Progression of my first Shimpaku shohin

[parhamr]

Aha! It appears heat killed some roots and the tree sacrificed its less productive foliage.

Some living roots visible on the edge of the rootball:


The westward side of the pot received the late afternoon sun, which killed many roots:

 

[River's Edge]

Hi Reid
I wonder if the heat was the issue or extra water retention. Terra Cotta can hold a fair amount of moisture along with the media. The tips you show in the picture could be spider mite damage as well.
Just not sure of the heat theory as terra Cotta is very good for insulation value when damp and the pot shows good amount of algae on the outside surface.
Wondering how you deduced the heat damage? Knowing how you approach things i am sure you have some other observations or research.
Overall the plant looks like it is in fantastic condition.

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

He used to sell these for $100 each. I think now they’re $120 to $150. The younger ones are less, obviously. He will ship. If anyone is interested:
Www.plantcitybonsai.com

I can't find any pre-bonsai material for sale on his online marketplace. I sent an email. Are you familiar with his mail order procedures? It looks like an amazing nursery.

Thanks.

 

[Adair M]

I can't find any pre-bonsai material for sale on his online marketplace. I sent an email. Are you familiar with his mail order procedures? It looks like an amazing nursery.

Thanks.

It’s a mom and pop nursery. It’s better to call him on the phone, ask about what they have, and he’ll send pictures. They will ship.

 

[Adair M]

It’s a mom and pop nursery. It’s better to call him on the phone, ask about what they have, and he’ll send pictures. They will ship.

Except, I see you’re in California. California has really strict rules on bringing in plants from out of state. So, it’s probably not going to happen.

Believe me, California has better material! He goes to California to buy stuff to have as inventory to sell!

 

[Paulpash]

Well, Gremel lives in California, and he has all kinds of stuff growing. That said, I don’t think he sells raw stock anymore, he gives them a bit of styling for a couple years and sells them for big bucks! He’s at the big shows. I saw him st the Redwood Empire Show in August, and his styled shimpaku like mine had prices of $1200 to $1500!

My local bonsai shop had a grower in Florida who would start about 200 Procumbens for him every year. And he would buy the ones the grower started 30 years ago! So every year, he’d Get a fresh shipment of a couple hundred 30 year old Procumbens. It’s been his “stock in trade” for years. The grower has decided to retire, so all the stock has been shipped to Plant City forThe Sea of Junipers.

He used to sell these for $100 each. I think now they’re $120 to $150. The younger ones are less, obviously. He will ship. If anyone is interested:
Www.plantcitybonsai.com

Tell ‘em that Adair sent ya!

Hey, look who's running the Jim Gremel workshop. If you ask me he looks a bit shifty lol

I know at the time you posted this link you wouldn't have been on the front page @Adair M but it's funny you appeared now!

 

[Adair M]

Hey, look who's running the Jim Gremel workshop. If you ask me he looks a bit shifty lol

I know at the time you posted this link you wouldn't have been on the front page @Adair M but it's funny you appeared now!

I teach workshops at a Plant City Bonsai three or four times a year. Mainly JBP technique. My repotting classe I teach in the spring are real popular. I do one for conifers, and I DO teach how to do HBRs. And I teach a deciduous repotting class, where I teach people how to completely bare root their trees.

 

[parhamr]

Hi Reid
I wonder if the heat was the issue or extra water retention. Terra Cotta can hold a fair amount of moisture along with the media. The tips you show in the picture could be spider mite damage as well.
Just not sure of the heat theory as terra Cotta is very good for insulation value when damp and the pot shows good amount of algae on the outside surface.
Wondering how you deduced the heat damage? Knowing how you approach things i am sure you have some other observations or research.
Overall the plant looks like it is in fantastic condition.

Interesting! I could be wrong about it all.

I did suspect too much water could have been a problem — does that also cause foliage tip death on junipers?? The media could be holding a lot of water in the muck from years in this pot with granular organic fertilizer.

Spider mites were a minor issue in my yard this year, but I believe I had them knocked down before the tip death was seen… though the death could have come from earlier mite damage.

I was thinking this was heat related because this tree sits on the westward edge of my sunniest bench. It was receiving a full 16 hours of sun at the peak of summer. Since I work 9–5 and regularly came home to dry soil, I figured the tree had been consuming all the water in the soil during the days. This is a thick terra cotta pot, though.

Whew! Many options… all of them plausible. It’ll be in a different pot next year… so we shall see

 

[River's Edge]

Interesting! I could be wrong about it all.

I did suspect too much water could have been a problem — does that also cause foliage tip death on junipers?? The media could be holding a lot of water in the muck from years in this pot with granular organic fertilizer.

Spider mites were a minor issue in my yard this year, but I believe I had them knocked down before the tip death was seen… though the death could have come from earlier mite damage.

I was thinking this was heat related because this tree sits on the westward edge of my sunniest bench. It was receiving a full 16 hours of sun at the peak of summer. Since I work 9–5 and regularly came home to dry soil, I figured the tree had been consuming all the water in the soil during the days. This is a thick terra cotta pot, though.

