Ranitomeya
Sapling
I hope it's okay that this is outside of the newbie section, but today's unexpected acquisition seemed like it shouldn't be in the thread about a Prunus seedling.
So I went to a local bonsai nursery today, hoping to get some tools/ferts and ask some questions about caring for my Fukien. I ended up down there for 3 hours, and the gentleman running the place ended up giving me a hands-on lesson with pruning and wiring, and a 50% discount on a Chinese Elm we worked on. He made sure I knew that he's not a "master", but had been doing this for 40 years. He told me what he would do with the tree moving forward (he's been working on it for 3 years), and reccomended I seek other input as well which I'm hoping you kind residents of Crazy would be able to provide. And just for the sake of info, the tree will be primarily kept outside on a western facing patio and brought inside when temps drop below 40.
Without further to-do, here's the tree as it presently exists
I want to call attention to this spot where a branch had been cut earlier. I was told to never cut flush with the trunk, but a little way off of it, so that when it dies back it doesn't eat into the trunk. I was told in a year or so, I'd know whether or not it needs to be "carved".
I was also told that for this season I should only worry about giving it 1 or 2 more haircuts, but in a year or so I should decide which of these leads should become a branch with the top going horizontal, or the bottom one growing down at an angle.
Finally some pictures of the nebari, I'm a big fan of the root here that looks like a bent knee.
This tree was replanted back in November, and I was told to plan to repot around Thanksgiving '23 or '24, in the meantime I'll be focusing more on branches/foliage and more importantly ensuring the tree gets enough water in the dry Colorado air.
So I went to a local bonsai nursery today, hoping to get some tools/ferts and ask some questions about caring for my Fukien. I ended up down there for 3 hours, and the gentleman running the place ended up giving me a hands-on lesson with pruning and wiring, and a 50% discount on a Chinese Elm we worked on. He made sure I knew that he's not a "master", but had been doing this for 40 years. He told me what he would do with the tree moving forward (he's been working on it for 3 years), and reccomended I seek other input as well which I'm hoping you kind residents of Crazy would be able to provide. And just for the sake of info, the tree will be primarily kept outside on a western facing patio and brought inside when temps drop below 40.
Without further to-do, here's the tree as it presently exists
I want to call attention to this spot where a branch had been cut earlier. I was told to never cut flush with the trunk, but a little way off of it, so that when it dies back it doesn't eat into the trunk. I was told in a year or so, I'd know whether or not it needs to be "carved".
I was also told that for this season I should only worry about giving it 1 or 2 more haircuts, but in a year or so I should decide which of these leads should become a branch with the top going horizontal, or the bottom one growing down at an angle.
Finally some pictures of the nebari, I'm a big fan of the root here that looks like a bent knee.
This tree was replanted back in November, and I was told to plan to repot around Thanksgiving '23 or '24, in the meantime I'll be focusing more on branches/foliage and more importantly ensuring the tree gets enough water in the dry Colorado air.
