Greetings from Colorado,

Canonfodder

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My name is Craig Mahagan and I have loved the idea of bonsai since I learned of it in high school. Right out of school I went into the U.S. Army and served for 17 years until I had to get out for medical reasons. I am now a retired veteran now and am trying to find ways to improve my mental health and find meaning in something. In the past I have bought trees from nursery’s and tried to pick up the hobby, but each time I found failure. I am once again taking a chance with bonsai as a way to learn patients and structure. This time however, I didn’t just go out and buy a tree, I bought a kit on Amazon.com to grow your own trees from seeds. Though I did go buy a tree from a nursery, I didn’t get one already formed and that is only a year old. I planted my first seeds today consisting of a Colorado Blue Spruce, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Black Spruce, and a Siberian Elm. I also bought some more seeds of other tree species that I plan to try. In particular I got some Quacking Aspen seeds. As a native born Coloradian, I love to go into the mountains and see the beautiful trees and want to keep some of home if I ever decide to move away. One day I hope to go into the mountains and collect some seeds to further work on the artistry and majesty of this hobby. I am getting my head ready for the possibility of loss and failure, yet this time I hope not to quit and continue on.
 

BonsaiDTLA

Shohin
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You're starting in a good place here on bonsainut. I'm sure most people here want to help, but they'll also be extra encouraged to if you're also putting in the effort to learn yourself.

Search and read a lot! There's lots of free Youtube videos, good threads on here, and great books to learn from. Welcome!
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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Your NAME is Canonfodder, does that make you a photo model or..... cannon fodder? 😜
Speaking of Photo models and Canon Fodder...
My guy was in...I think it was Afghanistan, and some reporter dude or something kept taking flash photos when they were pinned down somewhere, he had to threaten to shoot him so he'd stop. I hope your time serving us wasn't as "fun".

We'll either manage to help you with bonsai, or make you go further mental!

Welcome to Crazy!

Round here.... PTSD stands for Pick Tree Snip Drink!

Seriously though, I think the fastest way to a whole, modern, Western self, is through Dr. Jordan Peterson. I reckon his books are great, but the lectures on YouTube play well in the background of tree contemplation time.

We won't let you fail.....without learning everything you can from it.

Sorce
 

Colorado

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Welcome! Consider joining the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society, based in Denver.

What part of the state are you in?
 

_#1_

Omono
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Welcome aboard!

Growing seeds could be fun if the species grow fast, or boring if species grow slow. I found that being out and about looking for small plants to dig up is quite enjoyable as well.

I may be relocating to Penrose!

Canon city?
 

Bonsai Nut

Nuttier than your average Nut
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My name is Craig Mahagan and I have loved the idea of bonsai since I learned of it in high school. Right out of school I went into the U.S. Army and served for 17 years until I had to get out for medical reasons. I am now a retired veteran now and am trying to find ways to improve my mental health and find meaning in something. In the past I have bought trees from nursery’s and tried to pick up the hobby, but each time I found failure. I am once again taking a chance with bonsai as a way to learn patients and structure. This time however, I didn’t just go out and buy a tree, I bought a kit on Amazon.com to grow your own trees from seeds. Though I did go buy a tree from a nursery, I didn’t get one already formed and that is only a year old. I planted my first seeds today consisting of a Colorado Blue Spruce, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Black Spruce, and a Siberian Elm. I also bought some more seeds of other tree species that I plan to try. In particular I got some Quacking Aspen seeds. As a native born Coloradian, I love to go into the mountains and see the beautiful trees and want to keep some of home if I ever decide to move away. One day I hope to go into the mountains and collect some seeds to further work on the artistry and majesty of this hobby. I am getting my head ready for the possibility of loss and failure, yet this time I hope not to quit and continue on.
Welcome! I'm a fellow Army vet - and tree lover. I use the same advice for everyone starting out - you are going to kill lots of trees. The trick is to not kill them the same way twice. Eventually you will run out of ways to kill trees :)

Consider buying some beginner stock that people recommend as "good" starter trees for bonsai like Chinese elm or shimpaku juniper. Instead of focusing on bonsai, focus on horticulture, keeping those trees alive, and using them as source material for propagation. Rather than seeds (which take years) you can take cuttings that give you at least a two year head start on material, or air-layers which can truly save you five years or more. Once you start feeling confident in your ability to care for trees and you start getting dozens (if not hundreds) of smaller trees to work with, you can start to think about styling, repotting into bonsai pots, etc.

I would avoid going out and spending a lot of money on very nice trees until you are fully confident you can keep them alive. If you dig a maple out of your back yard and kill it, it's no great loss. However if you buy a maple for $200 and kill it, it is easy to get depressed.

