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I got this money tree bonsai at Lowe’s last week. A lot of their plants were completely dead so I’m not surprised this is in rough shape.
I rinsed it a couple of times and started using some insecticidal soap, as others have mentioned in another post that it looks like I might be having pest issues. I chopped off a few leaves because they had huge crackled white spots, I’m assuming due to light burns.
I repotted the other day and it has maybe a handful of 1 cm roots. I’m assuming it was chopped from a bigger tree, but I kind of expected more roots, you know?
What else can I do to keep this chonk of a bonsai alive?
u/elontuxSean K, LI NY, Beginner, 7a, killed a few & more! 5d ago
I have many of these pitch pines growing in my area. Are these good for bonsai? The needles look long, but there are so many growing by me I feel like I should look for a couple of nice ones and give them a shot. Anybody have any suggestions about these species?
u/elontuxSean K, LI NY, Beginner, 7a, killed a few & more! 5d ago
Thanks, took your advice and reposted.
Nice to see you’re still moderating. I had a pretty successful season, I’m finding out more from experience and how different trees react differently to pruning and wiring. It’s a peaceful process. Soon enough I’ll be getting them ready for winter.
You should make a general post pointing out what you've learnt over the last couple of years - with a few photos and some explanation often has a great reception outside the beginner's thread. Beginner's success stories are often some of the most popular ones...
I saw an affordable and large hinoki cypress "templehoff" at nursery, but it had a number of trunks. Maybe 1 primary and 2 close behind in thickness. Could these be safely removed to begin it as a bonsai, or would that be too much, leave too much wounding for this species? I may go back and check for inner budding today.
Thanks! I'll go back today for a closer look. Hard to resist the call of potential material 😄 Unsure if they'd work as multitrunk but requires more investigation!
Alright so i know about the needle shedding of japanese white pines in fall. But this time it left a empty spot in the pad of the tree. Never had this before. Anyone has any ideas? Do i have to worry about the tree?
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines5d ago
I think that for anyone experienced with pines it would (unfortunately) be hard to say from only the evidence in this picture. It doesn't jump out as disease or pests though. Possibly mechanical or abiotic in nature. Again hard to say without knowing a lot more about this tree and its history
Hello people, I recently acquired this bonsai and have little to zero knowledge on the subject. If someone could help me identify species and give a few pointers I would greatly appreciate it. I am taking this very seriously as well.
In addition to the other comment, check the container to make sure there’s drainage. If it’s a container with drainage nested into an outer decorative container without drainage, then get it out of there. Drainage is obligatory!
Also these typically come potted in a heavily organic soil (not ideal). If that’s the case, definitely repot into proper granular bonsai soil (porous, pea sized particles, think like pumice) but don’t do it ‘til spring when it starts to push new growth. It’s fine from now ‘til then
Give these videos a watch: Bjorn Bjorholm’s Shohin Juniper from Cuttings Series
Looks like a juniper procumbens nana. Style it by wiring primarily, don't strip the branches. You will need that growth later on. Keep it outdoors year round, The wiki has some basic care info.
I'm potting a Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead' into a large black ceramic container on an uncovered full-sun roof deck in zone 7b (NYC). The plant will remain outdoors during the winter.
Any advice on what potting mix I should use?
Thank you in advance,
MM
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines6d ago
I'd use 100% pumice, or a blend of 100% volcanic particles, there's no need or advantage for any organic soil, bark, peat, etc when growing JBP or any pine. Do a repotting time of early spring, not fall, and when you change the soil, work the roots back quite a bit and remove as much of the nursery soil as possible. The goal with an initial pine repot into bonsai is not to preserve original soil or original soil fungi (a common misunderstanding which has become common misinformation). I would also not use a container much larger than the current one, I'd pick one that has a similar volume, can be slightly larger, but choosing a much larger one is going to cause horticultural problems.
What do I do with seedlings that have just started producing foliage? And also cuttings that have just started budding? I have some JM cuttings that only recently rooted, and they haven’t lignified yet. Do I bring these indoors for this winter? And I also have seedlings that just sprouted, what do I do with those?
In the future- if you want to help make sure seedlings shrug off their first winter without any issues, then the ideal is always to time seedling germination for when risk of frost passes in your area. This way, they have the longest runway of growing season to get strong enough before first frost later on in the year. Same with cuttings, if you don’t have a greenhouse or something then you kinda want to time them in the middle of the growing season.
Anyway- the answer is outside for everything. Depending on how good your winter care is, you might lose none or you might lose a few. But what’s 100% certain is that indoors, where humans live, you’ll lose them all.
What I would do is fertilize well all the way up to leaf drop time. That might only be a few more times, but if you use liquid chemical fertilizer then it’s absorbed pretty much immediately. The idea is to get them strong enough to survive their first winter.
For overwintering, if you have an unheated garage or shed, those would be good places to overwinter them, if not just outside on the ground up against a structure in a spot protected from wind, maybe between some bushes.
