Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Yes it is now. It's in a 55 gal drum cutoff bottom filled with water above the soil.
Help me with a 7 year plan for a bonsai rookie
- Thread starter Cajunrider
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JoeH
Omono
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ok, it should help in development during the growing season.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Oh boy. My future just got tougher. The place I will move to has no yard. There's only a rooftop area on the 4th floor Philly that I can turn into a mini container garden. Oh well. There's gonna be a fire sale when I retire.
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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Man, if I had options, I’d move somewhere else... I’m gonna need a yard to putter around in if I’m ever able to retire.
namnhi
Masterpiece
WHAT?????
DID I miss something? I thought you have 6 acres in Louisiana.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
I do but the plan is to move in about 10 years to be with the grandkids.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
3rd Quarter Report
1. JM: The 3 saplings are growing well. MM gave me one more and I bought one that will be a yard tree as soon as I find a spot with enough shade to keep it alive. As of now it is in a big pot. It will be a few more years before I get anything worth putting in a bonsai pot. I'm contemplating buying a larger one.
2. BC: The big one in 55 gal cut off drum is growing well. I'll leave it alone for another 2 years. I now have 3 more in 55 gal cut off drum (1 is chopped as a remainder of an air layer, 1 is the collected air layer, the last one is being air layered). I also have 35 BCs planted in ground and about 50 seedlings in 16 oz cups. I will have my 36" flat top BC in 5 years or so.
3. Spondias dulcis is recovering from winter. No progress compared to 9 months ago.
4. 2 Ochna serrulatas growing OK. One will be trunk chopped and moved to a grow box soon. 1 Ochna intergerrima that is recovering from winter. It finally shows a few leaves.
5. Collected and gave away 2 pomegranates to gardening friends. The trunk fusing is progressing slow but is progressing.
6. 2 collected crepe myrtles are growing OK in pots. MM gave me a dwarf crepe myrtle.
7. One bougainvillea is growing slowly in pot. I expect it to explode this summer.
8. Japanese tulip magnolia is growing well in a large pot. It will be moved to a grow box in October.
9. 1 JBP growing well with double air layers to be collected late summer. 2 other JBP growing well in basket. I hope to have something worth training in 3-5 years. Now that I know how to take care of them, I'm planning to buy a more mature one to play with next year.
10. 3 Shimpakus growing well in baskets. I will move them to larger growing boxes next year. Similar to the JBP, I probably will buy a more mature one soon.
11. A whole bunch of azaleas from MMs.
12. 2 Rainbow eucalyptus 1 from seed and the other air layered from the original one. The larger one has 1.25" trunk. I think I'll move it to a pot in about 3 years. By that time, the trunk should have some light colors.
13. 2 collected live oaks, 1 collected Ilex vomitoria, 2 collected Virginia pines, 1 Tamarindo, 1 Barbados cherry, and a few collected Lantanas.
I think I've gotten a collection that I'm comfortable playing with. I think the learning stage for seedlings, air layering, and collecting is progressing well. Year two focus will be on wiring, training, pruning, and grafting.
Colorado
Masterpiece
JoeH
Omono
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no yard for the grandkids to play in?
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Unless mychildren move out to the country or suburbs, my grandchildren will have to be content with city parks.
substratum
Shohin
Unless mychildren move out to the country or suburbs, my grandchildren will have to be content with city parks.
I was going to ask the, "Why PA?" question, but that explains it.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
1 year report
1. JM: All died from salt spray from tropical storm following with high heat.
2. BC: All growing well. I have 50 BCs planted in the ground. Most are in permanent landscape location lining the driveway. About a dozen are in places that I can harvest should I decide to do so. The ones in cut-off 55 gal drums are growing but not as fast as I would like. I still think I'm on schedule to have my 36" flat top BC in 4 years or so.
3. Spondias dulcis is growing slow. It appears I don't know the right fertilizer for it.
4. 2 Ochna serrulatas growing OK. One will be trunk chopped and moved to a grow box soon. 1 Ochna intergerrima that is recovering from winter. It finally shows a few leaves. I expect to move them all to grow box in October.
