Fidur
Chumono
In a few days it will be two years since I started this hobby.
My bonsai garden , november 2020, I had one bonsai (a chinese elm inside home)
and september 2022
So I think it could be a good excercise to write down some of my conclusions.
On the horticultural side, my experience has been very pleasent. I have lost very few of the projects I've been working on, and everything is thriving (portfolio with some of my trees). There are some particular reasons for what, in my point of view, has been a successful experience (for someone without any previous experience in bonsai, and very poor horticultural experience)
- First and likely the most important: my climate. I live in the outskirts of a city claimed to have the "best wheather in the world" in a human sense (link).
This means no frosts (ever), no extreme heat, no hurricanes, ..... a very pleasent temperature year round. This has been key, as I have been forgiven all my horticultural sins (repotting and trimming roots almost whenever I want, no wintering,.....almost complete freedom to perform any operation at any time of the year). And so, I feel confident to be able to grow a great percentage of tree species I like
- My soil and watering choices. As I stated in this thread , I have been using a mix of akadama and lava in almost all my trees, and watering with rain collected water. I know this is not the best soil mix for fast growing my trees, but it's so easy to avoid under and over watering that I can be always safely watering with no issues. Also akadama doesn´t degrade in my climate and its cheap and readly avalaible. I've been fertilizing using the most avalaible fertilizers (liquid, little balls, or whatever presentation ....). No brands, no special compositions. Also I've been using some micronutrients suplements (mostly for my bouganvilleas).
I've been educating myself in the horticultural side of the hobby (free resources in the internet), but I must admit this is my weaker skill. So sometimes, when I read about the horticultural problems others have to face and I can avoid, I feel like cheating.
On the financial side, I made a report of the first year here . There I exposed the expenses of everything necessary to develope my bonsai garden.
In this second year, as my bonsai garden has increased , obviously I haven´t had to buy tools, and the bench structure as the watering system hasn´t changed, but I have had to invest in some tables(80$), pots (100$), soil (60$), fertilizers (20$).... Also I've purchased trees (about 200$). It's not been as expensive as the first year (I have now about 80 trees in different stages...)
But overall, my conclusion is, that I have found a lot of fun and happiness, and even some sort of existencial reason. I'm very thankful to this hobby and the people around it.
My bonsai garden , november 2020, I had one bonsai (a chinese elm inside home)
and september 2022
So I think it could be a good excercise to write down some of my conclusions.
On the horticultural side, my experience has been very pleasent. I have lost very few of the projects I've been working on, and everything is thriving (portfolio with some of my trees). There are some particular reasons for what, in my point of view, has been a successful experience (for someone without any previous experience in bonsai, and very poor horticultural experience)
- First and likely the most important: my climate. I live in the outskirts of a city claimed to have the "best wheather in the world" in a human sense (link).
This means no frosts (ever), no extreme heat, no hurricanes, ..... a very pleasent temperature year round. This has been key, as I have been forgiven all my horticultural sins (repotting and trimming roots almost whenever I want, no wintering,.....almost complete freedom to perform any operation at any time of the year). And so, I feel confident to be able to grow a great percentage of tree species I like
- My soil and watering choices. As I stated in this thread , I have been using a mix of akadama and lava in almost all my trees, and watering with rain collected water. I know this is not the best soil mix for fast growing my trees, but it's so easy to avoid under and over watering that I can be always safely watering with no issues. Also akadama doesn´t degrade in my climate and its cheap and readly avalaible. I've been fertilizing using the most avalaible fertilizers (liquid, little balls, or whatever presentation ....). No brands, no special compositions. Also I've been using some micronutrients suplements (mostly for my bouganvilleas).
I've been educating myself in the horticultural side of the hobby (free resources in the internet), but I must admit this is my weaker skill. So sometimes, when I read about the horticultural problems others have to face and I can avoid, I feel like cheating.
On the financial side, I made a report of the first year here . There I exposed the expenses of everything necessary to develope my bonsai garden.
In this second year, as my bonsai garden has increased , obviously I haven´t had to buy tools, and the bench structure as the watering system hasn´t changed, but I have had to invest in some tables(80$), pots (100$), soil (60$), fertilizers (20$).... Also I've purchased trees (about 200$). It's not been as expensive as the first year (I have now about 80 trees in different stages...)
But overall, my conclusion is, that I have found a lot of fun and happiness, and even some sort of existencial reason. I'm very thankful to this hobby and the people around it.
