treebeard55
Chumono
(Some of you will see this thread on other fora too.)
I got this tree in Andy Smith’s 2010 “Burlap Bonanza” last year. It had been collected in March; I received it in mid-April, and potted it within two days in this growing box. The mix is 50% lava, 30% bark, and 20% Turface, all sifted to remove fines. Very little of the native soil was removed, and I did very little root pruning; not much more than cleaning up the stubs of some broken roots. The nebari was never exposed, which figures in my question.
After about six weeks in shade I moved the tree to our deck, which is the sunniest spot I can offer it. Thruout the summer I fertilized it along with everything else, using both fert cakes (from North Star Bonsai) and supplemental liquid fertilizers. I had read that fertilizing in the first part of the year results in lo-o-ong needles, but I didn’t mind that right now: more important was to make sure the tree was able to re-establish itself well. Sure enough, the needles produced in the latter part of the year were twice as long as the needles with which it came!
In early-to-mid fall, I removed the terminal buds on several branches; the tree replaced them by winter. It has spent the winter in our sheltered side yard, with plenty of snow and cold but very little wind.
The first picture shows the tree as received, the second just after it went into its grow box. The third picture is from last September. The fourth shows the tree after our one true blizzard of the winter (all 10-12 hours of it.) And the fifth is totally unrelated to bonsai: my 10-year-old enjoying the blizzard!
(Continued in first "Reply.")
I got this tree in Andy Smith’s 2010 “Burlap Bonanza” last year. It had been collected in March; I received it in mid-April, and potted it within two days in this growing box. The mix is 50% lava, 30% bark, and 20% Turface, all sifted to remove fines. Very little of the native soil was removed, and I did very little root pruning; not much more than cleaning up the stubs of some broken roots. The nebari was never exposed, which figures in my question.
After about six weeks in shade I moved the tree to our deck, which is the sunniest spot I can offer it. Thruout the summer I fertilized it along with everything else, using both fert cakes (from North Star Bonsai) and supplemental liquid fertilizers. I had read that fertilizing in the first part of the year results in lo-o-ong needles, but I didn’t mind that right now: more important was to make sure the tree was able to re-establish itself well. Sure enough, the needles produced in the latter part of the year were twice as long as the needles with which it came!
In early-to-mid fall, I removed the terminal buds on several branches; the tree replaced them by winter. It has spent the winter in our sheltered side yard, with plenty of snow and cold but very little wind.
The first picture shows the tree as received, the second just after it went into its grow box. The third picture is from last September. The fourth shows the tree after our one true blizzard of the winter (all 10-12 hours of it.) And the fifth is totally unrelated to bonsai: my 10-year-old enjoying the blizzard!
(Continued in first "Reply.")
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