Looking for locals

[jacob.nelson54]

Hey everyone,

I'm very new to bonsai. I have read a few websites and watched most of the YouTube videos. I decided to jump in head first. My biggest issue is I learn from doing and not so much reading or watching. I'd like to get in touch with some club or I'm hoping to find some enthusiastic bonsai nuts near me. I live in Camden, SC.

I got some nursery stock the other day, but I'm having some trouble keeping the black pots cool during the SC heat. Any starting suggestions?

 

[ShadyStump]

Made it to NC once or twice, but that's it, sorry.
Keeping the pots bunched together on cool or damp ground may help. Sort of a thermodynamics thing; more mass in one spot will retain temperature longer. Otherwise pile dry leaves, grass or other mulch around them to help insulate them.

Also, welcome aboard! Have fun killing the first dozen. After that people just look at you weird.

 

[Paradox]

Hey everyone,

I'm very new to bonsai. I have read a few websites and watched most of the YouTube videos. I decided to jump in head first. My biggest issue is I learn from doing and not so much reading or watching. I'd like to get in touch with some club or I'm hoping to find some enthusiastic bonsai nuts near me. I live in Camden, SC.

I got some nursery stock the other day, but I'm having some trouble keeping the black pots cool during the SC heat. Any starting suggestions?

Are your trees showing signs of being too hot or are you just worried about them? Landscape nurseries keep 100s of plants out in full sun every day. As long as they are watered adequately and the plants are supposed to be in full sun, they should be fine.

Which species do you have? That would help us give you better advice as to the kind of spot they should be kept in.

 

[sorce]

Landscape nurseries keep 100s of plants out in full sun ev

This is true but they keep them full of leaf for shade and next to each other.

A stripped down thing standing alone on a raised bench is quite the different scenario.

Welcome to Crazy!

It's not necessarily the heat alone that bothers me, more the extreme temperature differential between the outside of a sun-soaked black pot with ice at the tree base.

That is too unnatural to be considered "safe".

Sorce

 

[Paradox]

This is true but they keep them full of leaf for shade and next to each other.

A stripped down thing standing alone on a raised bench is quite the different scenario.

Welcome to Crazy!

It's not necessarily the heat alone that bothers me, more the extreme temperature differential between the outside of a sun-soaked black pot with ice at the tree base.

That is too unnatural to be considered "safe".

Sorce

There are nurseries here that are nothing more than a parking lot with benches. No trees.

As I stated, they have plants in black plastic pots all day in full sun. If it was killing their inventory, do you really think they would do that?

I think people worry too much about this

 

[hinmo24t]

farmers only or bonsai only. jp.


good luck with your endeavors

 

[rockm]

The are a few bonsai clubs down there as well as many excellent practitioners. Did you do a search on "South Carolina Bonsai club?" There are even more if you're willing to drive a couple of hours.

Upstate SC Bonsai Study Group in Greenville SC

The Upstate SC Bonsai Study Group is a small club that meets in Greenville SC.

upstatebonsai.com

Bonsai Learning Center | Bonsai Workshops, Store, and Blog

Welcome | Bonsai Carolinas

bonsaicarolina.org

Bonsai Exhibition Garden - The North Carolina Arboretum

www.ncarboretum.org

THere is also an important show coming up in Kannapolis, which will have not only expert bonsai practitioners, but vendors as well

Winter Silhouette Bonsai Show | Bonsai | 150 North Research Campus Drive, Kannapolis, NC, USA

Winter Silhouette Bonsai Show: Major national bonsai show in 12th year. Dec 7 and 8, 2024. 150 Research Campus Drive Kannapolis NC 28081 www.winterbonsai.net

www.winterbonsai.net

 

[Forsoothe!]

There are nurseries here that are nothing more than a parking lot with benches. No trees.

As I stated, they have plants in black plastic pots all day in full sun. If it was killing their inventory, do you really think they would do that?

I think people worry too much about this

And the pots aren't full of rocks that shed water, they are full of woodchips that stay wet night & day. Most commercial stock that is sold by five years is held like that in pots from sapling-on, being repotted up about 3 times. Root-rot? Nope.

Bonsai media are intended to stop growth and are coincidentally labor intensive. You accept one, you accept the other.

 

[jacob.nelson54]

Are your trees showing signs of being too hot or are you just worried about them? Landscape nurseries keep 100s of plants out in full sun every day. As long as they are watered adequately and the plants are supposed to be in full sun, they should be fine.

Which species do you have? That would help us give you better advice as to the kind of spot they should be kept in.

