What have you learned from "doing bonsai"??

[leatherback]

And there are many here I would not want in my local club.

Judging persons by their online presence is risky though.. The inpersonal aspect of online presence means that sometimes general rules of interaction are adjusted

 

[ConorDash]

Whoever said it takes 3 years to learn how to water bonsai should have joined bonsainut sooner

Yeah, turns out it takes longer...

Anyone who thinks they've mastered watering in 3 years, is having problems caused by watering, they just don't know it yet!

I learnt I will never have a certain mastery of this hobby, or a certain skill level of trees, and I have to learn to be ok with that. Time you can put in, and money to an extent, are very important for your results. One of those elements can make up for the other, to an extent but if you have and put in both, you'll be learning very well and be able to make some great trees in time.

I also learned that for me, waiting is easy, doing is hard. I think that's the reverse for a lot of people.

I'm the same. Doing is still hard, sometimes. For various reasons

 

[Dav4]

Another thought that I neglected to put into my soliloquy earlier… Repotting a Japanese white pine or Japanese black pine may actually have the opposite effect that you expect, and cause the new growth the season following the repot to actually be more vigorous than anticipated.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Yeah, turns out it takes longer...


.

I agree, I realize the sarcastic tone in my head is hard to convey in one liners

 

[penumbra]

The plant has the final word. Fortunately, many of them will work with you. Some will not.

 

[AnacortesSteve]

I have a few hundred trees now, most are JBP from cuttings and my first 4 yamadori, I learned the more you have the less likely to overdo a tree, by the time I get back to a tree it's ready for work and it's fun just weeding them and watching the progression. Only one of my collected trees is leafless right now, think it's a Hemlock, I see a little green bud, will have to see, I scraped away some dirt to look at the roots and there was a lot of fungus, so the Mycorrhiza is doing its work and looks healthy.

 

[Kodama]

2nd year beginner....so far I've been learning...
1. This art is alot harder than the old Sunset book of the 80's made it look.
2. Don't follow the Sunset book advice. Outdated practices
3. To Slooooowww down and pay attention to patterns of nature, listen to the trees and the whispers in the wind.
4. Timing. Timing and Timing
4. What works in one area may not work in your area. Local climate matters
5. How different trees work...truly amazing and fascinating
6. I could go on...

 

[Colorado]

Discipline and Restraint.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

The more I learn, the more I realize the depth of my ignorance.

 

[Njyamadori]

I’m just a beginner with not even bonsai trees but just little plants but I’m starting to understand the importance of having a strong foundation and patience will have a good income , even if I don’t really have a strong plan !

 

[bwaynef]

• There's more than one way to skin a cat(, a saying I learned doesn't always translate well).
  • There ARE also wrong ways to do things.
  • If you only know how to do it one way, you may not be able to do it that same way when circumstances change, so having a big bag of tricks is important.
• Crawl, then walk, then run, ...THEN race.
• Timing is everything.
• Some things are un-knowable.
  • Don't stop collecting information though.
• Just showing up is important.
• Applied knowledge is the best kind of knowledge.
• Having a goal changes things.
• How you correctly handled something last time might be the wrong way to handle it this time.
• Patina is beautiful.
• A healthy environment is more rewarding than you're likely to expect.
• When you know better, do better.

 

[LanceMac10]

Hand watering when the heat index is over a 100 degrees is a bit taxing....two more to go....!!!!

Auto-watering set-up is pricey.

You can't take a vacation unless it's the last week of April or the second week of Feb and you'll need extra cash besides vacation money to have someone come and water.

....and I like "bonsai", (or whatever the heck I'm doing) just as much as when I first started.....results about the same...

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

A person well versed in methods, should at least know a thing or two about the things they're advising. If it sounds like they're reading it from a webpage or a label, they're probably reading it from a webpage or label.
This is a general rule I apply to gardening: it's alright to be wrong about something, it's alright to not know everything and still share that piece of info, but stating unproven things you've read online without trying them yourself as factual is a bad practice. And this happens more than you'd think.

Diatomaceous earth as a bug killer for instance.. As if ground dwelling animals that have been here since the dawn of time are suddenly going belly up by the stuff they've been exposed to for millions of years. They made an exoskeleton, trachea, tiny hairs and whatnot to keep the stuff out. "It works!" I hear the people cry. Until they water, and then it doesn't. "But the label says..". Exactly. The. Point. Of. A. Label.
There are mountains in the world, beaches all over, buildings, all shedding sharp rocks by the million tonnes a day. If bugs would be hurt by it, you'd think they wouldn't have made it this far.

I thought I knew a lot about plants, but bonsai taught me I was wrong about that. I've seen more weird things happen in bonsai than I have in regular gardening. Usually positive things.
I can confidently tell if plants are going to survive in their current conditions, or not. Honed some serious skills that I already had, but took them to a level I didn't know existed.

I learned how to appreciate ugly trees. Or maybe the people keeping those trees. If you can refine an ugly piece of tree that's never going to win a show, and make it so that everything looks perfect, you have earned my respect. To make something crappy look less crappy and paying attention to the details even though I believe it's not worth the effort, to me is a sign of character and resilience. It doesn't matter anymore, it's not about the tree, it's about the person doing the work and doing it well.

 

[RKatzin]

From an old school resident, I've learned that you don't know what you know until you try to teach what you know.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I learned that trees grow faster than I had imagined. Some send out shoots literally overnight, which I found fascinating. I learned to appreciated form and structure......even the texture of the bark. I learned about native trees I had no idea existed here. I learned that there was another bonsai enthuisast literally a half-mile down the sparsely populated rural road from me.

 

[Darran]

Don’t ask about seedlings

I have so much to learn, and so little time compared to the trees I’m working with.

Serissa are a hard tree to keep alive

 

[Michael P]

Cut more, regret less.

 

[Joelshack2362]

Patience

 

[River's Edge]

Practise, small improvements add up over time. Certain stages are not very aesthetically pleasing but that is ok. Patience and discipline combined with practise. Wait until the tree is very healthy before beginning. Focus on the fundamentals, but first take time to learn how to select appropriate material. Work with the best material you can acquire.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Patience

You won't really learn bonsai reading books, and forums, watching videos and demonstrations. Those can get you started and give you hints, but you only really learn bonsai by working on trees.

You'll never learn everything so learn the important things and a few species really well.

This!

I've seen ones in the hobby longer than myself. Still taking risks that they know they shouldn't. [rookie moves] I ask myself why? Because they are still playing with mediocre material which doesn't have any meaning to them still. I ask myself would they do it with better material. I doubt it.