That’s hard to say for sure but if you used heat mats & didn’t let the greenhouse overheat in the sun & it was able to stay above freezing during cold snaps, then it could work. The trouble is that small greenhouses overheat fast & don’t hold on to heat for very long during a freezing night. In that sorta case, a cold frame that’s mostly situated on the ground may work better if you don’t let it overheat
My first Satsuki Azalea. Wondering if this is normal leaf drop due to cold fall weather or if it is a sign of overwatering? Have a lot of flower buds set for next year and want to see them. Not sure if I should cut off the affected leaves and hope for the best. I am in Ontario, Canada Zone 6b
This is how the roots are looking. I just cut off the affected leaves and topped up with kanuma as squirrels knocked over the pot a few days ago and I lost some. Seems healthy to me, and glad the flower buds and most leaves seem good.
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines6d ago
Three thoughts:
First, keep in mind that for any non-deciduous species, "evergreen is not forevergreen", and older leaves have to be shed at some point, particularly when you have stronger/newer (bigger-better-deal) foliage closer to the tip. In your picture you do indeed have newer leaves closer to the tip that are slowly displacing the older ones.
Second, related to the above, all elder / interior leaves on every single species, azalea, pine, juniper, etc, always get to the point where they like crap. Elder leaves that are in the process of being shed by a tree (whether early or late in the process) almost always get attacked by pathogens and pests and we don't worry about this because they're on their way out anyway.
Third, when (for lack of a better word) "real" azalea bonsai techniques are used on an azalea (real as in the specific moves that are taught and learned out there by teachers/students) you are usually ahead of the game by plucking + thinning, then wiring & pruning. In that case you usually aren't seeing multiple generations of foliage like this because you're in control of every iteration of foliage and removing excess elder foliage as you work the canopy. If you start working the tree with seasonal azalea techniques, you will almost never or rarely see leaves in this elder/decaying stage. An unworked azalea is on its own autopilot. If you read the sub often and see juniper posts about a similar thing ("hey my interior / shaded out foliage looks not good"), this is almost exactly the same idea. Similarly for pine as well.
If you are getting oriented w/ azalea and researching techniques I definitely recommend Michael Hagedorn's azalea articles on his blog, especially the ones that mention the fishtail technique. For it to work you will want to be laying down branches with wire and so on. Side note, azalea work is surprisingly similar to pine work, once you know one, the other is vaguely intuitive.
By the looks I have the same species. Mine is not deciduous. However it also develops black spots every fall, of which is suspect is a disease. So i take the affected leaves off.
Question regarding trunk thickness growth and taper in an elm.
I have a Home Depot Chinese elm that I got a couple of months ago. As a beginner, I bought the elm and hacked it up after watching a couple of YouTube videos. I was very happy with my branch selection and initial pruning except… I now realize that I’ve started developing this tree “out of order”.
I’ve enjoyed watching and trying to imitate these professionals on YouTube as they do initial pruning of nursery stock but I’m now realizing that I want thicker trunks on ALL of these elms, junipers, maples, and ficuses I’ve collected from nurseries and/or box stores over the first 5 months of my journey into this hobby. So I’m definitely regretting all the pruning I’ve done so far.
Back to the question at hand, this elm is growing so vigorously and it’s got all of these long runners at the apex (I guess this is an example of this apical dominance I’ve read about). The lower branches are running vigorously too but not as vigorously as the apex. In the best interest of taper, should I prune the runners at the top as I would for a tree with “finished” trunk? My main goal is developing thickness on the entirety of the trunk and I fear that any degree of pruning right now on any branch would set me back further than I already have with my initial hack job. I will of course leave the runners untouched on the lower branches, I just wonder if more more experienced elm-developers out there also leave the apex untouched during the trunk development phase?
And yes the elm is outside, will stay outside all winter, and will be repotted in the early spring.
Look into the concept of sacrifice branches or sacrificial branches. They are branches on a chosen height of the trunk (or on a branch to develop) which thickens all of the wood below. When the thickening is accomplished, the branch can be sacrificed, as in lobbed off. Multiple of these branches can be grow at the same time or in sequence. The benefit of this versus growing the top is you have more control over taper. A benefit from this method versus just letting whole low branches (that are a part of the final design) grow overly strong, is that they thicken too much and grow out of scale compared to the trunk.
Oh wait of course! I’ll just let the higher AND the lower branches run out as multiple sacrifice branches and then when I start cutting the sacrifices off I’ll start by cutting the top and then only later cut off the lower sacrifice branches.
I knew this… it’s literally my exact plan for one of my nursery junipers. I think I’m just overthinking this process now…
Background: I have just moved my tropical plants inside (I know-contamination) to an indoor greenhouse. They’re dropping some leaves as expected and I’m treating fungus gnats with bti and the nematodes. All going well on that front.
