Shimpaku cost?

hoodbonsai

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Why are these things soo expensive? It’s also hard to find a good nursery one too. I had one but I cut it back too far and it died. Thanks!!
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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High demand and low availability are what drive prices up.
They're not hard to find if you have money.

But! Once you have one, you can start making cuttings and sell those. It's a 100% return of investment if you play it well.
My two itoigawa have produced at least 2 cuttings every year.
So that's 4 I can sell in a year or two.
After that, it's all profit.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Which "Hood" are you from, if you edit your profile, you can include a general location, giving an idea of which neighborhood you live in, and you can then get location specific advise.

Nursery shimpaku in nursery pots, should not be more expensive than most similar size pots of other species. It is getting toward the end of the summer for much of the northern half of North America, and many landscape nurseries are having sales. Nursery stock should be relatively affordable. Mail order is always more expensive, for smaller material than going to a local landscape nursery.

Trees already in bonsai pots, well these have time invested in them. If you figure $20 per hour for "artistic" time invested, and $10 per hour for grunt work like watering, you can see that quickly the price of a tree adds up. Good, exhibition grade bonsai that cost thousands of dollars are bargains when you think about the hours of labor invested in the tree.

Even the "cheap", $25 to $125 dollar shopping mall bonsai, "mallsai" for short are really not that overpriced when you think about labor costs.

So expensive is a matter of where and when you shop and how much of the work you do yourself, versus having someone else do.
 

hoodbonsai

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Which "Hood" are you from, if you edit your profile, you can include a general location, giving an idea of which neighborhood you live in, and you can then get location specific advise.

Nursery shimpaku in nursery pots, should not be more expensive than most similar size pots of other species. It is getting toward the end of the summer for much of the northern half of North America, and many landscape nurseries are having sales. Nursery stock should be relatively affordable. Mail order is always more expensive, for smaller material than going to a local landscape nursery.

Trees already in bonsai pots, well these have time invested in them. If you figure $20 per hour for "artistic" time invested, and $10 per hour for grunt work like watering, you can see that quickly the price of a tree adds up. Good, exhibition grade bonsai that cost thousands of dollars are bargains when you think about the hours of labor invested in the tree.

Even the "cheap", $25 to $125 dollar shopping mall bonsai, "mallsai" for short are really not that overpriced when you think about labor costs.

So expensive is a matter of where and when you shop and how much of the work you do yourself, versus having someone else do.
Thx for the info!! I’m from Philly
 

one_bonsai

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They're also slow growing. The slower a plant grows the more expensive they are.
 

augustine

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Try Meehans Miniatures in Rohrersville, MD either in person or online. (Will probably be @ 3 hour trip for you but they also sell online.)

Reasonable prices, trustworthy people.
 

JesusFreak

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High demand and low availability are what drive prices up.
They're not hard to find if you have money.

But! Once you have one, you can start making cuttings and sell those. It's a 100% return of investment if you play it well.
My two itoigawa have produced at least 2 cuttings every year.
So that's 4 I can sell in a year or two.
After that, it's all profit.

when is the best time to take cuttings? I have a couple shimpakus and one more in the way. I’m trying to let them grow out a bit but also considering to make one or two a shohin. Also what should I put the cuttings in? Thanks for the respond in advance.
 

Schmikah

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when is the best time to take cuttings? I have a couple shimpakus and one more in the way. I’m trying to let them grow out a bit but also considering to make one or two a shohin. Also what should I put the cuttings in? Thanks for the respond in advance.

This is a pretty short thread that answers some of your questions. I assume that most junipers would follow the same guild-lines/advice, but I don't have any personal experience (all my attempts at juniper cuttings this year failed).

 

Bonsai Nut

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when is the best time to take cuttings? I have a couple shimpakus and one more in the way. I’m trying to let them grow out a bit but also considering to make one or two a shohin. Also what should I put the cuttings in? Thanks for the respond in advance.

Late summer - november (at least in zones 8+). You want to protect them from a hard freeze, but otherwise no special winter care. I have had high success rates in 100% pumice, with a plastic dome over the propagation container to maintain high levels of humidity. I pack them in tightly and wait until I see new growth extending on the tips the following spring, at which point I plant them in their own containers.

And in answer to your earlier question... demand is high and growth rates are low. Additionally, shimpakus have a natural shrub growth habit, throwing lots of low branches with multiple trunks. Getting a decent pre-bonsai, with good nebari, thick base, and decent taper is a rare thing. It is the result of years of care... and doesn't usually happen naturally. The reason why good shimpaku yamadori from the mountains were so valuable was due to their rarity. Now they are all gone... and replicating a similar look in a nursery environment is a difficult and lengthy process.
 
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Dav4

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when is the best time to take cuttings? I have a couple shimpakus and one more in the way. I’m trying to let them grow out a bit but also considering to make one or two a shohin. Also what should I put the cuttings in? Thanks for the respond in advance.
Dirr has recommended taking J. chinensis cuttings after they've been exposed to a few frosts and freezes, and I've had very good success taking shimpaku cuttings in mid to late winter... 80-90% success rate by summer just sticking in the potting medium and putting them under the benches with no protection from the cold... I do use rooting hormone, though.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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when is the best time to take cuttings? I have a couple shimpakus and one more in the way. I’m trying to let them grow out a bit but also considering to make one or two a shohin. Also what should I put the cuttings in? Thanks for the respond in advance.
Any month that doesn’t start with J. I use old bonsai soil, small pots, shade, and high humidity, and into the ground once established.
 

JesusFreak

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Lots of different methods and time of years. I’m assuming perilite works the same as pumice.
 

leatherback

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lol, these seem to be bullet-proof for cuttings. This year I have taken a chance and taken top-cuttings of maybe 1 inch in length, but then ~100 of them. Effectively all the runners this year went into a put of cuttings. I also realized there is a market for them. Even for grafting stock you pay 15E here.

I take cuttings whenever I trim the plants. No matter which time of year, they seem to take. In summer in a plastic baggy for humidity. In fall/summer straight into a tray in-between the weeds.Roots in 3-9 months for 90% of them.
 

bonhe

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lol, these seem to be bullet-proof for cuttings. This year I have taken a chance and taken top-cuttings of maybe 1 inch in length, but then ~100 of them. Effectively all the runners this year went into a put of cuttings. I also realized there is a market for them. Even for grafting stock you pay 15E here.

I take cuttings whenever I trim the plants. No matter which time of year, they seem to take. In summer in a plastic baggy for humidity. In fall/summer straight into a tray in-between the weeds.Roots in 3-9 months for 90% of them.
Same here. Shimpaku cutting is so easy in my area. Success rate is about 98%.

And in answer to your earlier question... demand is high and growth rates are low. Additionally, shimpakus have a natural shrub growth habit, throwing lots of low branches with multiple trunks. Getting a decent pre-bonsai, with good nebari, thick base, and decent taper is a rare thing. It is the result of years of care... and doesn't usually happen naturally. The reason why good shimpaku yamadori from the mountains were so valuable was due to their rarity. Now they are all gone... and replicating a similar look in a nursery environment is a difficult and lengthy process.
Yes, shimpaku grows very slow. To speed up the trunk and others, you need to graft it to either Prostrata or San Jose junipers. To hide the grafting mark, you have to graft really low, almost at soil line. After at least 10 years, others will not know it is grafted one if you don’t tell them. It is secret! 😊
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