Hi again Robert,

Well, I know exactly what you mean. Once you are inoculated with the bonsai virus, you are done...you can´t stop. However, and reading your last post, despite junipers, azaleas, wisterias and willows are beautiful trees indeed I suggest you to consider starting with trees that are less delicate and require a lot less of care, at least until you have a better understanding of this art. For instance, ficus, olive trees or even a pomegranate are much hardier than the other species you stated. Besides, you living in Central Florida puts you in a perfect weather condition to take care of these tropical and subtropical species. Give it a thought and you let us all know

Alain

hi everyone my name is jim kephart and I am 24 years old. I have been looking into bonsai for a couple years now and just started with a jade, and some black pine seeds. I am in the USAF and now stationed in guam so my jade is loving the temp. look forward to meeting you all!

I am Paul. I am from the NE of England and am 38. I found my way here because I regularly view the Bonsai Empire Google+ page and am looking for a place to share my experience and get some advice. I have been into Bonsai for some years and they all have died....till last Spring. It began with a Fukien Tea. I bought a Japanese Larch (Pseudo Larix) and put it in a 50/50 mix of Vermiculite and Grit as long ago as last year and it is doing well. When the leaves began to die I thought that was it but back in about March I saw the makings of greenery and was overjoyed to see new shoots. I have also a Lonicera which I want to pot on and today attempted my biggest challenge. An Azalea which I put in a pot of Ericaceous compost.

The toughest part was the roots. Because it was quite a deep thick mass I thought I was going to have to be raking away for ages. But when I took a pair of sharp scissors to it I found it was all just think fibrous roots so I just cut it back to a dept that could fit in the pot. Filling in the pot was hard as there was a lot of dangling branches which I pruned away to reveal more of the trunk. All I can do now is just pray I haven't killed it. I will be sending a pic soon on this very thread asap. But I am overjoyed with the shape of it.

Beautiful tree!

Hello i am Teye,
My love of bonsai begon a year ago when I bought a mallsai bonsai. He died in the winter because I forget to give him water . In the winter, and the begin of the spring was it a while over. I found bonsai-empire and I registered (on a other language). After that I explored a bonsai club in my province and I go to there. After two months I was a member. Now I've register here to learn more. I've got 1 juniper chinesis, 1 larix, 1variety I don't now, 2 ulmus parvifolia and a couple of projects. I hope I can learn more here.
Greetings Teye.

Hello, I have been on this forum for about a year now and have been blind to this topic , my username is bob, but I use this name as a jokey type name (I do not mean any offence to people who are actually called bob) due to school students using it as a jokey name. I have a chinese elm that I have had for a year, and from a good supplier, and have some more material for bonsai.

happy bonsai-ing

Hi all sai-mates!

Im jp from sarangani philippines and am new at bonsai-ng and hadd joined this forum just about the same time i started bonsai. I have to say i never gave bonsais a second thought before but since moving out of the city, mainly to help my dad out with his prawn and durian farms, anything which has to do with green and blue now make me all goose-bumpy! Green as to forest and blue as to the sea. Im 35 now and hope to have an awesome collection by the time im 50.

I started researching and found out ficus was a great beginner plant and upon looking around, i saw and hence acquired a promising plant. I also started new material out of some very old durian seedlings which my dad never got around to replanting. Dunno if durian will make for good bonsais but i think it will be out of this world if i get them to fruit and end up with my own durian bonsai orchard, complete with mini fruits and all. I am also looking for philippine ebony (diasporos blancoi) material.

Honestly, i really didnt want to leave the city and my cushy office job but i feel family must come first. I have absolutely no regrets now as i've helped out my dad and have been introduced to the great art of bonsai. You can say i'm bonsai-sexual now! Lol

I've learned a lot from browsing through this forum and i have it now on my favorites list in my browser. I hope we can all share and thrive in our own ways and get as mush as we can from bonsai-ng.

Ur sai-mate,

JP

Hi I'm Churb, I live in Notts UK.

I have always liked bonsais but have only just got my own. It isn't a true bonsai, one of those supermarket ones (I can't remember what you call them). It is a Carmona/Fukien Tea. I am really just trying to learn a bit with this one as I have got some Cherry's planted and would love to know what I am doing with regards to pruning, styling and defoliation by the time the Cherry's are ready.

I don't know if a Carmona would even withstand defoliation, I'm pretty sure mine wouldn't at the minute, it came trapped in a cardboard box, poor thing. All I have done up to now is stretch out some of the branches as they had been trained all upwards and crisscrossed to fit in the box, and watered it. It's been outside on warm days and inside at night.

Any notes I should take in will be welcomed, I have read the species guide and general guides on here.

Nice to meet you all,
Churb

Hi Churb!

Posting a photo of the plant might help sorts.

Grocery bonsais or "mallsais" generally dont serve well. Most are little more than just sticks jabbed in a pot, or in ur case, a card board box (that should have been a deterrant from buying it in the first place)

I'm not saying ur plant is hopeless but there's a good chance it might not be ideal. However, for the purpose of getting a first taste of bonsai techniques, i say go do with it what u will. Theoretically, any woody, semi-woody tree can be turned into bonsai. I wouldn't expect much of it though, being mallsai, it's probably unhealthy to start with. Without a photo its hard to define, but depending on ur current plants health and development, Im guessing it probably still needs to grow for several years before it actually becomes suitable material to become bonsai, and even then it will still need years in training before it can be considered as a bonsai tree. If u really want a leg up in starting ur bonsai, best find a club u can join or find a reputable dealer who can provide you with suitable material.
Do a lot of reading, i mean A LOT OF READING but dont go doin the first thing u read. Look at other references. U'll find theres different means and approaches to deal with a certain issue about ur plant. After visiting different forums, reading, and watching videos u'll start to get the basics down and thats when the real work beggins. Mostly its just common sense.

Always keep in mind that bonsai is an art and wat would work for one project might not necessarily work for the next.
Bottom line. U should feel happy and fullfilled when you're working a project, with the satisfaction level increasing as u start to see ur "baby" gradually moving towards ur end design. The only way you'll acheive that is getting everything down first. Its ur plant, and even after all the hours reaserching and watching videos and staring at the plant, in the end experiance will be ur best teacher. Hone in ur resolve and take the plunge my friend. U'll feel awesome once u have a project in earnest. Try this link, This guy knows wat hes talking bout.

www.bonsaihunk.us

Good Luck!

Best,

JP