Coastal live oak share & ?

[rustedtrew180sx]

Hey everyone!

Just want to share my 2nd tree! And... Had a question.

So I got this from Roy Nagatoshi from Fuji Bonsai nursery! Went there this past Friday for some help with my Japanese Maple (non-bonsai) and ended up leaving with coastal live oak pre-bonsai!

Alex who works there was very helpful and provided a wealth of knowledge for our maple and the oak tree we bought.. I'm planning on taking a class there in February and gonna bring my oak tree for a repot and pruning. I'm so excited! I really need to also check out the bonsai club that meets at discanso gardens in la Canada.

Anywho .. gonna plan to pot this oak into a larger 3-5 gallon pot without disturbing the roots since summer is the worst time to do this.. it's rootbound... I need to insert this guy into a larger pot asap.

While taking a closer look today .. I noticed what appears to be aphids and some eggs. So I sprayed it down with bonide Neem spray and plan on keeping it under the shade for 24 hours to avoid it being sun burned by the oil residue. I'm also gonna wash the Neem oil away by tomorrow late afternoon and will commence leaving it out in the sun on day two.

Are these aphids? From my research they appear to be.. if not .... Then hey! Doesn't hurt to spray it down with some neem oil as a safety measure against other pests that may be on the tree.

What ya'll think?

Btw . Are those white dots on the foilage aphid eggs?

Thanks in advance fellas!

 

[Forsoothe!]

You didn't notice this one whole week ago when you bought it?

 

[rustedtrew180sx]

Sorry for the confusion. I got this 48 hours ago.

I'm still new and inexperienced.. so picked one out that had aphids.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Take it back and exchange it for a better one.

 

[BrianBay9]

The nursery will be able to give you good advice on pests, and they'll want to know if they have a pest problem in their stock they didn't know about. It's hard to tell what's going on through pictures. So taking it back in to have a look is a good idea. Generally looks very healthy though. If you pot up without root work be very thorough with your watering. Sometimes new soil and the old soil won't wet at the same rate and you risk the old soil being too dry or too wet.

Your tree is a good start and taking lessons in Feb is a great idea. Don't let any comments here dampen your enthusiasm.

 

[Forsoothe!]

And get one with a better nebari.

 

[rustedtrew180sx]

The nursery will be able to give you good advice on pests, and they'll want to know if they have a pest problem in their stock they didn't know about. It's hard to tell what's going on through pictures. So taking it back in to have a look is a good idea. Generally looks very healthy though. If you pot up without root work be very thorough with your watering. Sometimes new soil and the old soil won't wet at the same rate and you risk the old soil being too dry or too wet.

Your tree is a good start and taking lessons in Feb is a great idea. Don't let any comments here dampen your enthusiasm.

Thank you both so much!
Yes I'm gonna call Roy and tell him about it... I hope he'll be okay with an exchange.. there was one there with a better nebari but the trunk was smaller.. (wife wanted me to get the one with a better nebati) should of listened to her lol, but I really was drawn to how thick the overall trunk was.
But.. but.. there is a part of me that wants to keep this even tho I suspect it has a aphid infestation. I did spray it down like heck last night with bonide Neem spray .. and gonna rub all that powdery spots away this afternoon and will give it a good wash afterwords.. kinda attached to this one already.. but there is a good part of me that wants to exchange it . If I do, I hope Roy will be okay with it.
But thanks for the tips tho! I really appreciate it. Just will need to be careful with the watering...
We'll see..
Thanks you both!

 

[rustedtrew180sx]

Oh yeah.. I did see small white bugs crawling around before the spray. So I think it is aphids.
I hope the spray also killed the eggs ...

 

[Forsoothe!]

Now and forever, you buy the first two inches of trunk. That will not change markedly over time except get bigger, just like every tree will get bigger. The canopy appeals to newbees but that is infinitely changeable and relatively unimportant.

 

[John P.]

Not sure if you returned the tree, but by angling the container, layering with a tourniquet, adding soil and using wire or zip ties (my preference) to pull the branches down, you can make a lot of progress on this tree in one season. If you’re then satisfied with the thickness of the trunk, you can chop it to activate the buds below the cut. They respond incredibly well to this, too.