WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER A GOOD DEAL ON BONSAI AUCTIONS - HAVE A LOOK!

[Hartinez]

This kishu shimpaku is currently up for bid with a bin price of 110. Almost a 2” trunk in a 3 gal pot with all those branches? Pretty close to worth it if you ask me. Instead buying all of those shit lowes junipers at 20 bucks a pop. Buy this one and get after it!! Matter of fact. This guy has several available. This is a perfect example of how buying 5 lowes or home depot junipers should be sacrificed for higher quality starter material.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1555817184646935/user/100003739347328/

 

[bwaynef]

@JEads <--- He's one of us.

 

[Hartinez]

@bwaynef Oh that’s dope. Great deals. And that one already sold!! I just thought it was the perfect lesson in spending money a bit more wise on material that will yield far better results over time.

 

[Paradox]

I just thought it was the perfect lesson in money a bit more wise on material that will yield far better results over time.

While I agree with this idea and that $100 is a good price for decent starter material, I do remember when I started out and how scared I was to kill anything and how little I knew about keeping anything alive.

$100 for someone just starting to learn to keep a tree alive through repotting and root pruning is scary. I think it deters people from doing things for fear of killing the tree.

So I would still advocate for a raw beginner to try things out with a few of those $20 trees so that when they inevitably do kill one, it's not a huge loss to them.

I'd consider the tree you posted great for someone with two or so years under their belt who has gained some confidence in keeping trees alive.

 

[Hartinez]

[QUOTE="Hartinez, post: 895352]I just thought it was the perfect lesson in spending money a bit more wise on material that will yield far better results over time.

While I agree with this idea and that $100 is a good price for decent starter material, I do remember when I started out and how scared I was to kill anything and how little I knew about keeping anything alive.

$100 for someone just starting to learn to keep a tree alive through repotting and root pruning is scary. I think it deters people from doing things for fear of killing the tree.

So I would still advocate for a raw beginner to try things out with a few of those $20 trees so that when they inevitably do kill one, it's not a huge loss to them.

I'd consider the tree you posted great for someone with two or so years under their belt who has gained some confidence in keeping trees alive.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with this for sure. Heck I still find a diamond in the rough from time to time and try my hand for the pure joy of it. But I try not to buy just to buy anymore and yet I still see that happening. Someone will buy decent material at best style and then proceed to keep it alive and healthy for over a year and it is still looks decent. I also know not a lot of us get on the FB auction and I wanted people who may be interested to be able to jump!! If I hadn’t bought 5 shimpaku this year myself I may have dove in.

 

[Paradox]

I agree with this for sure. Heck I still find a diamond in the rough from time to time and try my hand for the pure joy of it. But I try not to buy just to buy anymore and yet I still see that happening. Someone will buy decent material at best style and then proceed to keep it alive and healthy for over a year and it is still looks decent. I also know not a lot of us get on the FB auction and I wanted people who may be interested to be able to jump!! If I hadn’t bought 5 shimpaku this year myself I may have dove in.

Yea I in the same boat. I am much more selective in my choices these days.

The FB auction is a good resource for sure

 

[Hartinez]

Yea I in the same boat. I am much more selective in my choices these days.

The FB auction is a good resource for sure

So much of the suggestion comes from a place of encouragement also. Really wanting those that I think could take the jump, to jump!

 

[Potawatomi13]

While not crazy about straight lower trunk John is Michael Hagedorns current or recent past apprentice and would not do you wrong. Feel safe buying from him.

 

[Hartinez]

While not crazy about straight lower trunk John is Michael Hagedorns current or recent past apprentice and would not do you wrong. Feel safe buying from him.

That’s awesome. I definitely felt the price looked right. I certainly am not in need but was more letting others know if they were interested!

 

[JEads]

Thanks for the kind words. I picked up a load of stock plants from another grower and am trying hard to get them out to people. I realize that some of the FB posted trees have less than stellar trunk lines (since they were grown for the nursery industry) but they are a good price for what they are and provide great starter material, or at least great material for grafting stock, cuttings, or air layers. I am currently growing out my own stock with much more movement, but they will not be ready to sell for a few years.

This tree could easily be grown into an 8" trunk within a few years in the ground and some of the flaws could be smoothed out with some shari lines.
I have many of these available, if anyone is interested in getting one.
Just reach out on FB or here.
cheers
John

While not crazy about straight lower trunk John is Michael Hagedorns current or recent past apprentice and would not do you wrong. Feel safe buying from him.

 

[Hartinez]

Hey that’s awesome John @JEads . Didn’t realize also that you are the one who opened left coast bonsai. These trees are great and far superior to so many other nursery trade junipers out there and that show up on here. I had picked up multiple similar shimp myself this year but was awfully close to dropping that BIN option! Was hoping someone else would maybe take advantage.

 

[sorce]

It's also important for newbs to research 97117.

Sorce

 

[JEads]

Here is one I love doing to these large stock trees: It is not always everyone's goal, or desire to make cuttings, but these larger trees are really strong and can kick off tons of larger cuttings.
I wire the 1-2 year old whips when they are still flexible enough to bend easily. I generally wire them in the winter, remove the wire the next summer and then cut them off that winter. I have also be leaving some on and wiring them finer for another year to build strength. but the bigger cuttings take longer to root and there is less hope for success.
This photo is from the field at Telperion after the fire. I had spent a few days up there wiring whips in January of 2020 in hopes of cutting them off this last winter, but alas.
The skeleton shows the wiring off nicely, tho.....
I like that you can see that some of the wire is biting in. These plants were turned to charcoal, btw.

 

[Gert]

Here's the tree today. I repotted and reduced a little in March '22. I just did another reduction and gave it the first styling this month. It had some spider mite damage this year so I'm not going to repot to change the position until next winter. I still have a lot to learn and my wiring / branch placement choices might need some tinkering, but I decided to go with the easiest line the tree gave me, which is a standard style for juniper. Will give it shari next summer when peeling is easier.

 

[Gert]

End of the year update. Cranked the top down a little harder. Placed in a cheap production pot. Didn't work the roots too much as I just wanted the pot it was previously in for something else. Once I find a pot I like for it I might try to tackle the roots a bit harder and get it to sit a little lower in the pot.

 

[JEads]

Nice work! Looking great. Good use of the material

 

[Gert]

Thank you! And thank you for providing me the chance to work with this tree

 

[AshleyMammal]

Lookin' good! Thanks for giving us an update, progression threads from raw material always inspire me - especially after a few years of development