Jaberwky17
Shohin
Hello to all. I officially started with some trees about a month ago, purchasing the following stock from a local nursery. They were all labeled as bonsai and I was stupid and bought based on looks, not really paying attention or researching species. Shame on me.
I made a large batch of soil, using equal parts sphagnum, cheap clay cat litter, and tiny pumice gravel. I added a healthy dose of vermiculite and a dash of slow release fertilizer pellets. This recipe is inspired by a common sense FAQ I found online.
I got all specimens out of their tiny flimsy nursery pots, washed the roots, and potted in various well draining containers (some are small bonsai pots), root bundles wired in order to secure and align the trunks to my liking. I used a chopstick to poke around in the root ball in the soil to fill in voids, then soaked the pots with a mister and applied a few drops of liquid plant food. The nursery pots were simply too small and unstable to use as they were. The only roots I touched were one of the cypress. It was SO root bound I had a really hard time getting it loosened. By the time I was done I lost about 1/3 of the total root mass, but the remainder were in good shape. I dusted with rooting agent before potting.
My trees can get full sun for most of the day on my back deck, and twice daily soil checks and necessary watering with the mister. I use a finger check in the pot corner and/or a chopstick for dryness. All the repotted plants are in partial shade for a few weeks after repotting, and the boxwoods are in partial sun rather than full all the time.
Finally, I saw a shape in the blue shimpaku and decided to wire it. The wiring process was really cool – it was awesome to see the shape, sketch it out, and then recreate the sketch. Speaking of wiring, I took some online advice and made my own copper annealed wire. I stripped several gages of home wiring and looped them into coils. Stoked up a good fire in my outdoor boiler and got the coils good and glowing, then quenched in water. It worked wonderfully.
So now my plan is to watch and let them grow. Water as needed, keep out of brutal sun as needed, watch for pests, study their structure for a year. Start building a cold frame next month so that I’m ahead of the game for this winter.
- Japanese White Pine – yes I know but I wanted to try.
- Hinoki Cypress – one tiny (could become shohin) and one larger bushy one
- Blue Shimpaku – tall and thin. Nice blue needles.
- Golden Shimpaku – tall and very bushy and healthy looking.
- Kingsville Boxwood – I got several of these from an Ebay grower with good reputation and the plants seem to be in fantastic shape.
I made a large batch of soil, using equal parts sphagnum, cheap clay cat litter, and tiny pumice gravel. I added a healthy dose of vermiculite and a dash of slow release fertilizer pellets. This recipe is inspired by a common sense FAQ I found online.
I got all specimens out of their tiny flimsy nursery pots, washed the roots, and potted in various well draining containers (some are small bonsai pots), root bundles wired in order to secure and align the trunks to my liking. I used a chopstick to poke around in the root ball in the soil to fill in voids, then soaked the pots with a mister and applied a few drops of liquid plant food. The nursery pots were simply too small and unstable to use as they were. The only roots I touched were one of the cypress. It was SO root bound I had a really hard time getting it loosened. By the time I was done I lost about 1/3 of the total root mass, but the remainder were in good shape. I dusted with rooting agent before potting.
My trees can get full sun for most of the day on my back deck, and twice daily soil checks and necessary watering with the mister. I use a finger check in the pot corner and/or a chopstick for dryness. All the repotted plants are in partial shade for a few weeks after repotting, and the boxwoods are in partial sun rather than full all the time.
Finally, I saw a shape in the blue shimpaku and decided to wire it. The wiring process was really cool – it was awesome to see the shape, sketch it out, and then recreate the sketch. Speaking of wiring, I took some online advice and made my own copper annealed wire. I stripped several gages of home wiring and looped them into coils. Stoked up a good fire in my outdoor boiler and got the coils good and glowing, then quenched in water. It worked wonderfully.
So now my plan is to watch and let them grow. Water as needed, keep out of brutal sun as needed, watch for pests, study their structure for a year. Start building a cold frame next month so that I’m ahead of the game for this winter.
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