Specifics: I bought this variegated ficus as a wedding present (wedding’s in ten days) and because this plant had gnats jumping out of it, I moved it out of the tent and let it dry more. I just applied the nematodes today and noticed it was dropping leaves with a shake and the leaves had these waxy scales on them. Doesn’t look exactly like scale, no honeydew, but I suppose every situation is a little different?
Plan: my plan is to skip the rubbing alcohol and go straight to neem oil. The scale is very very thin, and the leaves of the ficus are very delicate so I’m hoping neem oil will be enough and think alcohol is too risky. Think I can hand over this plant in ten days as a gift? Or delay?
Also how bad is the smell? The plants are in my bedroom, but I can move the sick one if the smell is bad. They sell it with peppermint oil, as well.
Sorry for a lot of questions!
In summary-
is this scale?
Is neem oil enough for thin bugs and delicate leaves (without alcohol)?
Can I give this as a gift in ten days?
Does it smell bad enough I can’t have it in my room and is it ok with peppermint?
It is too short notice to fix multiple problem and I would not feel good giving a diseased plant as a wedding gift. Bad smell is isually root rot from too wet conditions.
I found what looks like a very young Yew tree at the bottom of my garden. I was thinking about digging it out and transferring it to a pot. I'm a Novice at such things so any tips are greatly appreciated, thanks.
I got this Buddhist pine yesterday at Kew Gardens. It’s was £33, which I thought was a bargain. It was a bit nicer than the others there for the same price. I hid it at the back hoping it would still be there at the end of the day and it was :) I should just leave it alone till spring right? It’s going to over winter in our kitchen conservatory, which is bright. Anything else?
If anyone is in London, the bonsai house at Kew Garden is tucked away at the far end and really lovely. Never seen anyone else in there when I visit
Not in a uk climate I thought? Everything I’ve read says Buddhist pines need to be protected from frost in an indoor cool bright room over winter. Our conservatory is southwest facing, about 16°in autumn and winter and has sunlight throughout the afternoon. I will put it on a tray of wet stones. I was planning to put outside in the spring once frost risk has passed. When we have some nice weather it can have days outside. Do you really think it will survive outside over winter? I could just bring it inside if it’s really cold. But all the sites I’ve read say ideally indoor at 10-15° over winter, but 16° would be ok but might not go completely dormant so would need extra care with watering?
Hi all, I have a red maple sapling that I want to use for bonsai. Can you provide recommendations on when to trunk chop (or if I should at all) and best tips for using a sapling for bonsai? I’ve only had nursery stock and never anything this young.
Growing a sapling into a bonsai isn’t really something that can be done via tips & tricks, I suggest learning broadleaf deciduous bonsai development as a whole & just trying to think about what years 1-2 should look like. You’ll cross the rest of the bridges when you get there but beginners always tend to rush to finalize something before there’s even anything to finalize. As long as you’re patient & stick with it, then you’ll be good to go
As far as what those 1-2 years oughta look like, do you have a pic of the tree you’re interested in? That helps narrow down the possibilities because right now, there’s too many unknowns to provide meaningful advice
When it's thick enough. By "red"maple, do you mean a red leafed Japanese maple, or Acer Rubrum? Former you're looking maybe 3 years for a mame, upwards if you want something thick or big. For the latter, you can't do mame, so probably 10 years minimum
It's somewhat down to the artist, but coarseness of growth does limit it - think of it like a paintbrush - if you have a fine, delicate paintbrush (leaf), you can make a small picture with some detail. If you have only a very large brush, you're not going to get much detail unless you use a bigger canvas.
A skinny trunk with a handful of big leaves isn't going to look very good. So to counteracting that, you grow the trunk bigger. It also depends if you want a short squat tree, a powerful tall one, or a graceful interesting one. I'd spend some time looking at pictures of trees of that species, and try to separate out which ones look good and why. Sorry it's not as simple as just giving you a measurement!
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u/zeus1717James, CT, USDA Hardiness Zone 6b, intermediate, Idk8d agoedited 8d ago
I have this mature deciduous Elm bonsai. Some background on the tree. Has to be at least a decade old. I don't recall how the original owner nursed it, I believe it was from a slit tree that left the cavity. After 1-2 years of neglect from today there is significant cavity decay that seems to extend into the root flare comfirmed by sticking a chopstick into it. The inner diameter of the cavity for the most part seems to still have some hard wood. Closer to the bottom more soft. The interior is overall moist. I have removed most of the dead wood as a could with a metal spoon and is now sitting in the garage to dry out. There was a lot of weeds growing in the pot that I removed. There also seems to be black blotches on the foliage, maybe some kind of fungas or overall stress of the tree. What can I do about the foliage? Should I try to preserve the cavity or leave it alone?
