Tropical Bonsai in a non-tropical Weather

[ichoudhury]

.. I know I should post this in the "Tropical Forum" but my question is more geared toward "What to do" or "How to type" , so I thought this belongs in the "New to Bonsai (afterall, I am new to Bonsai .. especially when I compare myself with many of you )

So I bought 3 trees quite by impulse recently. I bought 2 olive trees and one pomegranate tree for my future Bonsai project. In Georgia, we are in 7B but feels like we are going down a notch or two .. not Tropical at all. I plan to keep them by a well lit window throughout the Winter/Frost season, and out whenever possible.

Question#1 I want to see if I can increase their Trunk Size somewhat, so planting them out in the field when the temp is acceptable and repotting right before it starts to get cooler is a good way to approach this? I think this may work better than keeping them in a pot the entire season ? I will do that for few years to see how things move along and then at a point settle for a Bonsai pot.

Question#2 Looking at the bigger Olive, do you have any suggestion? I think that one is about 15 years old. Should I just not worry about carry out my plan with that one, instead focus on styling? I am sort of debating that decision.

Question#3 Do you keep Tropical bonsai in non-tropical climate ? Want to share your experience?

I will try the photo link here ...

The Pom

 

[rockm]

"Question#1 I want to see if I can increase their Trunk Size somewhat, so planting them out in the field when the temp is acceptable and repotting right before it starts to get cooler is a good way to approach this? I think this may work better than keeping them in a pot the entire season ? I will do that for few years to see how things move along and then at a point settle for a Bonsai pot"

You COULD do this for the summer, as the trees you mention are marginally hardy in your climate-given the harsh long term forecasts for this winter and the next, I wouldn't count on mild temperatures... However, it's probably not going to get you much in the way of trunk development. Trees take a while to establish a substantial root mass just after planting in the ground. Substantial root masses are what drive the development of the trunk. A tree is generally left in the ground for at least three years (the longer the better) to get any appreciable development in diameter.

Since there are maybe six months of survivable outside weather for the species you have, there wouldn't be much gained in planting them in the ground. You would have to dig them up before they got going. THey might as well be in pots, as you will probably get more development there over a longer period of time.

You should aim to get a largish (but not huge) "grow pot" for each. The pot should be about a third larger than the entire root mass, or just a little larger. There are dangers in vastly overpotting a tree, as the soil in oversized pots tends to remain wet and inhibits root growth.

 

[ichoudhury]

I was afraid of that .. Thanks for your feedback. I was planning to plant those in the ground as I sort of put together a raised bed for my Trident seedlings....