5. I now have two pomegranates in the ground. The trunk fusing on the big one is progressing slow but is progressing.
6. All my crepe myrtles are growing OK but slow in pots. The dwarf crepe myrtle from MM survived the storm and is growing.
7. One bougainvillea is still growing slowly. It blossomed with a lot of flower early in the summer but recent incessant rain is taking a toll.
8. Japanese tulip magnolia is still growing well in a large pot. It will be moved to a grow box in October. I successfully air layered one branch and just put that in a pot last weekend.
9. 1 JBP growing well with double air layers to be collected late summer. 2 other JBP growing well in basket. I hope to have something worth training in 3-5 years. Now that I know how to take care of them, I'm planning to buy a more mature one to play with next year. I took a peek in the air layer and saw some roots but not a whole lot. Its it supposed to be this slow?
10. 3 Shimpakus growing well in baskets. I will move them to larger growing boxes next year. Similar to the JBP, I probably will buy a more mature one soon. The 3 I have will be in grow box this October when the second growing season comes. Same with the Cryptomeria I have. It is growing well and will be in a grow box soon.
11. All my azaleas from MMs died from the salt spray. It was devastating to me.
12. Rainbow eucalyptus grew like crazy. The one from seed is now 1 3/4" at the base and has shown some colors. I have 2 more from air-layers. They are growing well. I am planning to do 2 more air layers. Soon I will have quite a few Rainbow Eucalyptus.
13. 2 collected live oaks, and1 collected Ilex vomitoria are all growing well. I expect to move them to grow boxes this winter. 1 collected Virginia pine survives and is growing slow. 1 Tamarindo from seed is growing like crazy. It is 2ft tall with a 1" trunk. The Barbados cherry was growing slow so I moved it to a larger pot. The Lantanas continue to grow even though neglected. Once a month I just cut them back for ramification and that's about it.
My bonsai activities slow down to a schedule I can manage. I wish to do more but there just isn't time. On the other hand, my yard is now full of plants. I germinated 60 Medjool dates and have put 40 in the ground. My large bamboo clumps are throwing 2.5" shoots that I think will reach 16 ft by the time they are done. My 4 pear trees are primed to bear fruit next year. Oh I forgot, the yard has about 10 Chinese elms that are about 4ft tall as well. The 2 Montezuma cypress I have just started to grow as well. The 2 flaming maple I got on clearance grew well in the spring but withered in the heat. They are now ready to send out their second flush in the fall growing season. I also collected 4 live oaks and planted them in the yard. The 3 wisterias I have are growing OK. In a couple years I'll have to decide whether to dig them up and turn them into bonsai or leave them be. 2 or my 5 fig trees are growing well and bearing delicious fruits. The other 3 are just surviving. I suspect that the one that are growing well finally got their roots developed through the unforgiving clay. The others are still trying. I also got cucuza squash and okras from the garden. The 6 gac vines are growing OK but I don't expect to see gac fruit until next year at least. My lone young avocado tree has finally adapted to the full sun and is growing. For a while I thought it would die. My paw paw trees died from having too much sun. I have no place to keep them from the sun. I won't try growing them until I have some thing big enough to give them shade.
So that concludes my rookie bonsai year. Learned a lot, suffered some bitter defeats, and have become a better gardener to boot.
1. JM: All died from salt spray from tropical storm following with high heat.
2. BC: All growing well. I have 50 BCs planted in the ground. Most are in permanent landscape location lining the driveway. About a dozen are in places that I can harvest should I decide to do so. The ones in cut-off 55 gal drums are growing but not as fast as I would like. I still think I'm on schedule to have my 36" flat top BC in 4 years or so.
3. Spondias dulcis is growing slow. It appears I don't know the right fertilizer for it.
4. 2 Ochna serrulatas growing OK. One will be trunk chopped and moved to a grow box soon. 1 Ochna intergerrima that is recovering from winter. It finally shows a few leaves. I expect to move them all to grow box in October.
5. I now have two pomegranates in the ground. The trunk fusing on the big one is progressing slow but is progressing.
6. All my crepe myrtles are growing OK but slow in pots. The dwarf crepe myrtle from MM survived the storm and is growing.