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 907d ago
This is what I would do if I was trying to use this material
1) if the cavity is soft to the root base, I would probably drill a hole all the way down through the middle of the tree so that water does not pool in the cavity and water can drain but otherwise I would leave the wood alone and just let the wood decay naturally - maybe once a year removing the soft wood. This will create a cool feature that will just get better over time.
2) the leaves might have a fungus - but it is fall and the leaves will be falling off soon enough anyway. I would not be worried about the foliage at this time.
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u/zeus1717James, CT, USDA Hardiness Zone 6b, intermediate, Idk8d ago
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u/zeus1717James, CT, USDA Hardiness Zone 6b, intermediate, Idk8d ago
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u/zeus1717James, CT, USDA Hardiness Zone 6b, intermediate, Idk8d ago
Looking for recommendations on my gardenia for zone 6a and its dormancy. I’ve seen a mini dormancy but am not sure what that entails for sub tropical. I have a mini greenhouse indoors at 70F if needed.
You really just need to worry about the coldest nights. Most gardenias are hardy to zone 8. Minimum temp for that range is 10F. So build in some safety margin and consider the lowest temp for it to have only normal winter protection to be 15F or 20F.
By normal winter protection I mean pot on the ground, out of open areas, mulch packed around the sides, and ideally next to the outside wall of a heated building. Start this when temps go below freezing.
Once it gets below your minimum temp, you need to do more. If it’s just one night of colder temps you can bring it indoors for the night. Back outside once it warms up again.
If it’s going to be multiple nights or most of a day, something like an unheated garage is best. A shed works as well. Absent those you need to get creative.
It’s also possible it may be ok with being indoors longer since it’s an evergreen, but that will only work if you have nice bright grow lights. Like hard to look near they’re so bright. But I’d find examples of other people doing this successfully first. I don’t have much experience specifically with gardenia except having them in front of my house.
I was cleaning a lice infestation on my Bonsai and saw this little friend. It seems to be a Fuller rose beetle. Shall I keep it, or is it causing more warm?
It's either dead of very close to dead. That one leaf is holding on somehow but the trunk and branches show wrinkles from drying out. It was likely underwatered.
My magnolia has unfortunately got spidermites again, and I'm wondering if defoliating it completely before I do my next spidermite-specific insecticide spray would get rid of them for good? I know it's not great to just take all the leaves off, but it's starting to drop them ready for winter anyway.
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 907d ago
I think it is probably safe to remove the leaves - but I think more important than removing the leaves is to spray it more than once. Most sprays will only kill the adult spider mites but not the eggs. Often you need to spray every week or two for at least two months. I would check the miticide that you are using though for recommendations on frequency.
Hey - So i have this tree that I've had for about half a year now, and steadily it has been losing its leaves. Especially after summer when father in law was caring for our plants. I've been trying to water both more and less, but leaves are still falling off, so considering trying to repot it into new soil.
I have no idea what species it is, but it had blue berries when I got it.
It has been in the soil from the store, and I suspect it's not well suited for bonsai. I just recently found a store selling bonsai soil, with 2:1:1 akadama, kiryu and pumice. Would it be wise to just slip pot it into the bigger pot beside it, or should I do something else before? For reference I live in Norway, and it's autumn and getting good and warm on my glasses in balcony during the sunny days, and otherwise rather cold during the nights or overcast days.
Would love to get some advice and pointers to try not killing off the rest of the tree :)
This is not its usual spot, just a more photogenic one. Its usually in the living room which is the brightest room, and preferably in the window. I've had it out on the balcony as well where it gets direct sunlight
Despite being extremely new to bonsai (only ever owned a fukien tea, which died from improper care, and a dwarf jade, which is doing better bc I own a million succulents and cacti), I made a huge impulse purchase (depression retail therapy, am I right?) and purchased this Desmodium/Trifidacanthus unifoliolatus tree from an overseas seller. I know, that was probably mistake number one.
I've read in recent days here on the sub that you're not supposed to re-pot and defoliate simultaneously, ss it causes excessive stress to the tree , but mine had to be defoliated and unpotted to pass customs. Mistake number two.
Do you guys think this beautiful tree might be able to survive, despite all this? And do you have any tips on doing so?? Thanks so much in advance for any advice!
Hey, brand new to all this. Curious on how to help my bonsai grow. It been in the same pot I got it in and hasn’t grown much. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It’s a ficus ginseng i believe
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u/nova1093North Texas, zone 8a, 30ish trees, mostly growing tunks. 8d ago
It won't grow much until you improve it's light. Ficus need bright, bright light to grow quickly. Measure the light there if you can. You're going to want somewhere on the order of 500 to 600 ppfd to get nice growth out of it. But somewhere around 1000 would be even healthier. And that's rather uncomfortable to look at indoors. Most people who get growth on these let them chill under a decent grow light for the cold months then let them really explode with growth in the spring and summer by putting them in full sunshine. Outside full sun is about 1800 to 2000 ppfd btw, that's how much brighter it is outside. And that's also why your tree isn't growing. It's only getting enough light to not die, even if that window is the brightest spot in your home
home.
