Bonzai Tree

new boy

new boy

new boy

Soldato
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25 Jun 2009
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Anyone know much about them?

I've acquired one today that from my research appears to be a dwarf jade.

Its cool... But it doesn't look much like a tree. Its got a nice thick trunk, clearly been trained into a nice shape and I reckon its fairly old, but its more of a plant than a tree. I think its the large leaves that ruin it, and the fact that there isn't a canopy as such, just a few leaves here and there on about 5 branches. Its also a bit knobbly

My mate got one, and to be honest, I'm intensely jealous. His appears to be a ficus, and I'm just lost in the beauty of it... Its amazing, looks just like they should.

Any tips to... tree mine up somewhat? I don't think mine will ever be as cool as his due to the leaves, but if I can make it into a passable tree over the years, then I'll be proud of that.
 
I bought one last week as a gift they are quite expensive for a good one, a few in the shop went upto £20k!!!

You need to repot it every 2 or 3 years.
Keep it outside during the summer
Inside in a cool wet place in the winter.
Feed it every 2 weeks with 20-20-20 N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium)
Do not let it dry out and water from the top (like rain).

thats all I know sorry.
 
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Wow. I got mine for £20, though it isn't really a good one lol. I got it from an independent pet shop that me and my colleagues have a good relationship with. Apparently he acquired them from someone who grew bonzai for a living, but went bust, so he got them cheap. Could be total crap though, its not exactly a Japanese grand master's one, that's for sure.

He had loads though, most I have no clue what they were, and nor did he, but there were some juniper, some oak, and another 12 or so, but I thought I had better play it safe and get one known for growing well indoors.
 
The trees you buy for around £20 from stalls or garden centres are not really 'real' bonsai. they're most farmed, grafted 'made' basically.

Real bonsai is very very expensive, most of the really nice looking ones are outdoor bonsai. Your freind's impressive looking ficus is more than likely from ikea - they do 2 sizes i believe and I don't think they should be classed as bonsai really - they're nice looking trees though and I can see why you would be jealous. Take a longer look at it though and you will see how it's been made. they're all almost all exactly the same too.

I could be wrong about the ikea bit by the way, but there's a facotry out there somewhere churning out large ficus 'bonsai' trees I see them everywhere!

take a look at this guy's videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/GrahamWPotter

He's british and deals with outdoor bonsai that can be either very very expensive, or utterly cheap! I watch his videos all of the time - I don't have any bonsai of my own except the one chinese elm that I have which is nearly dead, but I like to read about them none the less.
 
10BDE93B-B51A-4576-80B4-BDD66032B80B_zpsetmlqxxa.jpg



Photo I took at the bonsai shop, these 2 are £20k each!
 
20K faints

They look nifty I was going to buy some off ebay since they look quite cool but yeah you do have to give it that maintenance side of things which is slightly off putting, not sure if I could move it out in the summer all the time and not sure if my room is wet enough really.
 
R3X said:
20K faints

They look nifty I was going to buy some off ebay since they look quite cool but yeah you do have to give it that maintenance side of things which is slightly off putting, not sure if I could move it out in the summer all the time and not sure if my room is wet enough really.
Click to expand...

just had a quick look on ebay - cannot believe (or rather, I can) the amount of idiots flogging bonsai tree 'seeds' and using an image of a picture perfect bonsai tree with a value of many thousands of pounds as the main picture. you have to read in to the listing before you realise you're buying a seed in some cases.

do people honestly think they can plant a seed and end up with a tree like that?


most rare raw bonsai material (yamadori) is found and recovered from sites where it's growth has been naturally stunted. maybe from seeds 10's or 100's of years ago. Try not to be fooled into growing bonsai from seed - you're better off going out looking for a mature plant yourself as it takes YEARS

nobody mentioned this, so my rank is kind of out of place here but just thought I'd mention it :)

here's a nice example though - but it took 17 years.
http://www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/cultivation/from-seeds
 
Rb customs :

Well spotted, did feel a bit too good to be true !

The trees look very different and beautiful, no wonder why if it takes that long to grow in years they have to charge for it via a foot.
 
R3X said:
Rb customs :

Well spotted, did feel a bit too good to be true !

The trees look very different and beautiful, no wonder why if it takes that long to grow in years they have to charge for it via a foot.
Click to expand...

if you're in any way serious about it, watch those videos int he link I posted by Graham Potter.

This is his website too -
http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/
he sells specimen trees and yamadori I'll honestly not be surprised if you're put off by the price - they're expensive! you're looking at £400 for something really decent tha still needs work, but there are a few cheaper ones on there too.
 
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