What’s your latest Bonsai related purchase?

[milehigh_7]

Forgot to take a picture of the price tag, but I found this... thing... at Volunteers of America for $5.99. (sorry about the yellow tint to the pictures)

I don't know about you but I was stunned. I understand, I think, that pot makers don't glaze the inside of a pot so that the tree can breath through the clay. In training some people use colanders and pond baskets that each have a network of holes allowing better transpiration.

This seems to be a happy medium... Clay.. Glaze on the inside.. Colander like holes..... and a Color I really love. It also came with a dish to sit on.
Has a name on it: Lynn Wheeler.

Maybe a difference without a distinction but colanders and pond baskets don't work due to transpiration or drainage. All bonsai pots have good drainage. The reason is so the root tips will hit air and die, thus self pruning and forcing branching closer to the trunk. The drainage is a side benefit however, especially in hot climates where boiling your roots if they are wet is entirely possible.

 

[Attmos]

FYI - the main reason for not glazing the inside of a bonsai pot is so the roots can grip/adhere to the clay body some (YMMV depending on the individual clay body). There is no breathing through the clay, not in a properly fired/vitrified pot, at this stage the clay is fully chemically altered and should no longer be porous (also food safe). This is also referred to as stoneware vs. earthenware which is what we would class terra cotta pots as - which are still porous. Source, am potter.

I understand.
I'm looking at this relative to actual colanders though. Regular colanders are plastic or metal, they don't breath.... but all the holes in them allow for a lot of transpiration.
Even though this is glazed on the inside, I think it might have enough holes to make up for that fact. As far as roots needing something to grip to... again... plastic and metal don't provide that either.

I know I'm still very inexperienced, but from what I've read here, transpiration is the important part... roots don't actually need rough and porous pot walls to grip to. I think that's a myth.

 

[Attmos]

Maybe a difference without a distinction but colanders and pond baskets don't work due to transpiration or drainage. All bonsai pots have good drainage. The reason is so the root tips will hit air and die, thus self pruning and forcing branching closer to the trunk. The drainage is a side benefit however, especially in hot climates where boiling your roots if they are wet is entirely possible.

That's good to know, thank you. Works kind of like having lava rock in the mix, if I understand correctly.

 

[Attmos]

FYI - the main reason for not glazing the inside of a bonsai pot is so the roots can grip/adhere to the clay body some (YMMV depending on the individual clay body). There is no breathing through the clay, not in a properly fired/vitrified pot, at this stage the clay is fully chemically altered and should no longer be porous (also food safe). This is also referred to as stoneware vs. earthenware which is what we would class terra cotta pots as - which are still porous. Source, am potter.

And actually, I heard the main reason potters don't glaze the inside of pots is because glaze is really expensive.

Sorry, I don't mean to be argumentative...

 

[rockm]

Nope not a myth. Good clay for bonsai pots has “tooth” rough texture. Roots do grip the unglazed interior. Historically bonsai potters in Japan and China sometimes scored the interior of their pots to encourage roots to adhere to the sides instead of circling around and around (which glazed interiors do).

Also glaze inside the pot is a waste of glaze as you point out. The interior isn’t Visible so why apply inside.

 

[Attmos]

Also glaze inside the pot is a waste of glaze as you point out. The interior isn’t Visible so why apply inside.

Do you think there's any truth to the notion that plant roots use rough or porous walls for an anchor point or support? (not really sure how to word that, lol)

 

[Attmos]

FYI - the main reason for not glazing the inside of a bonsai pot is so the roots can grip/adhere to the clay body some (YMMV depending on the individual clay body). There is no breathing through the clay, not in a properly fired/vitrified pot, at this stage the clay is fully chemically altered and should no longer be porous (also food safe). This is also referred to as stoneware vs. earthenware which is what we would class terra cotta pots as - which are still porous. Source, am potter.

Again, I apologize. You said you're a potter and I feel like an arrogant jerk for disagreeing.

I'll restate by saying that I have seen people talk about it on this site, and I've seen it said both ways. I have seen people say that tree roots do use rough, unglazed clay to stabilize themselves, and it's better for them... and I've seen people say that it's not an important consideration.

I'm still waaaaaay too inexperienced to say one way or the other, and I understand that bonsai pots are so small that stability can be an issue, but is it a make-or-break issue? What do you think?

I've been repurposing pottery I find at Volunteers of America, for fun, and have removed the interior glaze on a few of them. So, if it really is that important, I can do it... It just didn't sound all that important by what I've read here. (although there seems to be some disagreement about it)

Anyway, I hope I didn't sour your opinion of the site or myself.

 

[Jetson1950]

I think it really depends on the particular plant/tree you are putting in a clay pot. Some will adhere to it to the point you can’t get them off, like orchids. Others will slide right out because they don’t want to adhere to it.

 

[Attmos]

Also glaze inside the pot is a waste of glaze as you point out. The interior isn’t Visible so why apply inside.

I was a little confused by your comment, lol, but I got it now. No need to respond to my question.

 

[lupin]

Picked up this acer clump on the Facebook auctions. Excited to see it leaf out in the spring. Got it mulched in even though we are still having days in the 50s here in Boise and no snow to speak of.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

At the Bonsai Trophy last year I saw a bonsai bark scraper tool for sale for € 15,00 a piece and I thought it was a bit much for what it was.
Last week I found the same kind of tool on Aliexpress and I bought a set of 3 for less that € 4,50 for the set.
For that price it was a no brainer and I bought a set.

I also bought a set of 5 brass brushes (6, 8, 10, 12, 15mm diameter) for less than € 3,00 for the set.
These brushes are very handy for removing bark on junipers in very tight spaces where the more common brushes wouldn't fit.

 

[KateM]

More little trees from Cedar Rose Nursery

 

[dlqfpv]

My son and I went to House of Bonsai to look at trees and spend some of my Christmas money, including a gift certificate from my wife. He got his first tree an Elm and I got a cork oak I've been wanting for some time. I let my sone choose his tree, he spent a few minutes picking up and studying the elms until he found one he liked.

 

[Sifika]

At the Bonsai Trophy last year I saw a bonsai bark scraper tool for sale for € 15,00 a piece and I thought it was a bit much for what it was.
Last week I found the same kind of tool on Aliexpress and I bought a set of 3 for less that € 4,50 for the set.
For that price it was a no brainer and I bought a set.

I also bought a set of 5 brass brushes (6, 8, 10, 12, 15mm diameter) for less than € 3,00 for the set.
These brushes are very handy for removing bark on junipers in very tight spaces where the more common brushes wouldn't fit.

View attachment 625419

I got a set of these scrapers from Temu. Look to be very useful!

 

[KateM]

 

[NashsMan]

Just came in the mail, and looks excellent @

 

[Wulfskaar]

I found my stash of gift cards.

HD had enough for me to order 20 quarts of premixed soil and 2 quarts of pumice. I've got a lot of repotting to do this spring!

 

[Attmos]

Just came in the mail, and looks excellent @

Literati "Penjing"? That's an interesting concept.

 

[n8]

Just came in the mail, and looks excellent @

Awesome book.

 

[vesper818]

Teenie Bunzan pot...

About 3cm across...