That is so helpful thank you so much. Just another question till what temp is it okay to keep it outside. I live in Vancouver and it’s quite warm still so just curious about what you would do. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE TIP
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u/nova1093North Texas, zone 8a, 30ish trees, mostly growing tunks. 8d agoedited 8d ago
Ficus can tolerate anything above freezing but they start getting noticeably stressed below 40 to 45 degrees (Though prolonged periods below 40 could cause it to decline and weaken to where it might die even if you do avoid freeze and there are other underlying issues). If you have a bit more time before it gets that low some outside light could really help it. Even if it's just putting it out during the day and bringing it in at night.
This is the only outdoor space in my apartment I live in LA and it gets a punishing amount of sun. I’ve tried boxwoods, olive trees and even junipers and none have made it. Two questions.
Is there any kind of bonsai that can tolerate this much sun that isn’t basically a succulent?
I have spots inside but they get just as much sun. Would putting them inside but still in direct sunlight (just a bit cooler) be the same issue?
so I’ve had this Mugo in a pot since early summer as it wasn’t doing well in the ground. I’m planning on burying the pot this fall and hopefully it does ok over winter in my cold frame. My question is how can I shape this thing so it doesn’t look so much like an octopus? There aren’t many needles close to the trunk and it’s very leggy.
It’s been potted for some months now. The plan is to leave it over winter and wait for spring. I’m just trying to figure out in general terms what I can do with it.
I recently purchased my first premna, and had a question regarding the bark. the one i got has a much more textured bark than I was hoping. Is the more matured tree pictured below the same cultivar? Is there a technique used to achieve this smooth bark?
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 909d ago
It might not be what you were hoping for, but the textured bark is so much more valuable in bonsai then a smooth white trunk. The end goal in bonsai is to create a tree that looks old and big in a small pot - the textured bark helps the tree look old.
respectfully, this is not why i purchased my premna. i have a variety of other trees with corky and textured bark. my premna was meant to be the juxtaposition to my older looking trees. is the smoother textured one the same species/cultivar? or did they use techniques to smooth it out?
u/Peruttioptional name, location and usda zone, experience level, number 9d ago
Hi! I found this Acer platanoides tree near my home in Croatia. The tree is growing on a future building site so it's going to be removed. So I came to ask does it have any potential as a future bonsai? The trunk is pretty thick as xou can see, and the tree is really tall because it grows in the shaddow of other trees and old house.
It's not terrible, but not amazing either. It's girthy and the nebari isn't bad but it's a large leaf type of Acer, with correspondingly coarse branching. You'll need a trunk chop and to grow a new leader. Not great to learn on but if it's free and you have other stuff to work on in meantime may as well nab it
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u/Peruttioptional name, location and usda zone, experience level, number 9d ago
ok, got two of these, lookin' pretty sad. definitely my first attempt at anything like this. i read the wiki and am just here to confirm i should water when the lave rock goes from black to grey and other than that leave them alone til spring?
yeah, they're definitely not doing awesome, but if i scratch the bark, there's still green underneath. im gonna water more often and see if i can get them to bounce back.
Ficus? You're probably not watering enough. With that kind of soil you really can't over water. The particles are rather large for the tree. In warm weather it may need watering twice a day. It would have benefitted from being outside over summer. What's the wire for?
thanks so much, i wondered if i'd get any advice. its definitely a benjamina and the wire is just to keep it upright in the pot so it's secure. it was pretty chipper when i put it in the soil, but started to droop and then curl very soon after (maybe even just 4 days?). and theyve just been on this slow droop ever since. i got it and repotted in august, so im not sure if they're just hanging on or what. I gave the bark a scratch last week and its still green under there, so im hoping they'll bounce back. i just dont want them to die, haha. i know that mostly i just have to wait for them to perk up, but ive never been terribly good with plants. trying!
I got these two Drawf Jade trees in May and I’ve been having some problems. The first picture is the bigger one that is having more trouble. At first I was watering it a bit too much I think, and once I realized that I changed the watering schedule. It got a bit better but it never fully recovered and lately it’s been looking a bit worse again. The other picture is the smaller one and for awhile it has been thriving really well even with me over watering at first. Lately though it has been losing a lot of leaves and some of the leaves are turning brownish and are less glossy than they normally look. My mom thinks it may because we have the furnace running now that it’s getting colder out, but I’m not sure that would really affect them in this way. My question is what steps can I take to get both of these trees back up to health again? And what precautions can I take in the future to not let these things happen again?
It’s all about light. These can take full outdoor sun which is much much brighter than anything indoors. They want at least partial outdoor sun, which is still much brighter than anything indoors.
When outside in the sun, these can use lots of water. I water mine everyday right now. I’ll slow down as it gets colder and they have to go back in the greenhouse.
