2025 Contest

[Aaron the Great]

Shall I go ahead and start the 2025 - Infinity Celtis Contest in the contest section to make it official?

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Scored Progression - Celtis Genus:

Score Progression General Purpose
Instead of independent progression threads with a common theme with no competitive underpinning, a "Scored Progression" aims to create equal competition amongst all contestants with no start or end limitation/date. Instead, by scoring an entrant's progress annually, a matrix can be generated to show a "Leaderboard" by age of the progression. This allows new entries to the scored progression at any time, based on set starting criteria and everyone's progress can be scored annually and ranked against previous entries from prior years. It is both a personal contest to push oneself for the best annual scoring as well as a group contest for the most points long term. It also creates a repository of specific knowledge in one place related to a common theme with some objectivite results-based support for method and technique.

Starting Criteria:

1. Trees must be within the Celtis Genus and grown / started from seed.
2. Each tree must have it's own progression thread by the end of year one.
   1. You need to share all of your information - including where you sourced your seeds, and all the steps you used to get them to germinate, as well as post germination care.
   2. Since I assume people will be growing more than one tree, it is ok if early photos show numerous trees in early development (i.e. flats full of seedlings).
   3. Trees and threads are to be numbered as follows: USERNAME - TAXONOMICAL NAME - # (with no tree of the same Taxonomical name having the same number)
3. At the minimum you need to post one photo per year showing general progress in your progression thread however photos of work throughout the seasons is best, to show a true progression and aid everyone in determining "best practices".
4. Each year, a dedicated thread by the contest moderator will be opened for a final annual photo submission of each tree's progress.
   1. Ex: "Year 1 - Celtis Scored Progressions", "Year 2 - Celtis Scored Progressions", Etc... ad infinitum....
5. Each tree entry each year will be scored by all other contestants including new trees submitted in the appropriate year threads. Each year, the scores will be updated to reflect both new entries and previous entries and where each tree scores.

There is no end date, each year older and older tree's accumulated scores increase allowing for movement in the rankings by year, while new entries keep everything fresh and interesting for trees of all ages. Those who lose trees, can start again with new entries and try to best their previous results as well as others results.

Scoring:

Thinking of a scale of 1 - 10 for categories such as Root Structure, Nebari, Trunk, Health, Style, Features, Pot, Display, etc... Would love to get other's input on categories.

Scores would be added up and then averaged for a final score. Each year, a tree's previous total would be ADDED to that year's average for a new total and ranking.

Example: Year 1: A tree may get a score of:

ENTRY	ROOTS	NEBARI	TRUNK	HEALTH	PROGRESS	POT	DISPLAY	ANNUAL FINAL SCORE
Orion's Celtis Occidentalis #1	7	5	8	6	7	3	2	5.42

Year 2:

ENTRY	ROOTS	NEBARI	TRUNK	HEALTH	PROGRESS	POT	DISPLAY	ANNUAL FINAL SCORE	PREVIOUS FINAL SCORE	FINAL SCORE
Orion's Celtis Occidentalis #1	7	6	8	7	7	4	4	6.14	5.42	11.56

And so, this would go on year after year. With each tree entered or added based on the age of the tree and new entries in each age/year judged and placed in the ranking.

Awards:

Awards/prizes will be issued every 5 years, to the top ranked tree in years 5, 7,10, and 5yr intervals thereafter so long as the top tree is different than the previous award period's tree. [/QUOTE]

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Shall I go ahead and start the 2025 - Infinity Celtis Contest in the contest section to make it official?

If we like the above rules, I can ask @Bonsai Nut to open the contest thread and assign me moderator. Otherwise, someone else needs to propose contest rules and moderate.

 

[Aaron the Great]

If we like the above rules, I can ask @Bonsai Nut to open the contest thread and assign me moderator. Otherwise, someone else needs to propose contest rules and moderate.

I agree to the rules

 

[rutulus]

Sounds fun. I’m in.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I have access to craft coffee from Trailhead Coffee Roasters that I could donate as a prize. International shipping would be cost prohibitive. I think I could supply up to ~5lbs of beans.

Not everyone is a caffeine user or coffee drinker, though. That said, our decaf is awesome!

I definitely enjoy a good cuppa Joe. I actually use coarse-brewed grounds to carbonize in a good campfire to incorporate into bonsai mix. It seems to help hold water in my dry climate. I'm not sure how to verify this, but I think it may also help to offset the alkalinity of our water here.
I'm not sure I have anything to offer other than I can collect local seeds.

 

[DonielDoom]

I like and agree with the rules. Thanks all for the efforts to keep it simple and accessible.

I'm likely to start both Celtis reticulata and occidentalis. Reticulata is native to parts of Oregon.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Ill start a formal thread tonight!

 

[DeepSouth]

I would love to see another native tree yamadori contest. The current ones are a bit too late to join.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

@DeepSouth, this is exactly why I am structuring the new contest the way I am!

It allows any person to join in a contest at any time and be judged based on the tree's individual progression by age compared to all other trees in the contest at that same age.

 

[Gabler]

I would love to see another native tree yamadori contest. The current ones are a bit too late to join.

This is the last year for the native tree, native pot challenge, so it would make a certain amount of sense to start another one next year.

 

[KateM]

Checked my hackberry and there were very few drupes left. I think birds got the most and best of them. Only two that I can reach. Wonder if they are viable. Will put them in a baggie to see if they sprout. Should have enough stratification...
View attachment 580549

So far they float on water, probably duds...

 

[DeepSouth]

This is the last year for the native tree, native pot challenge, so it would make a certain amount of sense to start another one next year.

That would be awesome. A focus on yamadori could be interesting too. The current one doesn't impose restrictions on how the tree was started, as I understand it.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

So far they float on water, probably duds...

This might explain why the birds left them alone. They know which ones have nutrition.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

FYI, I'm working on the formal contest thread for the Celtis contest.

 

[Charlo]

I still like @Gabler 's suggestion for a  Celtis from seed contest. But if not, I'll toss out my second choice. Edible and/or medicinal bonsai. Why not get healthy while practicing our craft, and learn something new while we're at it? I've never seen or heard of a Cinnamomum bonsai, but it might be fun to try.

Pomegranates probably grow well in your area. Look nice and are edible.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

Pomegranates probably grow well in your area. Look nice and are edible.

Yes, they grow all over around here, a lot from volunteer. Definitely going to give it a shot.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Thread 'The Celtis (Hackberry) Scored Progression Contest'

Jan 20, 2025

Scored Progression - Celtis Genus:



Scored Progression - Contest Background & Intent
Any user of Bonsai Nut undoubtedly is familiar with what is arguably the forum's most important and useful all-around genre of thread: the Progression Thread. Simply put, a progression thread is a single long-lived and continually updated thread documenting the progress of a single tree over a long course of time. Naturally, this results in a vast quantity of progression threads for similar species. The educational and informational value of these threads...

• Orion_metalhead
• Replies: 33
• Forum: The 2025 Celtis (Hackberry) Contest

• 

@Bonsai Nut - no idea if I made this correctly, but PM me if not.

 

[leatherback]

have fun. I'm not doing another from seed

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I was thinking of allowing cuttings or air layers so long as the age of the stock was known, but I'd like to see a few years of seedling development first before allowing other propagation techniques.