Growing Bonsai from nursery stocks

[Antrox]

Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum.
I have bought my first bonsai, a portulacaria afra which you can seen on my avatar.
I am not sure if I am interested on the bonsai as art but I like the horticulture approach to it. Therefore, I decided to purchase some young saplings from a garden nursery. I have attached some pics that I purchased in the last couple of months:

I have 1 Common Oak, 1 Scots Pine, 4 Field Maples. The oak and the pine have been planted in September while the maples just yesterday.
The oak came already affected by powdery mildew that I am trying to treat with DIY solutions. Surprisingly in the last month it grew quite a lot and developed a new shoot as well. The pine seems unchanged with some long needles at the bottom turning yellow and shade.
Could you please have a look at the pictures to tell me if you can spot any major problems?
Also I would like to know how to plan the following two years.
I would avoid root pruning and transplanting but I think I need to cut back the main truck to a third of the final desired height, just above a node, in early spring. Is that correct?
Also, to train the truck, when I can start wiring it? From now on or I have to wait more years?
Thank you

P.S.
in different forums I have many comments such "wait 20 years". I do not believe that let them grow for 20years without doing nothing will turn them into bonsai.

 

[BobbyLane]

Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum.
I have bought my first bonsai, a portulacaria afra which you can seen on my avatar.
I am not sure if I am interested on the bonsai as art but I like the horticulture approach to it. Therefore, I decided to purchase some young saplings from a garden nursery. I have attached some pics that I purchased in the last couple of months:

View attachment 266466

View attachment 266467

View attachment 266468

View attachment 266469

I have 1 Common Oak, 1 Scots Pine, 4 Field Maples. The oak and the pine have been planted in September while the maples just yesterday.
The oak came already affected by powdery mildew that I am trying to treat with DIY solutions. Surprisingly in the last month it grew quite a lot and developed a new shoot as well. The pine seems unchanged with some long needles at the bottom turning yellow and shade.
Could you please have a look at the pictures to tell me if you can spot any major problems?
Also I would like to know how to plan the following two years.
I would avoid root pruning and transplanting but I think I need to cut back the main truck to a third of the final desired height, just above a node, in early spring. Is that correct?
Also, to train the truck, when I can start wiring it? From now on or I have to wait more years?
Thank you

P.S.
in different forums I have many comments such "wait 20 years". I do not believe that let them grow for 20years without doing nothing will turn them into bonsai.

building a good sized trunk will take many years of growing out unchecked and then cutting back to a desirable shoot on the trunk. the process is explained here

Articles – Bonsai4Me

bonsai4me.com

but the trunks youre beginning with are very spindly.....
to think that this was was grown from a mame sized stick over a 32 year period, half in a container and half in the ground. not by me by someone else...sort of gives you an idea of what youre up against when you start with very young material
20190203_170507 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

oaks are notorious slow growers, ever had an acorn sprout up in your garden and see how slow it takes thicken up?

Field maple on the other hand grow rapidly

this is a field maple progression over roughly a 3 year period, i usually let it go all season and make cut backs at leaf drop
2017-08-22_06-46-39 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180222_131110 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180930_132007 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20181207_161948 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

ill be updating the thread for that tree in a few weeks, so look out for it, its much chunkier now

if it was me, i would put your young uns in a grow bed and let em romp away for a full season then have a look again at leaf drop. in the mean time i would go out and get some thicker trunks.

i mean, you could pick up a beech trunk like this for £25 quid from a tree nursery, maybe a little more at a garden centre, have to shop around and research a bit though.

2017-01-31_07-41-37 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

this hornbeam only cost me £8
20180206_211334 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_6482 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[Antrox]

Thanks Bobby for your reply. You have a nice collection of chunky trees from which obtaining good bonsai.
Yes, I like to take care of various stages of development from seed to more mature tree, so I am purchasing trees and bonsai with different ages. I will follow your advice to buy an older tree like the hornbeam you showed me.
I had a look at the linked you posted. The author's method was to let the tree grow in the field until the trunk reaches the right diameter.
I wonder if this is the only method in bonsai since it seems that bonsay nurseries leave the tree always in their pots (maybe large or buckets before becoming a pre-bonsai).

 

[BobbyLane]

well sure, if you dont have ground access you can always use training pots as so many do. obviously ground growing usually leads to faster trunk thickening.