Whew! Many options… all of them plausible. It’ll be in a different pot next year… so we shall see

I would suspect water issues and/or mites prior to heat issues in that type of pot. Particularily in combination with the apparrent soil mix. The good thing is that the plant is in great condition and with all that foliage will just take off given a fresh start.
I have noted from your posts that your nursery is making great progress! Have you run out of room yet? This year i have begun to look for ways to spread out the growing stock beyond the previous boundaries of my nursery. For some reason larger plants with bigger containers seem to take more space and room between them. LOL
I would like to have attended the fall event in portland again this year but could not make the trip with previous teaching commitments. I am sure it was a great success and lots of fun for the participants.

 

[Dav4]

Fwiw, that looks like a very healthy tree and I wouldn't be overly concerned at this point. Make sure it's not mites for sure but I think your good going forward with any plans you have here. I do wonder if the soil might be a bit moisture retentive in that pot... I've had issues with JBP staying too wet in terra cotta over my GA winters.

 

[parhamr]

your nursery is making great progress! Have you run out of room yet?

Ha! Long ago

This yard has such better sun and airflow than my previous one. The plants have responded well, in turn.

I would like to have attended the fall event in portland again this year but could not make the trip with previous teaching commitments. I am sure it was a great success and lots of fun for the participants.

Well, dang! It was great fun. We are hoping to make a return to our formal Spring Show format… so stay tuned.

 

[River's Edge]

Ha! Long ago

This yard has such better sun and airflow than my previous one. The plants have responded well, in turn.


Well, dang! It was great fun. We are hoping to make a return to our formal Spring Show format… so stay tuned.

Thought you might be interested in some modifications i made to improve the drainage and usefulness of the terra cotta pots for Bonsai.
I find it hard to source excellent growing size containers for a variety of trees. One option i have found useful is the following:
Deroma brand ( higher fired) Azalea style size 27 . Made in Italy, my cost in bulk approx $8 CAD.
The modifications i make are for wiring in the tree and improving drainage. Four extra holes and four cuts in the bottom rim to allow air and water to move if the pot is placed on a bench or hard surface. Two pictures, one for the overall shape ( almost as wide as tall) and the other to show the mods. The black arrows were just added to point out the cuts on the bottom rim. I use a simple masonry cut off wheel to make the cuts. The extra holes with small diamond dust circular hole saw bit in my drill. Cheaper set from Harbor freight.

 

[parhamr]

This is its first repot in… four years? The current state: (2.25" diameter at its widest)


Before:


The root ball after reduction by just over 50 percent: (it was looking great! Lots of healthy white tips and thin, fibrous roots)


Approximate position change:


This Vicki Chamberlain pot won the first round of pot selection: (before I decided to spare that pot for some yamadori)


And finally, here was the colander selection. It’s about identical in dimensions to the pot and the colander will provide the aggressive growth I still want at this phase. The root ball will also definitely be reduced even more at the next repotting.

 

[parhamr]

The lower left branch/trunk is still sacrificial. I’ve reduced its length and foliage mass to weaken it before future removal. Here’s one of several escape branches I removed:

 

[Adair M]

This is its first repot in… four years? The current state: (2.25" diameter at its widest)
View attachment 284830

Before:
View attachment 284825

The root ball after reduction by just over 50 percent: (it was looking great! Lots of healthy white tips and thin, fibrous roots)
View attachment 284829

Approximate position change:
View attachment 284826

This Vicki Chamberlain pot won the first round of pot selection: (before I decided to spare that pot for some yamadori)
View attachment 284827

And finally, here was the colander selection. It’s about identical in dimensions to the pot and the colander will provide the aggressive growth I still want at this phase. The root ball will also definitely be reduced even more at the next repotting.
View attachment 284828

Just so you know, there’s really no benefit to growing junipers in colanders.

They don’t use them in Japan. They’ve been doing bonsai there for a LONG time. If they thought it was a better method, they’d use them.

The colander thing was a way to get Shohin pines to keep small root balls to go into Shohin pots.

 

[mrcasey]

Just so you know, there’s really no benefit to growing junipers in colanders.

They don’t use them in Japan. They’ve been doing bonsai there for a LONG time. If they thought it was a better method, they’d use them.

The colander thing was a way to get Shohin pines to keep small root balls to go into Shohin pots.

In his latest free shohin juniper video, Bjorn Bjorholm specifically states that the juniper he's working on "should have been
up potted into a slightly larger colander or net pot or air pot...". Obviously, Bjorn might not fully understand where the value of colanders lies, but maybe more experimentation is in order?

p.s. Sorry about the hijack, parhamr.

 

[sorce]

In his latest free shohin juniper video, Bjorn Bjorholm specifically states that the juniper he's working on "should have been
up potted into a slightly larger colander or net pot or air pot...". Obviously, Bjorn might not fully understand where the value of colanders lies, but maybe more experimentation is in order?

p.s. Sorry about the hijack, parhamr.

I'm not saying I was thinking about this very scenario when I was listening for him to say anything about something dissimilar to a colander when it didn't happen, it just didn't happen.

Sorce

 

[parhamr]

I stopped by a bonsai friend’s house today and worked on trees while chatting. I got a “before” pic after removing the sacrifice branch and doing a teeny bit of cleanup of interior growths:


Here’s the view after most of the work — this is close to my preferred angle and position (I guess it’s becoming a semi-cascade??)


And then here’s how I left it today (at dusk) with the canopy work just started:


The layout of the branching is working pretty well when seen in the round. Today I was able to remove a lot of coarse growth to make for nice taper and transition.

There’s more to do!