And first and foremost, if you can join a bonsai club, that would be the single best thing. You will not only learn 10x faster, have access to more knowledge, and access to better material, but the camaraderie will help get you over the rough spots of just starting out. No matter what accident you have, someone else will have had it first :)
 

River's Edge

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My name is Craig Mahagan and I have loved the idea of bonsai since I learned of it in high school. Right out of school I went into the U.S. Army and served for 17 years until I had to get out for medical reasons. I am now a retired veteran now and am trying to find ways to improve my mental health and find meaning in something. In the past I have bought trees from nursery’s and tried to pick up the hobby, but each time I found failure. I am once again taking a chance with bonsai as a way to learn patients and structure. This time however, I didn’t just go out and buy a tree, I bought a kit on Amazon.com to grow your own trees from seeds. Though I did go buy a tree from a nursery, I didn’t get one already formed and that is only a year old. I planted my first seeds today consisting of a Colorado Blue Spruce, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Black Spruce, and a Siberian Elm. I also bought some more seeds of other tree species that I plan to try. In particular I got some Quacking Aspen seeds. As a native born Coloradian, I love to go into the mountains and see the beautiful trees and want to keep some of home if I ever decide to move away. One day I hope to go into the mountains and collect some seeds to further work on the artistry and majesty of this hobby. I am getting my head ready for the possibility of loss and failure, yet this time I hope not to quit and continue on.
Welcome, enjoy the journey, with Bonsai things take time to accomplish so take pleasure in the process. Eventually the product will provide encouragement and deserved results. Starting by growing is a good choice, you will learn the skills to care properly for your tree's. and with observation the things that work and do not when transplanting, pruning and wiring. Also with seeds there can be plenty of material to experiment with, without excessive worry.
 

Forsoothe!

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IF you are near one of the 6 bonsai clubs in Colorado, do join one. Rocky, RMBS, Peak Others
There is nothing like being able to get hands-on practice with someone knowledgeable leaning over your shoulder and coaching your every move, and having someone you can call and BS with. The difference is night and day, like pulling the lanyard verses learning in a classroom.
 

DrBonsai

Mame
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Welcome to our Forum and Thank You for your service !
You have gotten some good advice. Definitely get involved with your local Bonsai Society.
Also consider working with a teacher or taking a Beginner Bonsai class to learn the basics.
There are many on-line sources and videos available, I encourage you to see Ryan Neil's Beginner Series, https://www.youtube.com/user/BonsaiMirai and
Bjorn Bjorholm's videos, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIZqKAtSetjReDVLvBV0tA and the free Bonsai wiring video by Colin Lewis, https://www.craftsy.com/class/bonsai-wiring-essentials/#.
That should keep you busy for awhile.
For advanced training and material, definitely consider Todd Schlafer at First Branch Bonsai, he's based in Denver and is very talented and a great guy.
It's great to grow from seed, but I also think you would benefit from buying older nursery stock to get more experience in the different aspects of the art.
Don't be discouraged by loss or failure. Its an essential part of the learning process. It might sound like a cliché, but you do learn more from your failures then from your successes.
I think what's important is to enjoy what you are doing and continue to learn and improve.
 

Canonfodder

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Your NAME is Canonfodder, does that make you a photo model or..... cannon fodder? 😜
Speaking of Photo models and Canon Fodder...
My guy was in...I think it was Afghanistan, and some reporter dude or something kept taking flash photos when they were pinned down somewhere, he had to threaten to shoot him so he'd stop. I hope your time serving us wasn't as "fun".

We'll either manage to help you with bonsai, or make you go further mental!

Welcome to Crazy!

Round here.... PTSD stands for Pick Tree Snip Drink!

Seriously though, I think the fastest way to a whole, modern, Western self, is through Dr. Jordan Peterson. I reckon his books are great, but the lectures on YouTube play well in the background of tree contemplation time.

We won't let you fail.....without learning everything you can from it.

Sorce
I love that you caught the reference in my handle. I am pretty proud of it and fore warning, I’m going to explain how it came to be. There are several aspect that make up the name. The first is the film “Hackers” (1995). The characters in the film had really neat online handles that said something about their character. It is because of this that I use this kind o naming scheme when creating my own. The next inspiration has to do with an old DOS (showing my age here) game called “Cannon Fodder” (1993) while also representing my military service. Lastly I have two degrees in digital media and film production, with which I usually use Canon brand filming equipment. That’s the whole story in a nut shell.

Thank you for your suggestions and your time.
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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You know... everytime I say something stupid to a new person there's a chance it can go terribly wrong.

I couldn't have asked for a more relieving response!

The only thing concerning for me is your wish to one day possibly take trees with you if you move, not that it's impossible, but if it's of great importance to you, do take into account what you're working with and where you may move.
An aspen, even a Mallard One, can come here to Illinois, but maybe not Florida.

Besides slight adjustment to that one shell, I think you're ready to let that cannon fly!

Sorce
 

Forsoothe!

Imperial Masterpiece
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You mean, "Shoot the Canon..."
 

Canonfodder

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Today I went out and found some $6 starter bonsai seedlings which I was told are Boxwood Harlands. They came in tiny potter cups so I replanted them in bigger potters.12FFA468-5D34-4C0F-B520-F433F19BD29D.jpeg

I gently squeezed the root area to loosen them up to allow the roots to spread out. Then filling the larger pots up to about two thirds full of potting soil, I placed the trees on top of the soil and gently covered them with more potting soil without packing the soil to hard.

B234D4BC-0538-4073-9FD6-9A6B11306D4F.jpeg

After all that, I didn’t have a water can so I took a plastic cup with water and poured it through my hand over the tree to hopefully spread out the droplets.

DC88ACD3-BDF8-4E89-8673-6116765F1A47.jpeg
 
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