7. One bougainvillea is still growing slowly. It blossomed with a lot of flower early in the summer but recent incessant rain is taking a toll.
8. Japanese tulip magnolia is still growing well in a large pot. It will be moved to a grow box in October. I successfully air layered one branch and just put that in a pot last weekend.
9. 1 JBP growing well with double air layers to be collected late summer. 2 other JBP growing well in basket. I hope to have something worth training in 3-5 years. Now that I know how to take care of them, I'm planning to buy a more mature one to play with next year. I took a peek in the air layer and saw some roots but not a whole lot. Its it supposed to be this slow?
10. 3 Shimpakus growing well in baskets. I will move them to larger growing boxes next year. Similar to the JBP, I probably will buy a more mature one soon. The 3 I have will be in grow box this October when the second growing season comes. Same with the Cryptomeria I have. It is growing well and will be in a grow box soon.
11. All my azaleas from MMs died from the salt spray. It was devastating to me.
12. Rainbow eucalyptus grew like crazy. The one from seed is now 1 3/4" at the base and has shown some colors. I have 2 more from air-layers. They are growing well. I am planning to do 2 more air layers. Soon I will have quite a few Rainbow Eucalyptus.
13. 2 collected live oaks, and1 collected Ilex vomitoria are all growing well. I expect to move them to grow boxes this winter. 1 collected Virginia pine survives and is growing slow. 1 Tamarindo from seed is growing like crazy. It is 2ft tall with a 1" trunk. The Barbados cherry was growing slow so I moved it to a larger pot. The Lantanas continue to grow even though neglected. Once a month I just cut them back for ramification and that's about it.
My bonsai activities slow down to a schedule I can manage. I wish to do more but there just isn't time. On the other hand, my yard is now full of plants. I germinated 60 Medjool dates and have put 40 in the ground. My large bamboo clumps are throwing 2.5" shoots that I think will reach 16 ft by the time they are done. My 4 pear trees are primed to bear fruit next year. Oh I forgot, the yard has about 10 Chinese elms that are about 4ft tall as well. The 2 Montezuma cypress I have just started to grow as well. The 2 flaming maple I got on clearance grew well in the spring but withered in the heat. They are now ready to send out their second flush in the fall growing season. I also collected 4 live oaks and planted them in the yard. The 3 wisterias I have are growing OK. In a couple years I'll have to decide whether to dig them up and turn them into bonsai or leave them be. 2 or my 5 fig trees are growing well and bearing delicious fruits. The other 3 are just surviving. I suspect that the one that are growing well finally got their roots developed through the unforgiving clay. The others are still trying. I also got cucuza squash and okras from the garden. The 6 gac vines are growing OK but I don't expect to see gac fruit until next year at least. My lone young avocado tree has finally adapted to the full sun and is growing. For a while I thought it would die. My paw paw trees died from having too much sun. I have no place to keep them from the sun. I won't try growing them until I have some thing big enough to give them shade.
So that concludes my rookie bonsai year. Learned a lot, suffered some bitter defeats, and have become a better gardener to boot.
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Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
3rd yr report
1. Maples: All year 1 maples were lost to storms. Now have 1 Shantung and 2 Flaming maples growing well.
2. BC: Now have 4 with 2+" trunk ready for serious styling next year. I have many more growing in pots.
3. Spondias dulcis was lost to the storms.
4. 2 Ochna serrulatas were lost to the storms
5. Pomegranates all in the ground. Some were lost to storms. May dig one up for bonsai in 2 years.
6. Dwarf crepe myrtle from MM survived multiple hurricanes and is relatively healthy.
7. One bougainvillea is still growing slowly. I may move it to an Anderson flat to encourage growth.
8. Japanese tulip magnolia is planted in the ground at the new house and is growing well. The air layered little one is growing in a nursery pot. It will be moved to an Anderson flat to encourage growth..
9. JBP: Now have 3 JBPs (2 from seedlings and 1 from air layer). All have 1" trunk and are healthy in grow box.
10. 3 Shimpakus and 1 Cryptomeria were lost to the storms.
