New to Bonsai and Bonsai nut

[EshDunn]

Hi, I'm new to Bonsai and Bonsai Nut.
I have been interested in the art for a while, albeit only a passing interest.

This Xmas my son brought me a Bonsai grow your own kit (seeds included were, downy & silver birch, alder and jbp). These are currently just starting out in a cold place.

As a learning tree, I paid £10 in asda for a carmona "Bonsai". This is purely to allow me to learn while there isn't much to do on the seeds for at least a year.

This is my attempt at tidying up, and training it to be the tree I see in my mind. I'm not really aiming to please others with my tree, and will undoubtedly break some Bonsai presentation no-no's, but it will be a good learning journey nonetheless.
I'm in the UK, but have the benefit of a grow tent, lights and air flow, which will be getting utilised until the weather is suitable for this lil' dude.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

Welcome to the site and the hobby! I would recommend looking into seedling cuttings for your JBP, and there is lots of info on how to get the most out of growing from seed.

 

[rockm]

Not positive from the photos, but your tree looks to me like a Chinese elm, not a Carmona (fukien tea)...

 

[19Mateo83]

Welcome to the nut house!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Not positive from the photos, but your tree looks to me like a Chinese elm, not a Carmona (fukien tea)...

Welcome to the site! That is a Chinese elm. It is a pretty flexible tree in that it is probably the one tree you can keep outside all year if you desired, or you could keep it outside in the summer and bring it in in the winter, or you could keep it inside all year IF you have super bright lighting.

The other good news is that it readily buds back on old bark, so you can prune it hard, and get all sorts of new buds to work with to develop new branches. Enjoy the journey!

 

[EshDunn]

Not positive from the photos, but your tree looks to me like a Chinese elm, not a Carmona (fukien tea)...

Fair enough, I was just going from the attached label. Thank you.

 

[EshDunn]

Welcome to the site! That is a Chinese elm. It is a pretty flexible tree in that it is probably the one tree you can keep outside all year if you desired, or you could keep it outside in the summer and bring it in in the winter, or you could keep it inside all year IF you have super bright lighting.

The other good news is that it readily buds back on old bark, so you can prune it hard, and get all sorts of new buds to work with to develop new branches. Enjoy the journey!

Thank you for confirming what rockm said, and for the info about the species. Time to do a bit more species research I guess.
My light set-up is pretty solid (spider farmer sf2000), so will continue with it inside, for whats left of this winter at least.

 

[rockm]

Fair enough, I was just going from the attached label. Thank you.

Bonsai sold in "big box stores" and supermarkets are frequently mislabeled and come with sketchy care instructions. Chinese elm is a very good beginner tree, however and I think the mislabeling works in your favor. Fukien tea (camona) is a touchier species to work with. Chinese elm is very resilient and forgiving when it comes to mistakes.

That said, in the spring, this one is probably going to need a repotting as the soil looks pretty bad--too dense and probably holds a lot of water. You might think about getting some proper bonsai soil and repotting it when you're able to keep it outside all the time. "Indoor" bonsai are a lot more work with a lot more issues than "outdoor" bonsai (there really are no indoor bonsai, only species that can tolerate the harsh environment inside a house--extremely low light, humidity level comparable to a desert, little air circulation etc.

FWIW, the humidity tray underneath the pot is useless and can complicate care. If it's not physically attached to the pot above, it's worth getting rid of it.

 

[EshDunn]

Welcome to the site and the hobby! I would recommend looking into seedling cuttings for your JBP, and there is lots of info on how to get the most out of growing from seed.

Thank you. Will definitely look into that.

 

[EshDunn]

Bonsai sold in "big box stores" and supermarkets are frequently mislabeled and come with sketchy care instructions. Chinese elm is a very good beginner tree, however and I think the mislabeling works in your favor. Fukien tea (camona) is a touchier species to work with. Chinese elm is very resilient and forgiving when it comes to mistakes.