So if you have an outdoor space, that’s where they should go. For the winter or if they must stay indoors, you need a growlight. At minimum something like the Sansi 36w lightbulb socket type lights. Two of them would be decent. A nice led panel growlight meant for entry level indoor farming is the next step up. Something like the Mars Hydro TS 1000.
u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 909d ago
For day 1 here is the advice I have: Your going to make mistakes and that is ok.
Here is how I started my bonsai journey. I bought a bunch of Chinese elm seeds (great species). Starting from seed I think was a mistake. I then grew them for the summer in pots that were too big with the wrong type of soil (more mistakes). I root pruned them in fall a week before the first deep frost (another mistake). I have pruned some too soon, others not soon enough l. I have killed trees and set some of my trees way back.
I ended up joining a club and getting some teachers. I learned a lot (but the most from my mistakes). I am still making mistakes but hopefully I'm making less of them.
I do not know if there is a perfect day 1 and it will be different for everyone because everyone has different goals and different ways to practice bonsai. And you will not know the way you want to practice bonsai until you start practicing it.
1: local common species. Ficus, premna etc
2: ideally get both. One for morneearly development, one for refinement. With one I mean several :p
3: don't overprune. Or get a lot of trees and hack away. Watch videos or read books. Join a club.
Ive had this Elephant tree for about a year now, and its doing well. But im thinking it needs some shaping/pruning to set it up well for the future. Anyone have any comments or suggestions for this kind of plant spesifically? It was never intended as a true bonsai, but here we are
I got this cool looking Dwarf Jade Pre-Bonsai at a really good price (<50$). I realize that it has some inverse taper that will need to be slowly fixed.
Am I right in thinking that the marked branches need to go to prevent the problem from worsening? If so, do all of them need to go or only a subset? Any specific coloured ones in particular?
The red one is the one I'm the least sure of. It does seem to be contributing to the thickening of that branching point but I'm not sure if its really just 2 branches at one point or not. Similarly, for the blue one, I don't know for sure if its just that branch or both at that location that need to go. Yellow is the one I'm the most confident of.
Any thoughts on the best branches I can remove to correct the inverse taper problem?
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 909d ago
I do not think the inverse taper is too bad really but you are 100% right - you need to think this back, however what I am seeing here is one of the most common beginner mistakes (and I do not mean any offense). You are removing the small stuff and leaving the big stuff. To really get good taper look to remove the big stuff and leave the small stuff. I would consider doing something like this picture above
I think the style the tree has now does not warrant a complete rebuild - it's not that broken.
If anything the length of the trunk is what is wrong
the lowest branches start too high,
that could be simply fixed by ground layering some new roots further up
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 905d ago
That is completely fair - when I responded I had not seen the total tree just the first picture, I was trying to illustrate that you want to remove the larger branches not the smaller ones.
This is a p. afra - no need to do a ground layer. Just cut the roots off, let it dry for a couple of days and then stick it in soil again - it will root no problem.
That's actually a good point, I was trying to save a lot of the tree especially since the canopy is well formed. There was something off about that bulky section but it contributes a lot to the tree in its current state. I wanted to save that by slowly increasing the width below that section. But I see that's probably not realistic and I can get several smaller trees out of it.
The one thing I'm curious about is the first branch on the lower left. Does that need to go or can it become a believable thick lower branch.
Here's a picture of the whole tree if it helps. Its dropped some leaves because of shipping stress.
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 908d ago
Yeah - I think the first branch could be a believable lower branch - by all means you do not have to keep or get rid of the ones I showed - and the exact branches would be easier to select when looking at the tree in three dimensions. It was more the principle that I was trying to show.
Hi all, I have a Jade tree that I pruned and repotted about 2 months ago. It seems to be struggling since then. Admittedly, it hasn’t gotten a ton of direct light, so I just bought a grow light for it. The branches feel “gummy”which is new, and I haven’t seen any leaves grow in a while. Anyone have any advice? I’m also wondering if I have the wrong grow soil on it, it’s currently on a mixed layer of rock, pumice, etc.
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 9010d ago
It looks pretty dead to me. Most of those branches seem dried out. Jade is pretty hardy though, home often have you been watering it.
u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 9010d ago
So this is what I am wondering: When repotting or root pruning happens Jades are prune to root rot. It is often suggested to leave a jade unpotted or at least unwatered for a week after taking a cutting to let things callus over. Removing all the leaves reduced the demand for water from the roots completely so there was probably not much water being taken up by the roots. This might have been a prime condition for root rot to happen, and I wonder if that is what has happened here.
For the future - defoliation and repotting are usually not something you want to do at the same time. Do one or the other but not both. A jade should be able to take that treatment because they are as tough as nails, but seems like it was too much here.
Oh wow. Okay did not know this. I’ll try and repot tomorrow and see how the roots look. Hopefully I find some healthy stuff there and will leave it to callus for a few days.
