Malus & Prunus Mahaleb

[SupathaiflY]

Hi all.

Today I made another trip to the bonsai center.
As I'm quiet a novice I take all the help that I can get so I will take these trees to classes.
Monday is my second repotting class. First time I took my acer there.



Some pics of the trees I bought today

Malus



Prunus Mahaleb

 

[JudyB]

I like all three of these! You have a good eye for material, much better than most beginner trees. Thanks for sharing these

 

[SupathaiflY]

I like all three of these! You have a good eye for material, much better than most beginner trees. Thanks for sharing these

Thanks Judy.
I guess I'm just fortunate that I have a great bonsai nearby

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Yeah, great material. I must say it makes me a little nervous though. I forget who had the tagline, something like: "dead trees are the tuition you pay to learn bonsai." I would be tempted to cut my teeth on lesser material until you can make sure you can keep the plants alive. I'm sure some people are born with green thumbs, but the rest of us have to practice for a while. I'll quote my dad too, "Only invest what you can afford to lose."

But based on your tagline, it looks like you are up to the challenge. I'll throw a couple tips, just in case they help.

Keep them outside.

Don't leave on vacation and expect to come home to alive plants. If you have a friend who is supposed to water them while you are gone, you might lose the plants and a friend. You can set up a watering system on a timer but try it out when you are in town first, before trusting it to work while you are gone.

 

[SupathaiflY]

@MrFancyPlants
Thanks for your advice.
It's true that there is a chance of loosing the trees because I lack experience. I don't have the magical green thumbs neither.
I'm very well aware of that.

But with the purchase of the trees I also 'bought' the knowledge of Danny Use.
I will take the trees on courses and will only follow his advice and experimenting on these trees is not part of my plans.

The trees will stay outside. A vacation is not on the menu atm but I do understand what you say and I will take that advice of you

 

[MrFancyPlants]

@MrFancyPlants
Thanks for your advice.
It's true that there is a chance of loosing the trees because I lack experience. I don't have the magical green thumbs neither.
I'm very well aware of that.

But with the purchase of the trees I also 'bought' the knowledge of Danny Use.
I will take the trees on courses and will only follow his advice and experimenting on these trees is not part of my plans.

The trees will stay outside. A vacation is not on the menu atm but I do understand what you say and I will take that advice of you

Thanks for being understanding; I don't mean to temper your enthusiasm. They are really great trees. As @sorce would say "Welcome to (the) crazy (club)."

 

[SupathaiflY]

Today I attented a repotting workshop.
I took both trees.

The malus:
Yesterday, the buds started to swell so today was a good day to have a workshop planned
The highest root has been cut away which resulted in a trunk that can develop in a much better way. The initial root would become too much of a focalpoint.
A larger pot will give the rootsystem enough space to develop nicely the coming years.








Next step: Workshop april 28 on wiring

Prunus:
When I purchased the tree it was wired. As I wanted to prepare the tree for the repotting workshop I removed the wires.
Unluckily, the wires did held some broken branches in place, so when I took the wires of they just fell off...
It is what it is and we'll just move on with what we have.

As this tree allready has a good basic rootsystem we worked on that and also went for a bigger pot.
We'll let the prunus grow without too much work on it.






Regards,
Harald

 

[baron]

Very nice looking trees my fellow countryman!
Danny Use is Ginko bonsai in Laarne, right?

Just wondering what soil you used for the Malus? The grains looks very small? Is this very fine pure Akadama?
Also, how do the guy wires work like this? I mean how are they attached to the bottom? Is there any specific reason you apply them this way instead of 'regular' wires?

 

[SupathaiflY]

Very nice looking trees my fellow countryman!
Danny Use is Ginko bonsai in Laarne, right?

Just wondering what soil you used for the Malus? The grains looks very small? Is this very fine pure Akadama?
Also, how do the guy wires work like this? I mean how are they attached to the bottom? Is there any specific reason you apply them this way instead of 'regular' wires?

Hi.
Ginkgo bonsai center indeed

I used pure akadama. At the bottem of the pot the biggest grain, middle layer smaller grain and on top the finest grain.
Same soil for the prunus.

The reason why the tree is attached like this is because we are working on the layout of the roots and we don't want to disturb them too much. By wiring in this manner there is no pressure on the roots.

 

[BigBen]

Very nice trees you have there.
May you enjoy them for many years!

 

[SupathaiflY]

Very nice trees you have there.
May you enjoy them for many years!

Thanks alot BigBen!
Fingers crossed

 

[SupathaiflY]

Finally, some movement

April 6


Today (april 11)


The prunus stays unchanged.

 

[SupathaiflY]

Just because....

 

[SupathaiflY]

 

[SupathaiflY]

Ready to pop



And even the prunus is going for it. Slowly, but it's getting there

 

[SupathaiflY]

 

[SupathaiflY]

I attended a workshop today. The idea was to work on my wiring technique as I'm quiet inexperienced.
I took the malus and prunus. The prunus will be left untouched.
I did some work on the malus. The foliage has been opened up.

 

[SupathaiflY]

Only one flower left on the malus.
Would the bees have done their work so I'd get some apples...? ☺



The prunus has made some progress as well.


I don't have a plan figured out for this trer yet. It seems like it need some time to recover so I'll just let it be for this year.

 

[SupathaiflY]

Added a fine layer of fertilizer yesterday. This is a mixture made at the nursery.
They use the same fertilizer. Lasts about a month.

 

[Danny Tuckey]

Nice photos and progression, please keep it up. Ill be watching and lurking ?