zanna5910
Sapling
I'm new to bonsai, but am always reading and learning. I make mistakes and learn, I've killed some nursery stuff (whoops) and am mainly in a stage where I want to get the basics (growing, repotting, pruning) down before purchasing anything really nice. I have probably 15-20 plants, most all pre-bonsai, with a few things I've picked up at a nursery to try layering and some pruning and whatnot as I experiment. A few are in little bonsai training pots and some in 6" nursery type pots, some nursery stuff is still in the 3-5 gallon cans. They are in a mix of basically pine bark, turface, poultry grit, and haydite. I try to water every day, if the soil when I stick my finger in is not moist. I added some poultry fertilizer at the beginning of the spring, and have use dynagro once since then. I keep them outside where they get sun from ~8am-1 or 2pm
I see these blog posts of people with trident maples that explode with 3 feet of growth and trim back in like one season. I know all species grow at different rates, but it seems a bunch of my pre-bonsai that I bought last season just aren't growing like that. They, for the most part are all green, but just dont grow out any.
For instance, I have a 2yo trident maple, all the leaves burst in early spring, are still good and green, but there is no branch growth happening, not last year or this year really. Its really the same size as last year, after the buds popped none of the branches are really extending (trying to fatten the trunk). I had it in a 6" pot until this spring and repotted into basically a makeshift 5 gallon pot that it cut down to like 3 inches, kinda like a grow box. When I pulled it out of the 6" pot, it had roots everywhere, growing really strong.
I also have a few shimpaku that all seem to not have changed size in a whole year. Something just doesn't seem right.
If you made it this far, thanks! I will be happy to take pics to help sort out anything (at work right now). If you're feeling adventurous to read my other random problems to help out, that would be awesome too.
1. One of the shimpaku, when i water it, the water sits on the surface for a bit before soaking in, all the other pots just immediately soak up water when sprinkled on. What's up with this?
2. One of my shimpaku has a few dark brown tips. What does this mean? Is it okay?
3. I have a japanese red maple, it budded this spring, but the leaves wilted away. I knew this wasn't right so I lifted it from the pot and it didn't have hardly any roots. Does this sound like root rot? It was pretty wet at the base of the roots. I dont think I got out all the old soil when I potted it last year so there was old potting soil under the root mass. I went ahead and tried to get rid that old soil and added more bonsai soil. It's been 2 weeks since then and no new buds.
Thanks everyone for the help, its a bit daunting to sort thru all the info online to get what you need, sometimes you just gotta ask for help!
I see these blog posts of people with trident maples that explode with 3 feet of growth and trim back in like one season. I know all species grow at different rates, but it seems a bunch of my pre-bonsai that I bought last season just aren't growing like that. They, for the most part are all green, but just dont grow out any.
For instance, I have a 2yo trident maple, all the leaves burst in early spring, are still good and green, but there is no branch growth happening, not last year or this year really. Its really the same size as last year, after the buds popped none of the branches are really extending (trying to fatten the trunk). I had it in a 6" pot until this spring and repotted into basically a makeshift 5 gallon pot that it cut down to like 3 inches, kinda like a grow box. When I pulled it out of the 6" pot, it had roots everywhere, growing really strong.
I also have a few shimpaku that all seem to not have changed size in a whole year. Something just doesn't seem right.
If you made it this far, thanks! I will be happy to take pics to help sort out anything (at work right now). If you're feeling adventurous to read my other random problems to help out, that would be awesome too.
1. One of the shimpaku, when i water it, the water sits on the surface for a bit before soaking in, all the other pots just immediately soak up water when sprinkled on. What's up with this?
2. One of my shimpaku has a few dark brown tips. What does this mean? Is it okay?
3. I have a japanese red maple, it budded this spring, but the leaves wilted away. I knew this wasn't right so I lifted it from the pot and it didn't have hardly any roots. Does this sound like root rot? It was pretty wet at the base of the roots. I dont think I got out all the old soil when I potted it last year so there was old potting soil under the root mass. I went ahead and tried to get rid that old soil and added more bonsai soil. It's been 2 weeks since then and no new buds.
Thanks everyone for the help, its a bit daunting to sort thru all the info online to get what you need, sometimes you just gotta ask for help!