Caught a bonsai bug, went crazy the end of this summer. New to forum!

[toadmyster223]

I have always admired bonsai and have had Indoor Bonsai by Paul Lesniewicz for a long time, and finally broke down and started trying to grow something. I had a summer job landscaping, and found quite a few neat little specimens at work.

Nothing is truly a bonsai yet. Still in big pots, still been getting my grow area fine tuned and so forth. Might get another light.

I started out with a little silk tree (mimosa) sapling that died, and have been trying to germ a seed but haven't found a good one yet. My best piece just started growing new leaves for me today for the first time since i ripped it out of someones flower bed and hacked it down to stubs. It's a lantana. It's got reeeeaaallly cool roots going on. I put it in this silly chicken-n-chicks pot because I think with its long crazy viney roots, I can get it to throw more trees from the holes in the side of the pot. It wouldn't be a true small-pot bonsai, but it might end up looking really cool. If not I can always break the pot and cut things apart. Added some moss to help with humidity.





I trimmed it down, and will probably one day clip that other big main branch off too and go for a completely different style. I think its already too big, I want the roots to seem bigger.

Here are all the pieces I clipped off, shaved and clone powdered, gonna see if I can't make some neat little miniatures to give to girls when they flower. Some of them are starting to grow leaves as well. Also in the pot are 3 hemlock (I think?) seedlings and 2 sage roots that I powdered up to see what would happen.



This is my least likely to succeed venture, a Tulip Poplar sapling. It looked downright cute when I found it, but those cute little leaves fell off. I think it finally has a tight grip on this dirt it is though, and is gonna haul off and grow soon. I don't know what the succulent things are, I brought a bunch home from work in my pocket one day. They're neat and don't seem to be hurting anything.



Here are an Azalea clipping and some kind of little ornamental seedling I found growing outside my own house, as yet unidentified- help me out, I also have a taller one that I'm trying to ghetto-rig air separate some new roots onto. Can't find any peat moss this time of year so I'm just using a scrap of t-shirt kept moist.






And here's where the magic is happening.... Built around a vent in my apartment, rigged up with humidity devices. Usually between 74 and 84 degrees! I'm pretty pleased with this mess now, but it's doomed to expand



I could look at pictures of trees for hours! Happy to be here.

 

[RECLAIMEDBARNWOOD]

Welcome to b-nut. Everyone's going to ask you to update your info with the zone your in. I think some of these trees need to be dorment during winter which means they will be better in the garage or shed or outside in a mulch bed. Might want to get them used to cooler temps slowly from the heat box instead of moving them out right away though.

 

[toadmyster223]

Hmm. Can't I just trick them into thinking they've moved into a magical land where its always summer time? Haha. I live in Pennsylvania, it is rather wintery, I live in an apartment, and don't really have either of those options unfortunately

 

[RECLAIMEDBARNWOOD]

If you have a balcony you can do something out there or friends or family might keep them for you.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Welcome!


Unfortunately most of the species you have are outdoor trees, and won't do well without a dormancy period. They cannot be tricked into no dormancy period.

What kind of light do you have?

 

[toadmyster223]

A 4 foot 2 bulb rig with multispectrum tube lights i got off a guy that used to grow ganja with it

 

[edprocoat]

How did you find a Lantana that grew in a flower bed in Pennsylvania ? They are tropical, USDA zones 8-9 at best. That is a fairly old one judging by the trunk it has to be at least 5 years old or so. They die in the cold.

ed

 

[toadmyster223]

I dug it 30 minutes from here in Morgantown West Virgina. Tons of people plant them. We threw four or five others over the hill. Dunno what to tell you.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

These plants are good to practice on how to grow and keep things alive, but, as I said, they are not indoor trees. I wouldn't plan on doing any pruning to them for several years as they are too small for bonsai right now.

 

[toadmyster223]

Eh, I'm gonna see how perpetual summertime works for them. I have plenty of experience keeping things alive. I was hoping to maybe to some light wiring on this (alleged) Lantana in a year or so, that would satisfy me. The roots/trunk on it are so BA anything would be fine, it's a really cool plant. And from what I've seen, these things are as hardy as you common burning bush you find in the woods. Its a tough plant. The little stubs are really taking hold now, I bet I can make them into something cute in a year or less. The Hemlocks have neat forms, if they don't die from The Summer That Never Ends, they will end up really cool in 3-5 years. Definitely probably sellable. I've invested about 30 bucks so far, so even if every last one of these plants die, I'm still having fun.

I'm sure in the spring I'll end up with 15 or 30 more experiments anyway.


The Lantana is really exploding today. The new leaves look like lettuce. The moss in its pot is also looking really happy.


