New with many questions

Luckily just about everything I want to start with is used as landscaping around town(or naturally growing), so I know it'll at least survive in the ground.

How do you guys care for these plants when you're on vacation or out of town for a few days? The shallow roots and pots combined with well draining soil has me worried these will require constant attention I can't always provide.
You have to think of bonsai like dogs. They can't go very long without care (except in winter when temperate species are pretty much hands off for months if you've stored them correctly) In active growing season, however, daily care is required. Vacations can be tricky and more than one bonsaiist has lost trees to time away.

Watering is the primary issue, It can be done automatically (which can fail electronically or mechanically) or by someone you know and trust (who can also fail out of ignorance or oversight or improper technique). It's a hassle, but it can be done.

Best advice is to slow down a little. The faster you move at first the more failure you will have (which is not necessarily a bad thing if you learn from the failure). For now, I'd skip the collection of trees. It is a separate thing really that requires a different informed set of skills if you do it successfully.

If I were you, I would get an actual bonsai (doesn't have to be hugely expensive) an actual bonsai will teach you how to care for trees in containers. If you start with "outdoor" species, any elm is going to work better at first than Japanese Maples (which can be a little touchy with watering). "Indoor" species like ficus will let you scratch the bonsai itch all year since they will be inside in winter.
 
dogs communicate in a more obvious way, but yeah, i like "pet-tree" idea ;)
 
You have to think of bonsai like dogs. They can't go very long without care (except in winter when temperate species are pretty much hands off for months if you've stored them correctly) In active growing season, however, daily care is required. Vacations can be tricky and more than one bonsaiist has lost trees to time away.

Watering is the primary issue, It can be done automatically (which can fail electronically or mechanically) or by someone you know and trust (who can also fail out of ignorance or oversight or improper technique). It's a hassle, but it can be done.

Best advice is to slow down a little. The faster you move at first the more failure you will have (which is not necessarily a bad thing if you learn from the failure). For now, I'd skip the collection of trees. It is a separate thing really that requires a different informed set of skills if you do it successfully.

If I were you, I would get an actual bonsai (doesn't have to be hugely expensive) an actual bonsai will teach you how to care for trees in containers. If you start with "outdoor" species, any elm is going to work better at first than Japanese Maples (which can be a little touchy with watering). "Indoor" species like ficus will let you scratch the bonsai itch all year since they will be inside in winter.
If they all need daily care I'm destined to fail. I can get someone to take care of them while on vacations, but I frequently leave for 2-3 days.

It's hard not to move fast for the initial stages of getting set up, considering a good bonsai could take the rest of my life to accomplish if I started right now and already knew what I was doing.


I like the idea of tending to something that's more or less finished. That way if I kill it, at least it's just some dollars instead of years and years of work and patience. If I get a ficus (or any other tree) how much does the care transfer from species to species? From my reading it sounds like a lot of it is pretty different.


Outside of finding someone local, is there an online vendor someone can recommend for a starter tree? Will a window work for a ficus or will I also need an expensive grow light, ventilation system, etc? My reptile room will probably hold the right temps but the air can be pretty stale.
 
One other concern about my new maple. It looks pretty root bound. I know I shouldn't do anything drastic until spring, but before sticking the pot in the ground and winterizing it, should I at least put it in a a bigger pot?


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note your maple is grafted. So no rootwork done this year. Get your feet wet airlayering in spring. Also, you want as much foliage as you can get above the layer site, so no pruning either.
Sorry :)
 
I’d leave it alone until spring. With katsura specifically, you’re gonna want to keep a close eye out for spring frost bc Katsura leafs out pretty early. If buds have popped and the temps are going to drop below freezing, bring it in. Freezing temps when it has leaves will do damage.

Once you get through spring leaf out, I’d probably look into air/ground layering it to get rid of the graft.
 
note your maple is grafted. So no rootwork done this year. Get your feet wet airlayering in spring. Also, you want as much foliage as you can get above the layer site, so no pruning either.
Sorry :)
Oh...Is that bad? Haha thanks for letting me know.
 
If they all need daily care I'm destined to fail. I can get someone to take care of them while on vacations, but I frequently leave for 2-3 days.

It's hard not to move fast for the initial stages of getting set up, considering a good bonsai could take the rest of my life to accomplish if I started right now and already knew what I was doing.


I like the idea of tending to something that's more or less finished. That way if I kill it, at least it's just some dollars instead of years and years of work and patience. If I get a ficus (or any other tree) how much does the care transfer from species to species? From my reading it sounds like a lot of it is pretty different.


Outside of finding someone local, is there an online vendor someone can recommend for a starter tree? Will a window work for a ficus or will I also need an expensive grow light, ventilation system, etc? My reptile room will probably hold the right temps but the air can be pretty stale.
Brussels bonsai and Wigerts for ficus. They have starter through $25000 finished trees. Wigerts sells on FB auctions and through their website. A phone call will probably get you a decent starter tree hand selected.

As for transferring care from tropical indoor to temperate much of it is the same. Only with tropicals the timeline is accelerated. Timing on root work is summer not spring for tropicals. Supplemental lighting is best but if you have reptiles you may already have that

It may not be hard not to move fast in the beginning for you but the trees you have won’t follow you. They will do what they will.