That said, in the spring, this one is probably going to need a repotting as the soil looks pretty bad--too dense and probably holds a lot of water. You might think about getting some proper bonsai soil and repotting it when you're able to keep it outside all the time. "Indoor" bonsai are a lot more work with a lot more issues than "outdoor" bonsai (there really are no indoor bonsai, only species that can tolerate the harsh environment inside a house--extremely low light, humidity level comparable to a desert, little air circulation etc.

FWIW, the humidity tray underneath the pot is useless and can complicate care. If it's not physically attached to the pot above, it's worth getting rid of it.

Aye, it certainly sounds like a benefit that it was mislabelled.
I never realised that was a humidity tray, I just presumed it was a drip tray (luckily not fixed).
I am lucky in the sense I do have a grow tent, within which the humidity, air flow, light and temps are a lot more manageable then just being on the window sill.

I would wholeheartedly agree on the dirt it's in, it does feel like it's quite moisture retentive and do plan to change it for something a bit more suitable. Was sort of planning leaving it for a couple/few weeks to allow it to recover from what I've already done.

Thank you for your advice, it's very appreciated.

 

[gooeytek]

That's a nice start. I like the wiring system you have in place.

 

[Srt8madness]

Aye, it certainly sounds like a benefit that it was mislabelled.
I never realised that was a humidity tray, I just presumed it was a drip tray (luckily not fixed).
I am lucky in the sense I do have a grow tent, within which the humidity, air flow, light and temps are a lot more manageable then just being on the window sill.

I would wholeheartedly agree on the dirt it's in, it does feel like it's quite moisture retentive and do plan to change it for something a bit more suitable. Was sort of planning leaving it for a couple/few weeks to allow it to recover from what I've already done.

Thank you for your advice, it's very appreciated.

Start thinking in terms of months or seasons instead of weeks. Repotting is typically done in Springtime, when new buds start forming on decidious trees (outdoors). Drastic pruning weakens a tree, as does removing it from soil and trimming/adjusting roots. That's how most kill trees starting out (I certainly did). The time it takes foe the tree to recover from each is quite long.

You lucked out with the elm, that's a very nice start for $10 IMO.

 

[hardtimes]

Garden center juniper and spruces are good practice material too. Your nearby shop might have left over live Christmas trees for sale and spruce is usually a species that gets sold as one. Try to inspect the tree you want to buy, the nebari, trunk size, and no inverse taper is what you’re looking for

 

[EshDunn]

That's a nice start. I like the wiring system you have in place.

Thank you.
Literally all I had to hand. Obviously utilising some electrical cable. The green bits going to the tree are garden/plant rings which have been shaped to be usable.

 

[EshDunn]

Start thinking in terms of months or seasons instead of weeks. Repotting is typically done in Springtime, when new buds start forming on decidious trees (outdoors). Drastic pruning weakens a tree, as does removing it from soil and trimming/adjusting roots. That's how most kill trees starting out (I certainly did). The time it takes foe the tree to recover from each is quite long.

You lucked out with the elm, that's a very nice start for $10 IMO.

Yes, you are 100% right. I do need to alter how I think in regards to timings.

In many senses, this is potentially a sacrificial tree (Obviously I will try to avoid killing it), worst case scenario, I learn some hard lessons and end up with a pretty pot. Best case scenario, I have that tree for many years.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Welcome to the nut house!
Nice Chinese elm for the money!

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Makeshift guy wiring.. my man.

 

[stewarjm192]

Welcome to the site and the hobby! I would recommend looking into seedling cuttings for your JBP, and there is lots of info on how to get the most out of growing from seed.

unless your handy at growing from seed, or growing things from cuttings, I wouldn't try anything fancy on OPs first go with seeds. Seeds aren't always the easiest think in the world to manage, let alone cutting all the roots off the only specimen of a species you have and hoping for the best.

That being said, the Tree that OP is working looks like an Elm, so remember its an outdoor tree, and thats where it should live for most of the time, a few days inside to work or display is one thing, but your tree needs lots of UV light, and needs the outdoors to survive

 

[ZombieNick]

You lucked out with the elm, that's a very nice start for $10 IMO.

I've had the hardest time finding nice elm starts. This tree would easily be listed for $60+ here

 

[dbonsaiw]

welcome