Hey guys,

Just made an account on here and researching about Bonsai recently.

I'm still living with my parents and I don't think they will be comfortable with a full garden of Bonsai. The garden is already pretty full. I want to start with like 3 trees or so.

I find a big trunk with nice Nebari attractive. However an almost final product is out of reach for my budget. And I stil need to learn how to keep it healthy.

My idea is to start growing some trees in large pots. I know maybe the field would be better but we have lots of big trees in our front garden that blocks out lots of light. In my back garden we have lots of tiles and mostly plants in pots. Do you guys think it would be wise to learn how to keep them healthy and make the trunk thicker also with lots of sacrifice branches etc in the larger pots? In my back garden I can put them in good sunlight if needed.

Or should I do 2 in larger pots and buy 1 Bonsai already in pot and make a smaller bonsai with less height and just a less thick trunk? Do train both skills in larger and small pot care.

So far I like maples. Junipers and Zelkova with formal / informal upright style.

Do I need expensive soil like akadama in the big pots? Or is a small amount also fine mixed with cheaper substrates. Also has a cheaper substrate a significant difference on the growth speed?

I find that growing in pots works well too. The process is slower than ground growing, but may eventually lead to better trees because they grow slower and you therefor respond better.

in pots, just make sure you use something that does not stay overly wet for too long. "drowning roots" is a problem for plants.

In the end, the main question is what you would like to have in the end. Big fat trees? Or more elegant tall ones. I for one can appreciate both, and I am growing out a number of maples in bonsai pots, allowing them to slowly increase in size, each year the tree gets a bit bigger.

I'm a big fan of big base with nice Nebari and lots of texture.

But anything really looking like a tiny classic tree with good proportion would be nice as well.

Do you have any recommendations for soil for bigger pots? What about growing them on a tile (in a pot) to make the Nebari better and easier to repot?

Should I buy something pre bonsai to grow further in a big pot?

Beside I'm not growing them in big numbers. I assume that lots of trees after years of growing don't really fit into a nice bonsai? So beside training you also need luck? Or is a lot of material possible to convert into bonsai given good training sessions?

I feel that bonsai is not about getting a plant, planting it and forgetting. You can correct many flaws over time. Especially with broadleaf deciduous trees you can do a lot of work on roots and branches allowing you develop most plants into decent bonsai, given time and effort.

You can read here what I use as substrate, for all bonsai projects in pot: www.growingbonsai.net/characteristics-of-good-bonsai-substrate/

I am not sure how much more you would get from a tile compared to frequent rootwork.

Your Dutch right. Can you send me a link where you buy all the stuff?

Whats the prize of 10l of this all mixed?

How much litres pots would you use for training and thickening trunk? For maple, juniper sp etc.

What size training pot is nice to thicken/ grow out maple sp for several years before transferring to a smaller pot?

Many approaches. I would recommend starting with a smallish shallow container, and upsizing a bit each year. THat way you avoid watering problems due to too large a container.