And they do need daily care. Reliable daily care. If you can’t provide it find another hobby until you can. That the cold hard truth. Bonsai are living things that require things to live. They are a responsibility just as a dog cat or horse is

At this point you don’t know what you don’t know. I’d get a decent starter ficus and see how it goes for a year or two. You will either become more enthusiastic about bonsai or resent it or conclude it’s not for you right now.

I began bonsai when I was about 30 and have been doing it for going on three and a half decades when I got a house and room to grow trees. I still have trees from back then that have developed over the years. I have also taken only a handful of vacations in The spring and summer. I tend to get away in the fall and winter when the trees are dormant. Trees didn’t adapt to me. I adapted to them.
 
If they all need daily care I'm destined to fail. I can get someone to take care of them while on vacations, but I frequently leave for 2-3 days.

It's hard not to move fast for the initial stages of getting set up, considering a good bonsai could take the rest of my life to accomplish if I started right now and already knew what I was doing.


I like the idea of tending to something that's more or less finished. That way if I kill it, at least it's just some dollars instead of years and years of work and patience. If I get a ficus (or any other tree) how much does the care transfer from species to species? From my reading it sounds like a lot of it is pretty different.


Outside of finding someone local, is there an online vendor someone can recommend for a starter tree? Will a window work for a ficus or will I also need an expensive grow light, ventilation system, etc? My reptile room will probably hold the right temps but the air can be pretty stale.
If you're away frequently you could set up automatic watering systems, they'll require daily watering in summer at least. As far as rushing into set up, getting informed is the first step towards building a great bonsai. Rushing in will only lead to poor decisions and eventual regret down the road when you learn what you could've and should've done differently. That's just my philosophy though, some may say to try and fail and learn from those mistakes. Ficus would be fine indoors by a bright window over winter, but won't grow much until the temperatures warm up and it's outdoors.

As far as buying online, you could look at Wigert's Bonsai or Brussels Bonsai. Evergreen Gardenworks is great for pre-bonsai material if you're looking for a longer term project and many people here love them.
 
I’d leave it alone until spring. With katsura specifically, you’re gonna want to keep a close eye out for spring frost bc Katsura leafs out pretty early. If buds have popped and the temps are going to drop below freezing, bring it in. Freezing temps when it has leaves will do damage.

Once you get through spring leaf out, I’d probably look into air/ground layering it to get rid of the graft.
So if I understand, once it starts getting spring growth I need to dig it up and bring it in if it's going to drop below freezing again. I appreciate you letting me know, because that is VERY common here. The first year I moved here I replanted my garden 3 times because of surprise spring frosts that killed my plants.
 
And they do need daily care. Reliable daily care. If you can’t provide it find another hobby until you can. That the cold hard truth. Bonsai are living things that require things to live. They are a responsibility just as a dog cat or horse is
That's unfortunate and I guess I'll find out. I may never get to that point... It sounds like more of a responsibility than a pet. Even my dogs are ok for 3 days while I'm gone. I can't imagine not going out for overnight exploration trips and playing out in the mountains until I'm physically unable to do so. Are they that temperamental, where if they use up all there water and are dry for a couple days that it's unlikely to save them?
 
yes.

48 hours without watering in summer in my garden is a sure way to reduce the size of my collection.
At this point I'm honestly surprised the mature tree I had 15 years ago even made it as long as it did. Or maybe I hit that point of no return right away and it just took a month for it to turn brown and obviously die.
 
So if I understand, once it starts getting spring growth I need to dig it up and bring it in if it's going to drop below freezing again. I appreciate you letting me know, because that is VERY common here. The first year I moved here I replanted my garden 3 times because of surprise spring frosts that killed my plants.
find info about overwintering desired tree species in your climate
Will a window work for a ficus
Should, ficus is most common house plant in Poland growed indoor but rather as plant, not bonsai
Also you always can start some lemon from seed - in few years u will have something resembling a tree
 
find info about overwintering desired tree species in your climate

Should, ficus is most common house plant in Poland growed indoor but rather as plant, not bonsai
Also you always can start some lemon from seed - in few years u will have something resembling a tree
Great. I appreciate the help from everyone. I just ordered this ficus from Brussels.

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Best of luck! Ficus grow quick, so you'll get a lot of opportunities to practice pruning with them. They're also a bit more tolerant of poor watering in my experience, just don't let it dry out fully.
 
Now its time to put 'ficus' in search box and learn about your new pet-tree ;)
 
Now its time to put 'ficus' in search box and learn about your new pet-tree ;)
Sure is! That was great advice. Now I have something to practice on while slowing down on the longer ones.

Maybe now I'll just plant this maple in the ground to grow it out for the next year or so while developing a longer term plan.
 
That's unfortunate and I guess I'll find out. I may never get to that point... It sounds like more of a responsibility than a pet. Even my dogs are ok for 3 days while I'm gone. I can't imagine not going out for overnight exploration trips and playing out in the mountains until I'm physically unable to do so. Are they that temperamental, where if they use up all there water and are dry for a couple days that it's unlikely to save them?
More responsibility than a pet? Well yeah, living things that you take under your care are responsibilities. Guess you don’t have kids. They’re worse than bonsai. Can’t leave them alone or they’ll burn the house down.

Seriously bonsai is easier when you’re settled a bit with a house of your own and older kids.
 
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