Ground Growing vs. Colanders

[dbonsaiw]

Found it on Amazon. I believe the brand is Calibonsai. Here's the link:

Amazon.com : 2 x Black Plastic Tray for Propagation, Bonsai Forest/Group Planting 15"x 12"x 3" : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : 2 x Black Plastic Tray for Propagation, Bonsai Forest/Group Planting 15"x 12"x 3" : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

 

[Bonsaiforlife]

Trying to parse the various opinions into the appropriate contexts in which they were presented. Assuming that ground growing is not an option, but one is not necessarily limited by space, is there a consensus on how to get a young bonsai started? Not so totally hypothetical, a newbie orders some starter trees online from Valavanis and can't plant in the ground. The goal is to start developing good nebari even at the expense of above ground growth. Should the tree be left in the container it comes in for now? Should it be re-planted in a small container (bonsai soil) in an attempt to encourage feeder root growth and up-potted as the years go by? Plant in a large box to allow the roots to run and they will ramify by themselves in the bonsai soil? I was simply going to build 10X10X3.5" grow boxes, but after reading through this thread, I'm not sure if it isn't a better idea to start with a smaller pot.

I opted for these - 15X12X3" propagation trays.

I like trays for starting young trees. You can put 9 seedlings in those trays you bought and trim their roots before potting them up, and put them on a tile in the tray too. I like to put these trays on the ground so the roots can escape and help the trees grow faster. After and year or two so you can pull them up and work their roots again and either put them back in the tray for a few more years or pot them up into their own container depending on how well they are doing. Young trees take a long time to make into bonsai and you want good roots, good nebari, good trunk, and good branching, all which you get by working the tree, but each time you do you slow them down, and you need to let the tree grow to get girth and taper, its all a fine balancing act that you always are learning from. Growing in the ground or on the ground so roots can escape can speed up the process quite a bit and allow you to work the tree more often than if it was just in a pot on a bench. Also the stronger a tree is the healthier it is and will resist disease and bugs more. There is no just one "right" way, it changes for everyone depending on weather, sun/shade, soil comp, species, and many more Im sure, just gotta find a way that works well for you. Try something and take notes. If it works well over another way then do that.

Good Luck,

Ed

 

[River's Edge]

I like trays for starting young trees. You can put 9 seedlings in those trays you bought and trim their roots before potting them up, and put them on a tile in the tray too. I like to put these trays on the ground so the roots can escape and help the trees grow faster. After and year or two so you can pull them up and work their roots again and either put them back in the tray for a few more years or pot them up into their own container depending on how well they are doing. Young trees take a long time to make into bonsai and you want good roots, good nebari, good trunk, and good branching, all which you get by working the tree, but each time you do you slow them down, and you need to let the tree grow to get girth and taper, its all a fine balancing act that you always are learning from. Growing in the ground or on the ground so roots can escape can speed up the process quite a bit and allow you to work the tree more often than if it was just in a pot on a bench. Also the stronger a tree is the healthier it is and will resist disease and bugs more. There is no just one "right" way, it changes for everyone depending on weather, sun/shade, soil comp, species, and many more Im sure, just gotta find a way that works well for you. Try something and take notes. If it works well over another way then do that.

Good Luck,

Ed

Agreed,

 

[Bonsaiforlife]

Agreed, View attachment 423402View attachment 423403

Are these black pines all grown in containers or have they spent anytime in the ground. I see these ones are sitting right on the ground and after looking at your website I see you have some sitting on landscape fabric. Do you find the ones on the fabric still have escape roots? Do you find the trees to keep quite a bit of fine roots in the flat even after having escape roots? I have all mine in the ground in bags, so I may try growing a few in andersons on top of the soil. Thanks for sharing.

Ed

 

[dbonsaiw]

Agreed,

LOL. My wife's jaw dropped when we started to receive our new pots in the mail. She thought I ordered a lot (it was a dozen). I just showed her your pic of the trays in front of your garage. Now she believes I'm (somewhat) sane again. Or at least there are much more insane here than I.

 

[River's Edge]

Are these black pines all grown in containers or have they spent anytime in the ground. I see these ones are sitting right on the ground and after looking at your website I see you have some sitting on landscape fabric. Do you find the ones on the fabric still have escape roots? Do you find the trees to keep quite a bit of fine roots in the flat even after having escape roots? I have all mine in the ground in bags, so I may try growing a few in andersons on top of the soil. Thanks for sharing.

Ed

They all escape, even on top of 1 1/2 inch gravel over the landscape fabric. They run underneath and require trimming and combing out the rocks if you want to move the flat or rotate every few months. Their is always a lot of fine roots within the container, the trees do not skip a beat after trimming the escape roots.
However I do keep the trimming up, at least once per year, often twice.

 

[River's Edge]

LOL. My wife's jaw dropped when we started to receive our new pots in the mail. She thought I ordered a lot (it was a dozen). I just showed her your pic of the trays in front of your garage. Now she believes I'm (somewhat) sane again. Or at least there are much more insane here than I.

Everything is relative! If it helps your situation here goes.

 

[Slippery Pete]

Not sure where the 4" rule comes from? My experience is that most new roots come from up to 1/4" behind the pruned tip so to get a well ramified root system the colander really needs to be the same size as where you want the roots to start dividing and that would hardly seem conducive to good trunk growth IMHO.
I can achieve a similar result by root pruning at the appropriate spot and then plant into the ground where both roots and trunk will grow more rapidly than any colander.

Just my observations over 30 years of field growing trees for bonsai but obviously applicable to this region. Mileage may vary in other locations.

I believe the 4" rule is discussed by Dr. Carl Whitcomb in his book "Plant Production in Containers."