I'm just starting my bonsai journey. I sourced three maples from Evergreen Gardenworks in 1-gallon pots. They have 0.5-1" trunks. One is a seed-grown green JM, the other two are cultivars grown from cuttings - no grafts.
I've built some cedar training pots, and I have all the components necessary to make bonsai soil. My options are to get them into training pots or put them in 7-gallon fabric pots to thicken up a bit more. If they go in the fabric pots, soil mix will be 50/50 organic soil conditioner and doug fir bark.
If I go the training pot route, I know the trunks won't thicken up as fast as if they were in the ground or a big grow bag, but my understanding is this will better develop the roots for bonsai.
Questions:
1) Should I aim to arrive at my desired trunk size before moving the trees into training pots? Or will the trunks continue to grow in training pots, albeit slower than if they were in the ground/fabric pots.
2) The trees were delivered two days ago. I assume I should wait at least a week before doing anything with them?
3) I'm in zone 7b. Will they be happy with 5-6 hours of direct sunlight? The place I'm planning for them to live has good morning and early afternoon sun, then is shaded for the rest of the day.
I've built some cedar training pots, and I have all the components necessary to make bonsai soil. My options are to get them into training pots or put them in 7-gallon fabric pots to thicken up a bit more. If they go in the fabric pots, soil mix will be 50/50 organic soil conditioner and doug fir bark.
If I go the training pot route, I know the trunks won't thicken up as fast as if they were in the ground or a big grow bag, but my understanding is this will better develop the roots for bonsai.
Questions:
1) Should I aim to arrive at my desired trunk size before moving the trees into training pots? Or will the trunks continue to grow in training pots, albeit slower than if they were in the ground/fabric pots.
2) The trees were delivered two days ago. I assume I should wait at least a week before doing anything with them?
3) I'm in zone 7b. Will they be happy with 5-6 hours of direct sunlight? The place I'm planning for them to live has good morning and early afternoon sun, then is shaded for the rest of the day.