Can anyone tell me what the red leafed thing is?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Eh, I'm gonna see how perpetual summertime works for them. I have plenty of experience keeping things alive. I was hoping to maybe to some light wiring on this (alleged) Lantana in a year or so, that would satisfy me. The roots/trunk on it are so BA anything would be fine, it's a really cool plant. And from what I've seen, these things are as hardy as you common burning bush you find in the woods. Its a tough plant. The little stubs are really taking hold now, I bet I can make them into something cute in a year or less. The Hemlocks have neat forms, if they don't die from The Summer That Never Ends, they will end up really cool in 3-5 years. Definitely probably sellable. I've invested about 30 bucks so far, so even if every last one of these plants die, I'm still having fun.

I'm sure in the spring I'll end up with 15 or 30 more experiments anyway.


The Lantana is really exploding today. The new leaves look like lettuce. The moss in its pot is also looking really happy.


Can anyone tell me what the red leafed thing is?

As long as you are having fun, that's all that matters. But trust me, perpetual summer will not work with any plants. The ones you have now, except for the supposed Lantana, are supposed to be dormant right now and having their rest period. You may have experience keeping things alive, but this is a bit different.

 

[Adair M]

Toadmyster:

Think of "perpetual summer" this way: people need to sleep. Same with trees. They "sleep" in the winter. Otherwise, they burn out. Like people on Meth.

 

[macdad]

Welcome toadmyster223! I am new this year as well. I think this is a sickness At the risk of upsetting others, I will make the following comment... I have no experience with this, but you may be able to simulate a dormancy period by putting the plants someplace cold. Like the fridge. This may be a good solution if you only have a few small plants.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Welcome toadmyster223! I am new this year as well. I think this is a sickness At the risk of upsetting others, I will make the following comment... I have no experience with this, but you may be able to simulate a dormancy period by putting the plants someplace cold. Like the fridge. This may be a good solution if you only have a few small plants.

Unfortunately with the evergreens that he has, that isn't possible. The lack of light and dry conditions in a fridge would not allow the plants to survive.

 

[toadmyster223]

Maybe i'll try to keep them a little cooler and then see how adding a new light in the spring affects things. I figured such small saplings as i have would have just died outside anyway. I picked them very late.




Anyway, I am pretty sure, from past experience growing other things, that winter has more to do with the length of the day than anything else. I've taken this into account since I set the light up, so I think I might end up alright.

 

[toadmyster223]

Got some things happening. Always feels good to see my stuff growing.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Anyway, I am pretty sure, from past experience growing other things, that winter has more to do with the length of the day than anything else. I've taken this into account since I set the light up, so I think I might end up alright.

Gonna have to disagree with you there. I'd say it also has to do with temperatures. So it won't matter what your lights are set for, it'll still be too warm for things to go dormant.

 

[KennedyMarx]

I know what it's like to get excited and jump into bonsai while living in an apartment. After you are into bonsai for a minute you'll realize all of the rookie moves you make initially that people warn you against. A lot of us do it. That includes trying to keep evergreens and deciduous trees indoors. They will die without their dormancy from being outdoors in the winter. Maybe not immediately, but eventually they will. I haven't been at this for long, but I hope I can give you some tips to help avoid the mistakes I had starting out with no one around to guide me.

If you are going to be living in an apartment for the foreseeable future I would advise you to get plants that can be grown inside year round. This includes tropical and subtropical trees like ficus, fukien tea, umbrella plant, natal plum, serissa, etc. It's hard to find tropical plant material locally so I had to figure out where I could trust to order from online that wasn't a complete ripoff (I'm looking at you amazon.com and BonsaiBoy). I've had very good experiences from Meehan's and Wigert's.

http://meehansminiatures.com
http://wigertsbonsai.com

In the meantime I'd try to read as much as you can about bonsai. Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks as a bunch of good bonsai articles that are super useful: http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/articles.htm

Also a good youtube channel for ficus (and general bonsai stuff) is http://www.youtube.com/orlandobonsaitv.

Have fun and don't let the initial death of any of your trees get your too down. John Naka once said, "Killing trees is the tuition you pay for learning bonsai."

 

[toadmyster223]

Alright, well lets not focus only on the negative. My Lantana (right? It is growing a cluster of flowers...hmm) is thriving, as are 3 of the 4 nublits I planted. Both my sages are doing great so far. I'll try to conjure up something "correct" to do with it next winter, but for now, I'm gonna see if I can't just run this Poplar until then, because it's doing great. Same tactic for the hemlocks, until I can move them outside as well. If they die, my heart won't break. My air-separation is looking like fails-ville, but the sapling ( the mystery tree you haven't been able to help me identify) is doing great and the azalea is drawing nourishment and getting ready to root as well. I'm not losing anything by trying to get a good long season out of these things, and I'm certain the lantana will survive it.

 

[toadmyster223]

So, the Lantana, my boss confirmed, was planted in 2007 by none other than himself. They sell them at most greenhouses, and he says he has planted plenty. The winters didn't kill them. There is no denying what this plant is, down to the fragrance.

My buddy and I both think trees could live in a "long summer" of at least a year, probably 2. I should have an outdoor arrangement for them by then.