Bottle brush bonsai material
- Thread starter KellyKingTaormina
- Start date
mat
Chumono
If you want the base to get bigger faster, you should let the whole thing grow. The more leaves, the faster everything under the leaves grows.
Alternatively, you can also chop above the bottom, left-leaning branch in the second photo. That should cause all growth to head that way, giving you nice, low movement.
Above all else, make sure you can keep this plant healthy. Bonsai training is pointless is without that.
Have fun.
Alternatively, you can also chop above the bottom, left-leaning branch in the second photo. That should cause all growth to head that way, giving you nice, low movement.
Above all else, make sure you can keep this plant healthy. Bonsai training is pointless is without that.
Have fun.
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
So put it in a bigger pot??? It is quite rootbound
mat
Chumono
Is your goal to get a bigger overall trunk? If so, then slip-pot into a bigger pot with quick-draining soil, water & fertilize heavily. Or put it in the ground.
If it were mine, I'd probably dig down a bit to see what the roots/nebari look like under the top couple inches of dirt. I'd probably also chop just above that left branch. But it's your tree.
disclosure - I don't have a lot of experience with this species. I'm just trying to give general tropical/sub-tropical advice.
If it were mine, I'd probably dig down a bit to see what the roots/nebari look like under the top couple inches of dirt. I'd probably also chop just above that left branch. But it's your tree.
disclosure - I don't have a lot of experience with this species. I'm just trying to give general tropical/sub-tropical advice.
Txhorticulture
Chumono
Cool. Callistemon are very pretty shrubs and small trees. But I personally wouldn't do anything until it was bigger. Good news in your climate (tropical) that may not take very long. I would wash most of the media off of the roots and put it in a much larger pot. It could double in caliper in a year. When you do chop it will bud on old wood. So first step is nice trunk.
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
So I just want to clarify... Cut two tall branches to be more like the left branch in heigh at the section or in between the nodes.?.
Quick draining soil, rocks ?.
Should I used any potting soil?. Colander style?. .with potting soil around edges?.
Quick draining soil, rocks ?.
Should I used any potting soil?. Colander style?. .with potting soil around edges?.
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
After washing out the roots i found a girdling root that i tried to unwind but broke so i cut it clean and this nubby section is the nebari that is here.. SO
Shoukd i leave that exposed or pack soil around it???
Shoukd i leave that exposed or pack soil around it???
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
Slip pot,?.. I saw a you tube video of a lemon tree in a colander...inside a bigger pot packed with potting soil around the edges.... Is that slip pot.. I don't have the supplies at the ready so it's going into a bigger pot for now on a slant but standing straight. Then I'm going to swap shop to look for plastic colanders because I have two crape myrtles in one pot that are totally root bound I bought yesterday for $10.
Txhorticulture
Chumono
When they say slip pot they mean just slip it out of current pot and put into a bigger pot, as opposed to repot which would mean bare root the plant
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
Thank you. I discovered a VERY root bound rootball with roots wrapped around the trunk so Im glad I didn't just slip it. It was a mess - I only cut one branch down by one segment and took off the dead wood. Since I want it to be a slant style. I went ahead and angled it in the pot that is currently propped up on one side to make it grow straight.
Shima
Omono
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
Gorgeous bonsai, and a lovely pot... I hope what I've done is right - I haven't been able to hook up with any clubs but I have bonsai fever.
The BB is leaning on the drain pipe outside my pool screen. It will get morning sun, mid day shade then bright blast afternoon, if its not raining
The BB is leaning on the drain pipe outside my pool screen. It will get morning sun, mid day shade then bright blast afternoon, if its not raining
KellyKingTaormina
Seedling
Thank you for "callistemon ". Oddly I saw them all over the place today. Even parked my car next to an amazing one
...
Vin
Imperial Masterpiece
They respond very well to pruning but you may want to wait until spring. Here is my Box Store Challenge entry.
March 7, 2015:
May 22, 2015:
May 20, 2015:
March 7, 2015:
May 22, 2015:
May 20, 2015:
mat
Chumono
Is that the same species?
MaverickLancer
Mame
Very cool deal. Just a word of advice I wished somebody had given me earlier though -
What you pay for now in cash, you make up for in time. Material like this is GREAT for learning and experience, but when you want to really start practicing bonsai, I find that it's usually worth a bit extra to find material with good trunk thickness and good nebari. Those are the two most time consuming parts of bonsai, but if you have a tree with both of those, you can really work on styling. From what I've seen, it takes a lot of practice and experience with real bonsai to be able to take box store plants and make them into works like Vin does.
A helpful list of bonsai ideals can be found here: https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/rules.htm . Think of them more like suggestions for traits that make a bonsai look more convincing, rather than straight out rules though. One of the first things that list mentions is that height should be no more than 6 times the width of the trunk at the root base. For your tree, that would be around the green line.
Take the following with a grain of salt, as I'm still relatively new to this as well:
If this were my tree and I wanted a real bonsai out of it, I'd plant it in the ground and wait a few years. If I wanted to use this for practice (and at that price, why not?), I'd cut at the red line. This would make either one of the blue lines your new trunk line. I'd wire it and see where things went from there. I've never worked with a bottle brush so I'm not sure about the growth habit, but it may back bud lower. If it does, it might chop it again lower after the next growth season.
Also remember that every plant has an optimal potting season. The reason why slip potting was brought up is because most bonsai are best repotted (meaning bare root and root trimmed) in late winter or early spring. Luckily, bottle brush looks like it may be a sub-tropical type, which can also do well if repotted in summer. Be sure to double check for any new bonsai though!
Helpful links:
http://www.dlnursery.com/d&l_nursery_055.htm
http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Callistemon
It also helps to look at other members' progressions:
http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/bottle-brush.19696/
http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/bottlebrush-bonsai.12812/
What you pay for now in cash, you make up for in time. Material like this is GREAT for learning and experience, but when you want to really start practicing bonsai, I find that it's usually worth a bit extra to find material with good trunk thickness and good nebari. Those are the two most time consuming parts of bonsai, but if you have a tree with both of those, you can really work on styling. From what I've seen, it takes a lot of practice and experience with real bonsai to be able to take box store plants and make them into works like Vin does.
A helpful list of bonsai ideals can be found here: https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/rules.htm . Think of them more like suggestions for traits that make a bonsai look more convincing, rather than straight out rules though. One of the first things that list mentions is that height should be no more than 6 times the width of the trunk at the root base. For your tree, that would be around the green line.
Take the following with a grain of salt, as I'm still relatively new to this as well:
If this were my tree and I wanted a real bonsai out of it, I'd plant it in the ground and wait a few years. If I wanted to use this for practice (and at that price, why not?), I'd cut at the red line. This would make either one of the blue lines your new trunk line. I'd wire it and see where things went from there. I've never worked with a bottle brush so I'm not sure about the growth habit, but it may back bud lower. If it does, it might chop it again lower after the next growth season.
Also remember that every plant has an optimal potting season. The reason why slip potting was brought up is because most bonsai are best repotted (meaning bare root and root trimmed) in late winter or early spring. Luckily, bottle brush looks like it may be a sub-tropical type, which can also do well if repotted in summer. Be sure to double check for any new bonsai though!
Helpful links:
http://www.dlnursery.com/d&l_nursery_055.htm
http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Callistemon
It also helps to look at other members' progressions:
http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/bottle-brush.19696/
http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/bottlebrush-bonsai.12812/
Vin
Imperial Masterpiece
Very solid advice from MaverickLancer. David at D&L has some very nice Bottlebrush Bonsai. He does a workshop on them occasionally and it would be worth the trip if you can attend one.
