Your biggest bonsai mistake

[Potawatomi13]

Thinking JBP was a good idea.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Thinking JBP was a good idea.

Hear Hear! I too learned about JBP the hard way.

Another mistake was thinking I needed akadama.

 

[jaco94]

Buy quantity at the expense of quality , i think it 's better having 2 or 3 beautiful trees than 15 ugly ...

Going too fast ( pruning , potting ...) because in the end it will always be the tree that will have the last word .

And for all the other errors , i will only speak in the presence of my lawyer !

 

[It's Kev]

Not starting out earlier, not collecting more native trees/seeds before moving to another continent, and I wouldn’t give away trees to people who would let them dry out immediately after

 

[Potawatomi13]

Hear Hear! I too learned about JBP the hard way.

Another mistake was thinking I needed akadama.

Hear, Hear!

 

[jonathanvperth]

Probably over fertilising one summer and lost about 5 pre bonsais

Also not pushing trees hard enough, essentially losing development time- letting trees sit idle instead of pushing into a direction

 

[Bayard]

Now I´m a beginner so I will make more misstakes even after reading about your misstakes..

One misstake that I´m aware of is that I´m so eager that I fail to visualise over how the tree will be in in the future. It´s more "Oh, a tree. I want it" instead of thinking "Does this have any potential as a future bonsai?

Second misstake is doing things not knowing why I´m doing them. Listen to advice is good and all, but if you don´t understand the advice..

 

[Anthony]

No regrets
K. was teenager [ 17 or so ] A. didn't do until early 20's.

 

[MHBonsai]

Working on unhealthy trees. Or rather, overworking trees until they had nothing left in the tank.

I wish I'd figured out "leaving it alone for two years to recover" really meant LEAVE IT ALONE.

 

[sorce]

Thanks for sharing that @vancehanna , that's a tough one.

Sorce

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Doing the right things at the wrong time on the trees it was never intended for.

 

[AZbonsai]

Buying an unhealthy tree that I thought I could bring back. Good money for bad!

 

[leatherback]

Telling my wife in which part of the yard my hobby would stay. You always need more benches!

In general.. Being impatient. It is NEVER faster to not wait.

 

[Wilson]

Leaving trees on the benches too early in spring, and having cold drowned trees. Lost a couple trees with that approach.

 

[ponderingsage]

Moving a bunch. Lost trees from Portland Or, to LAX, and then to Boise ID. Have done much rebuilding over the past 2yrs

 

[Mikecheck123]

Well lately it was reading the "Is nothing safe" thread!

Previously it was taking a beautiful tree from the wilderness and killing it buy being unprepared, impatient and overenthusiastic.
By all means "Hunt the tree" but treat it with respect and care. Do it right or don't do it.

Amen. I still have PTSD over an absolutely unique specimen that I butchered when I didn't know what I was doing.

 

[Silentrunning]

Thinking that every stick and pre-bonsai had to go in a bonsai pot. I could have saved a lot of money and bought some quality trees if I hadn’t been so pot-phobic.

 

[Arizona bonsai]

I’m new here but have been interested in bonsai for a long time. For me is was not starting bonsai earlier. I now have a few years under my belt & love this art.
It is a little difficult keeping them alive in our Phoenix summers but still very enjoyable.