11. All azaleas were lost to the storms. Now have 3 unknown azaleas in pot.
12. Lost all but one Rainbow eucalyptus to the hard freeze. It is growing well in a grow box.
13. 2 collected live oaks, and 1 collected Ilex vomitoria are all growing well in grow boxes. Last week I did some aggressive pruning to force growth in selected branches. Barbados cherry was slow growing. It was recently moved to a grow box.
14. I now have 2 Green Mound ficus that are in grow box. They are healthy and have some aerial roots. I did some styling earlier on but right now they are in clip and grow mode.
15. New addition of 3 collected Ilex crenata. All have big base so they will all be taters. Right now they are in big grow box to recover from drastic pruning at collection.
16. I have 1 Montezuma cypress that is 4ft tall with 1.5" trunk. I plan to dig it up and put in grow pot in 2022.
All in all I am trotting a long. Still have strong interest. Have half a dozen trees qualified to be called pre-bonsai. I am looking forward to step into the next stage of training/styling the pre-bonsai trees. Don't plan to obtain any tree worthy to take me to high level of learning to refine bonsai tree until my housing situation is permanent and I have things set up or to find bonsai sitter places to keep the trees healthy when I have to travel.
1. Maples: All year 1 maples were lost to storms. Now have 1 Shantung and 2 Flaming maples growing well.
2. BC: Now have 4 with 2+" trunk ready for serious styling next year. I have many more growing in pots.
3. Spondias dulcis was lost to the storms.
4. 2 Ochna serrulatas were lost to the storms
5. Pomegranates all in the ground. Some were lost to storms. May dig one up for bonsai in 2 years.
6. Dwarf crepe myrtle from MM survived multiple hurricanes and is relatively healthy.
7. One bougainvillea is still growing slowly. I may move it to an Anderson flat to encourage growth.
8. Japanese tulip magnolia is planted in the ground at the new house and is growing well. The air layered little one is growing in a nursery pot. It will be moved to an Anderson flat to encourage growth..
9. JBP: Now have 3 JBPs (2 from seedlings and 1 from air layer). All have 1" trunk and are healthy in grow box.
10. 3 Shimpakus and 1 Cryptomeria were lost to the storms.
11. All azaleas were lost to the storms. Now have 3 unknown azaleas in pot.
12. Lost all but one Rainbow eucalyptus to the hard freeze. It is growing well in a grow box.
13. 2 collected live oaks, and 1 collected Ilex vomitoria are all growing well in grow boxes. Last week I did some aggressive pruning to force growth in selected branches. Barbados cherry was slow growing. It was recently moved to a grow box.
14. I now have 2 Green Mound ficus that are in grow box. They are healthy and have some aerial roots. I did some styling earlier on but right now they are in clip and grow mode.
15. New addition of 3 collected Ilex crenata. All have big base so they will all be taters. Right now they are in big grow box to recover from drastic pruning at collection.
16. I have 1 Montezuma cypress that is 4ft tall with 1.5" trunk. I plan to dig it up and put in grow pot in 2022.
All in all I am trotting a long. Still have strong interest. Have half a dozen trees qualified to be called pre-bonsai. I am looking forward to step into the next stage of training/styling the pre-bonsai trees. Don't plan to obtain any tree worthy to take me to high level of learning to refine bonsai tree until my housing situation is permanent and I have things set up or to find bonsai sitter places to keep the trees healthy when I have to travel.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
4th year
1. Maples: 1 Shantung maple left and is growing well. Lost the other two to bad soil and poor watering while on vacation.
2. BC: 2022 was a great year for bald cypress for me. I now have half a dozen big stumps, 1 group planting, and 2 BC forests.
3. Spondias dulcis was lost to the storms. Replaced with Tamarindus indica grown from seeds.
4. 2 Ochna serrulatas were lost to the storms. Replaced with Delonix regia grown from seed.
5. Pomegranates all in the ground. Some were lost to storms. Still have a plan to dig one up next year.
6. Dwarf crepe myrtle from MM is relatively healthy and was allowed to grow free last year. The plan is to repot in 2024.
