DavidBoren
Mame
So my daughter's grade school put on a little fair-type thing at the end of the school year, and one of the stations was earth science themed. This particular station gave her a pine tree starter... the kind with a wet paper towel and plastic baggie over the roots, whole thing was probobly close to 18" tall (including the roots). It had a tag that said what species of pine tree it is supposed to be, but I didn't pay attention to it.
I just grabbed some random old copper pot which had a dead houseplant in it, and repuposed it for this pine tree. The pot wasn't even deep enough to bury the entire root stack, so it ended up with this column of roots/dirt sticking up about an inch above the surface. Once planted, it was about 13 inches tall (above ground)... the pot is maybe 6 inches tall, probably 5 across.
He has since grown several inches, and several new branches. I say "he" because my daughter decided her tree is male. I asked her if she wanted her tree to be a boy or girl. I also asked her if she wants a circle or square pot when we repot her tree. She said square, without knowing anything about male trees being commonly paired with square pots. I was later searching for pictures of pine bonsai to show her, and she stopped me to point at a cascade style pine.
Studying cascade bonsai, I came across someone growing an upside-down black pine... the tree came out of a hole in the bottom of the tray, and was wired to come around between the feet/grow up the side of the tray. This allows the tree to grow upwards like it wants to, but develops a 180° curve in the base of the trunk. After it grows this way for a while, it can be repotted upside-right/normally in a tray, and will curve over the side naturally. This approach, I feel, is better than fighting gravity trying to wire the tree down over the side.
Regardless, we will not be repotting this tree from its current pot until next spring. Here are some pictures I took tonight:
I just grabbed some random old copper pot which had a dead houseplant in it, and repuposed it for this pine tree. The pot wasn't even deep enough to bury the entire root stack, so it ended up with this column of roots/dirt sticking up about an inch above the surface. Once planted, it was about 13 inches tall (above ground)... the pot is maybe 6 inches tall, probably 5 across.
He has since grown several inches, and several new branches. I say "he" because my daughter decided her tree is male. I asked her if she wanted her tree to be a boy or girl. I also asked her if she wants a circle or square pot when we repot her tree. She said square, without knowing anything about male trees being commonly paired with square pots. I was later searching for pictures of pine bonsai to show her, and she stopped me to point at a cascade style pine.
Studying cascade bonsai, I came across someone growing an upside-down black pine... the tree came out of a hole in the bottom of the tray, and was wired to come around between the feet/grow up the side of the tray. This allows the tree to grow upwards like it wants to, but develops a 180° curve in the base of the trunk. After it grows this way for a while, it can be repotted upside-right/normally in a tray, and will curve over the side naturally. This approach, I feel, is better than fighting gravity trying to wire the tree down over the side.
Regardless, we will not be repotting this tree from its current pot until next spring. Here are some pictures I took tonight:
. Also needs to live outside 365 days a year for best health to prevail. And since a local why not attach self to Portland Bonsai society where masters and many hobbyists will be of better help then here?
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