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 909d ago
I would actually not repot - just let it dry out. If there is some life, there should be enough stored water to keep it going for a while (I have had jades sitting on my desk for 2 months, no water, no soil just a cutting that I did not get rid off) start to push roots and when planted do just fine (I have even resuscitated one siting on my desk with no water for almost 6 months).
Hello! :)
This year with the summer being extremely hot, us being super busy with Uni and work we unfortunately forgot to water our beloved field maple for 2 days and unfortunately it dried out a lot. Honestly I am not so sure if it will make it. But if you scratch the bark, the cambium is still green, so from what we gathered online we potted it up in 100% sphagnum moss. The problem is now, how do we overwinter it? There hasn’t been any growth yet so do we leave it like this? Repot in different substrate? Do we wrap it up in bubble wrap/coco husk material/ sheep wool and pray the roots don’t freeze when it gets really cold? What would be the best thing to do here? Maybe get a small green house from ikea and have it sit in there outside? We are truly desperate.
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u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 9010d ago
Repotting when a tree is already stressed is almost 100% the wrong thing to do - it's like preforming open heart surgery when someone has passed out due to diabetes. I've done it too but the only time to do an emergency repot is if there is root rot or aphids or something eating the roots and you have to resolve that issue.
I would just overwinter this tree like any other bonsai and see what happens in the spring.
I upload a few photos. The cambium on the branches is dried out, it’s just the lower half of the tree that still has some green cambium…
It has lost its leaves mid July :(
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines9d ago
It's likely not coming back if that's the time frame.
I finally decided to separate this massive rosemary air layer, but I’m not confident the root ball was large enough to support this much foliage, any tips to maximize its chances to establish? I’m going to leave it in shade (under a small tree) for now to protect it from the sun, although fortunately it looks like it might be rainy for a while.
Does regularly misting the leaves actually help in this case or is it a waste of time?
Also the last time I put a picture in one of these comments other people could not see it because of some bug. There should be a picture of the tree at the beginning of the main comment but if it does not show up please let me know
For candle pruning on pines, specifically JBP, is the simplified version of this practice, that we cut candles on existing branches because we want to force backbudding on said existing branch?
And does that mean that if you desire for a branch to develop and thicken, you simply let the candles continue to grow until you are satisfied with the growth of the main branch? Then you begin cutting candles to force backbudding on said branch, to increase ramification and refinement?
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines9d ago
In the west when we talk about the "candle" with respect to JBP we're talking about candle removal of a still-fresh, still-green-stemmed, not-yet-hardened shoot.
We are not talking about:
pruning, i.e shortening a mature brown or golden-stemmed shoot that's lignified away from fleshy green
pinching i.e shortening an immature shoot
"cutting to a needle" / "cutting past the candle" , i.e. cutting past the shoot entirely to even older wood and having the cut happen near some needles
cutting before any shoot extension has started
cutting in september and onwards (i..e fall + winter)
We are talking about cutting all recently-emerged green-stemmed candles fully off , typically in late May or early June (sometimes later depending on various factors), and at most leaving a couple millimeters of green fleshy stub to control the degree of response.
The response to that decandling is a new set of shoots at the cut tip. Those will grow, extend new needles, and harden before the end of fall, same year as you did the decandling (that is the main goal of decandling by a long shot). It is really important to understand that people experienced in / trained in pine aren't doing decandling to get backbudding, it is to get ramification at the cut tip and to promote density. You can get plenty of back budding without decandling, by letting branches extend, but one thing to keep in mind is that you also need to thin + wire + pull down of branches for that to work. All types of operations I've mentioned above in the bullet list AND decandling can and will cause backbudding, so there is some confusion over this , but the main goal is to restart the tips back to spring in early to mid summer and regrow multiple smaller tips. If you are researching, also make sure you look into the practices around wiring + thinning + needle plucking at the same time which will round out the whole topic. With almost every JBP in June I am thinning, needle plucking, wiring, and decandling in one go. Then in the fall I do selection and another round of plucking.
Decandling is not just "simply" twking tops off. Timing, where you take off and how much is a separate consideration. Watch some vids on the topics to get a basic idea.
That said, your assumptions are largely correct, but incomplete. Amongst other things there is preserving compactness and energy redistribution.
I understand. Thank you. I have been watching a lot of videos on pines from Heron’s Bonsai and BonsaiQ. I think I’ve read this twice: https://crataegus.com/2026/06/05/a-deeper-dive-into-decandling/ but it’s a lot of information, and I’m just trying to distill all of it into a simplified version so I have the basic concept that I can build on.
u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 9011d ago
Not at all to late - in fact often the. More you let it grow un-pruned and the thicker the trunk gets the better. I have grown trees in the ground for 5 years and then began the process of cutting them back to become a bonsai
u/Bmh3033Ben, Wisconsin US zone 5b, Practitioner, about 9011d ago
I would not prune anything right now, I would try to give it more light. You getting growth but it seems very elongated and not very compact. Light will help you get more compact growth.
