Maintenance/History/Photo Journal App

[Minnesota Madman]

HI everybody.

I was at a bonsai auction this fall and bumped into somebody I had recently purchased a tree from. I asked him how he wintered the tree and he whipped out his smartphone and had an extensive list of all his trees with critical data such as wintering needs, hardiness zones, history of repottings and structural wiring and so forth. I've been thinking about some app like this for a while, because my memory is poor and all my post-it notes are getting lost.

I need an app for my laptop where I can document all my tree info, history and long term plans and the like. What are the rest of you using for this?

Thank you.
DanO

 

[Josh88]

There is an app called Bonsai Album I believe, that I had for a short while, but found that despite being in my early 40s and having spent much of my life in a digital world, I'm an analog guy at heart. I keep notes in a notebook of the things that are important to me about each tree and its' care. I may try the app again and see if there have been improvements that make it a better fit for me now, but I am quite content with my notebook for the most part.

 

[BobbyLane]

i use flickr and bonsainut, so ive never needed an app to log info. a picture tells a thousand words

 

[Minnesota Madman]

I found a couple more links within the nut worth attaching, in hopes of consolidating anybody's future searches. My initial search was sorta fruitless.

App for tracking your bonsais

Any apps you use to track your trees? Preferably with reminders and possibility to add pictures...?

www.bonsainut.com

Using Microsoft OneNote as a Bonsai album

I have seen on other forums that some people are wanting a good way to keep a bonsai album digitally. There are some apps out there but the problem I have had with them is that they don't always work across platforms from mobile to desktop. I have created a bonsai album using Microsoft One...

www.bonsainut.com

How do you document/organize your trees through the years?

Just curious about the different ways people do this. I’ve tried excel/word docs, photo albums in iOS and a Microsoft thing called Sway until they discontinued the iOS app. I need a better way. Ideas? Or is it all just crammed in your head? Thanks

www.bonsainut.com

Template for bonsai record keeping

It's the beginning of a new year, and maybe I'm not the only one who has "Better record keeping of my trees" as a new year resolution. Jason Crump has created what seems to be very nice online record keeping software, but I'm old school sometimes. I wanted something simple and easy, or else it...

www.bonsainut.com

There's surely more out there, but this is what I found after a little more thorough search.
Thanks Josh, I am looking at Bonsai Album a bit deeper. I really just need to organize info for many trees into a standard format. During winter when I don't really have much going on, I can create files for recently acquired material and "fill in the blanks" as I see fit.

 

[bonsaichile]

An spiral notebook. It covers all my needs

 

[Underdog]

I am moving up to index cards in a recipe box this year.
I do take tons of pics all date stamped and a folder for each tree.

 

[Cable]

Bonsai Album was nice but I ended up building my own because I wanted additional functionality.

 

[Minnesota Madman]

Bonsai Album was nice but I ended up building my own because I wanted additional functionality.

I will probably re-read your personalized system a few more times to see if I want to try that for myself or just go with Bonsai Album. Truth is, I probably have to try it for a while to see if it's what I'm looking for or not.

I live in zone 4, so my wintering needs are very important. I can't afford to let my memory slip away from me, especially if I get into anything zone 5-7. Also, a system with alerts would be nice for skipping fertilizer on a fresh repot, remembering when I took those cuttings, how long the wire has been on...

Thanks to everybody. Kudos to those of you that are able to keep track of more than 20 trees with notepads and memory!

 

[Cable]

I will probably re-read your personalized system a few more times to see if I want to try that for myself or just go with Bonsai Album. Truth is, I probably have to try it for a while to see if it's what I'm looking for or not.

That's what I did. I used it for about a year and then went my own way.

 

[bonsaichile]

I will probably re-read your personalized system a few more times to see if I want to try that for myself or just go with Bonsai Album. Truth is, I probably have to try it for a while to see if it's what I'm looking for or not.

I live in zone 4, so my wintering needs are very important. I can't afford to let my memory slip away from me, especially if I get into anything zone 5-7. Also, a system with alerts would be nice for skipping fertilizer on a fresh repot, remembering when I took those cuttings, how long the wire has been on...

Thanks to everybody. Kudos to those of you that are able to keep track of more than 20 trees with notepads and memory!

Fertilizer: I use liquid every week, slow release every 6. Kitchen calendar and a sharpie is all I need.
Wintering: Tropicals inside, everything else in my unheated, detached garage.
Wire: I look at my trees and take it out when it is beginning to bite.
Cuttings: I dont do cuttings. Or seedlings. Life is too short.

So I dont see the need for an app

 

[canoeguide]

I use https://www.notion.so/ it's not bonsai-specific but lets you store and do just about anything you can imagine.

 

[Minnesota Madman]

Fertilizer: I use liquid every week, slow release every 6. Kitchen calendar and a sharpie is all I need.
Wintering: Tropicals inside, everything else in my unheated, detached garage.
Wire: I look at my trees and take it out when it is beginning to bite.
Cuttings: I dont do cuttings. Or seedlings. Life is too short.

So I dont see the need for an app

Good for you. This post is really about finding information on computer apps to help me keep my thoughts and information more organized as the trees become more important to me.