7. One bougainvillea is still growing slowly. The plan is now to keep it in the same pot since my lady likes it that way.
8. Japanese tulip magnolia air layer was moved to an Anderson flat, grew well, and has been chopped.
9. JBP: Now have 3 JBPs (2 from seedlings and 1 from air layer). All have 1" trunk and are healthy in grow box. Hardly any change in 2022.
10. 3 Shimpakus and 1 Cryptomeria were lost to the storms. Replaced with 1 collected Ilex vomitoria. Collected another ilex this past year
11. All azaleas were lost to the storms. Now have 3 unknown azaleas in pot.
12. The surviving Rainbow eucalyptus grew well. Two more have been air layered from the surviving tree.
13. 1 live oak given away, the other collected live oak is doing well after repot. Collected a couple more oaks.
14. Gave away one Green Mound ficus. The other is growing well. Added 3 more from cuttings.
15. 3 collected Ilex crenata grew well after collection.
16. Montezuma cypress collected and potted.
17. Addition of 30 Crataegus aestivalis (Mayhaw). I am big time into this species.
Still have strong interest. In 2022 I improved my skill in tree collection a whole lot. I am having fun with the trees I have. I am now into the development phase of many trees. With the addition of Mayhaws and large BCs, moving to PA will be tricky to say the least.
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Gabler
Masterpiece
Unless mychildren move out to the country or suburbs, my grandchildren will have to be content with city parks.
Are you moving in with your kids? Why not look for a place with a yard right outside the city? I’m in a different city in a different state, and I’m still only 40-ish minutes from downtown Philly.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
I am moving in with my kids. However, we are all moving to the suburb. I will have a yard for my bonsai
I am keeping this thread alive to show how things can pivot in life. Bonsai is no different. What I am happy with is my improvement in various bonsai skills. I still have a lot to learn. I am grateful for the threads from members here showing us the progression of the bonsai trees through various bonsai actions.
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Gabler
Masterpiece
Brandywine Bonsai Society has a lot of members from the Philly suburbs. Volunteers from the club frequently help out at Longwood Gardens, which I always thought was a local attraction, but it’s apparently known outside the DC to NYC corridor.
Great news
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
5th year
1. Maples - All died in the heat last year.
2. BC - I am in pretty good shape in most everything bald cypress. My BCs are starting to look like legit bonsai.
3. Tamarindus indicas - 2 trees in decent shape. I tried some trunk wedges and set one tree way back. The top of the tree died in winter.
4. Delonix regia - Just one tree but it is in decent shape.
5. Pomegranate: Going to dig a clump up this spring.
6. Dwarf crepe myrtle form MM will be repotted this spring.
7. Bougainvillea is barely developing.
8. Japanese tulip magnolia has been potted.
9. JBP. Have 3 from previous years plus one more from @namnhi. Still a greenhorn when it comes to styling JBP.
10. 2 Ilex vomitoria. Both are well on their way.
11. No change. Just have 3 unknown azaleas in pot.
12. The Rainbow eucalyptus died after an emergency repot. The two air layered from the surviving tree are growing.
13. No more live oak. I might collect one this spring.
14. Just have 1 Green Mound ficus from cutting.
15. 3 collected Ilex crenata developed and given away.
16. Montezuma cypress styled yesterday
17. Now have 2 dozens Crataegus aestivalis (Mayhaws). I am still big time into this species.
18. Two princess persimmons from @NaoTK. I am told I am at the edge of the abyss.
Best thing I've learned after five years is that getting something bigger than seedlings sets me up for much better growth as a bonsai hobbyist. Seedlings are fun but they are almost entirely in the horticultural zone. They offer little bonsai learning for their first 2-5 years depending on the species.
Notice that my original goal was 5-7 bonsai trees. I now have 50. 10 fold overachiever!
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namnhi
Masterpiece
Quite an achievement Uncle in a short 4 years. I just got my PP from Nao last night. I didn't see you listed Wrightia Religiosa. Does it still alive and well?