I was more so just worried about them. Just a mixed of junipers, (common, blue rug, cryptomeria) and a hinoki, all still in the nursery soil. I came home from work early one day and just felt the soil and it was hot. Hot enough for me to check them using my meat thermometer... 110 and was still on the raise.

Ended up playing musical pots for a day or two until I ended up burying them under the pine straw around the house. Seem to be doing OK now.

 

[River's Edge]

Bonsai media are intended to stop growth

?

 

[bwaynef]

There used to be a club in Columbia SC but that doesn't exist in an official capacity anymore, but you may reach out to @johng @Ken Duncan. I know of a couple others in that area, but I'm not positive about volunteering them. I've also got a contact in Florence, but not sure about volunteering him either.

If you're ever in the upstate on the 4th Saturday of the month, check out the upstate group that rockm posted. We'd love to have you.

 

[Eckhoffw]

?

I’d translate to ‘control growth’.

 

[rockm]

I’d translate to ‘control growth’.

I'd translate it as Foresooth completely misunderstanding bonsai soil. The SOIL doesn't "stop growth" the CONTAINER does, or severely restricts it... the soil PROMOTES GROWTH...

 

[River's Edge]

I posed the question because of the importance of understanding the fundamental role our bonsai media choices make in the practice of Bonsai.
It seemed too important to let a statement go that could be so easily misinterpreted and misunderstood by many who are new to Bonsai.
This forum has many new participants on a regular basis.

 

[augustine]

On very hot days like today I place some plants on the ground (on grass) in a bit of shade.

 

[Forsoothe!]

?

Rocky media is barren when compared to ordinary top soil. The Japanese have trees that are hundreds of years old. You can imagine that if the trees grew 5% a year, that could be problematic over time. Unlike westerners that have very few trees in cultivation for generations, they have lots that they do not want to get bigger, they want just enough very controlled growth so the trees will remain healthy, but not change size significantly. Their routine attention to the needs of the trees takes care to water & fertilize timely and enough to get exactly enough growth to keep the trees growing enough roots and canopy to always have some fresh roots and young wood. The rocky mixes work best for SPF and is fine for other trees that are given care by the Japanese for whom bonsai is a discipline, not a hobby.

 

[River's Edge]

Rocky media is barren when compared to ordinary top soil. The Japanese have trees that are hundreds of years old. You can imagine that if the trees grew 5% a year, that could be problematic over time. Unlike westerners that have very few trees in cultivation for generations, they have lots that they do not want to get bigger, they want just enough very controlled growth so the trees will remain healthy, but not change size significantly. Their routine attention to the needs of the trees takes care to water & fertilize timely and enough to get exactly enough growth to keep the trees growing enough roots and canopy to always have some fresh roots and young wood. The rocky mixes work best for SPF and is fine for other trees that are given care by the Japanese for whom bonsai is a discipline, not a hobby.

Sounds much better when explained

 

[ShadyStump]

Rocky media is barren when compared to ordinary top soil. The Japanese have trees that are hundreds of years old. You can imagine that if the trees grew 5% a year, that could be problematic over time. Unlike westerners that have very few trees in cultivation for generations, they have lots that they do not want to get bigger, they want just enough very controlled growth so the trees will remain healthy, but not change size significantly. Their routine attention to the needs of the trees takes care to water & fertilize timely and enough to get exactly enough growth to keep the trees growing enough roots and canopy to always have some fresh roots and young wood. The rocky mixes work best for SPF and is fine for other trees that are given care by the Japanese for whom bonsai is a discipline, not a hobby.

Which makes me wonder (once again) what they were using as soil/substrate and fertilizer before the days of chemically produced ferts. I've done a quick search once or twice for old timey/archaic substrate recipes, but haven't come up with anything other than the obvious statements of, "higher proportions of organic components," or the like.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Honey pots. The far east is famous for saving... everything. The plants today smell a LOT better than in the good ol' days.

 

[ShadyStump]

Honey pots. The far east is famous for saving... everything. The plants today smell a LOT better than in the good ol' days.

LOL That's what I always assumed, but it'd still be nice to have some specific ideas. I'm always looking for tips on how to do things low budget/low impact, and keep it selfsufficient if possible. I've found that some of the best ideas for that sort of mindset come from history. Like half my best campfire food recipes were inspired by an 18th century reinactment show on YouTube called The Townsends. They do allot of stuff, but they're famous for their 1700s cooking episodes. But half my dead trees so far are the results of failed experiments with soil and substrate, so it'd be nice to get some historical concepts.