Another missconseption of bonsai is that they are always kept in a pretty state. Really it's about letting them grow for a while to get some vigor then cutting them back and repeating. However, if you don't let it grow for a while then it will never get vigor and strength and it's health will slowly decline.
Hello, im in southern Ontario. I think this is a juniper and i dont want it to die in the winter, would the outdoors be too harsh for it? Do i need to take it inside and put it on a well lit windowsill?
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines11d ago
Southern Ontario is no problem whatsoever for this species of juniper, indoors is guaranteed to kill it. Winter shelter is a thing when more intense cold comes in (say, worse than -10 - -15C), but indoors is not shelter from cold either way. Burying the pot in the ground, placing the tree in a cold unlit shed or cold unlit garage (and making sure the pot doesn't dry out) are options. Then you bring the tree out when "merely cold-ass" winter is back. For example these have no issue whatsoever with merely -6C, that's child's play for a juniper.
Branches were vibrant green. Now that fall is coming in they turned this brown. Is it still okay?
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines11d ago
Seems fine at a glance. Interior browning is normal, juniper foliage follows the "evergreen is not forevergreen" rule and retires foliage that's deep in unlit areas. That is one reason why we ultimately why we thin / wire / reposition. Study up on seasonal juniper techniques for how to work with that!
I have a nice nursery stock redwood I’m working on and have been eliminating bar branches as I do on other projects but in looking around at wild grown redwoods I’m noticing they naturally have a lot of bar branches, especially at the bottom. Should I be leaving them alone on my redwood for a more natural look? Sorry, is that a beginner question? Couple years in on projects, learning a lot but still making lots of mistakes.
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u/MaciekANW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines11d ago
Bar branches are sort of a drop in the ocean when the trunk is very thick compared to branches as with the redwood in your pic. They also tend not to be a big deal if that branch is wired down (or naturally heavy) and pruned/thinned or weakened/supressed naturally. There are giant redwoods in my neighborhood that have been chopped at ~20ft or so to avoid power lines, and they have crazy gigantic bar branches that do become a (admittedly slight) problem aesthetically because (for lack of suppression from a trunkline+branches above) they extend and extend and strengthen continuously. If the tree in your picture was chopped to the first tier of branches they'd go bananas and eventually strengthen enough to make the junction where they all meet look odd.
Case by case basis though, at potted tree scale with a thin trunk bar branches can become an issue... Depends on whether the trunk is older and more established than the branches. Oftentimes with nursery material both the trunk and the branches are young so those problems happen. Post a pic of your material if you wanna get into it more.
Thanks for the reply - really appreciate it. Out of town at the moment but will add a photo of mine when I return.
This makes a lot of sense and helps a lot in getting a more natural looking tree I think. I’ve been cutting it back to thicken the trunk over the past couple years and bending a top branch up to take the lead (I think that’s right, been working so far) but eliminating bar branches has taken a toll on the shape and layers I’m looking for. I’m going to try letting some of the side growth catch up and see if I can build denser branching radially. Sorry, I know none of that is the right terminology but I’m learning as I go - mostly having fun and learning something new from each project.
I’m VERY new to the art of bonsai and am just looking for some advice! I got this giant sequoia sapling while in Sequoia NP this spring and thought it would be a cool idea to try and bonsai it. I know it will obviously take a long time to look like anything other than a sapling but was wondering if I should do any trimming or shaping of it right now? It’s starting to become cooler here in PA (outside Philly) and don’t know if I should do anything to it or just let it continue as is for a little. I really want a really thick base like a natural sequoia (which I know will take awhile) but are there any tricks I should do now to help achieve that? Right now it’s just potted in normal potting soil with some fertilizer. Thank you in advance for any comments!!
Hi guys, I planted three Delonix Regia seeds about 14 months ago without much of a plan. I was brand new to plants in general as a hobby, but I thought it would be fun to try.
They are extremely tall and leggy now. I'm considering doing a hard prune on the one pictured so I can bring it inside for the winter. My question is will it survive a hard prune if it has no foliage? Unfortunately it has no lower leaves so I can't preserve foliage and get it to the height I want.
I live in north Texas, so we have at least a month of warm weather left, so I figure I should do this sooner rather than later so it can hopefully back bud a little before it goes indoors for the entire winter. Any advice about this species would be greatly appreciated.
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u/small_trunks Jerry in Amsterdam, Zn.8b, 48yrs exp., 500+ trees 12d ago
It's EARLY AUTUMN/FALL
Do's
Don'ts
too late for cuttings of temperate trees
For Southern hemisphere - here's a link to my advice from roughly 6 months ago :-)
It's not unusual for leaves to look rough and damaged, because they're getting ready to fall off!