systems grow in the wild, how much you can remove from the trees or the roots and it be OK, what shapes are good for future development and most of all what species my area was saturated with that make great bonsai. (hornbeam, maple, and birch in my area) the next thing that helped me was YouTube. Ideally Nigel Saunders in the bonsai zone lol. He's a great guy and will reply if you reach out. Besides that he has hundreds of videos on his bonsai work and they are well sorted too. He's a wealth of free and interesting knowledge. And there are also loads of others to add to the favorites list but for me he has been my biggest influence. You will kill trees in the beginning and it sucks and you'll kick yourself for it but you'll feel better when it was a freebie from the back yard and not a 100 dollar plus already developed tree. You are in the right place! Good luck and keep at it!