bonsainoob23 wrote:

Another question, I know I'm still new to the bonsai world and shouldn't rush into things, but do most of you have several plants? Seems like bonsai-Ing takes a lot of patience and the plants take months or years to grow. It seems that if I want to get really good at this hobby it's probably good to have several plants so I can get exposed to more species and get to trim/style them more frequently.

Yup. THat is a good strategy. But be carefull that you do not go overboard. It is VERY easy to get a lot of plants. It is very hard to get a lot of good plants. I have taking a bilateral approach: I grow from seed an cuttings, all 10-20 year projects (5-10 years in ground growing, then trimming all off, and restarting the tree, in a pot), combined with some pieces I have have been given, bought or found along the way.

I started seriously with bonsai in 2011. I now have some 60 plants in pots. I have 2 growing beds; One at my house, about 5*2 metres with currently some 15 plants on it and a 100m2 plot in a gardening community, which has a lot of seedlings, and by springtime this section will have over 200 plants on there. Mainly for practicing. In the end, I will sell off most of them for silly prices, just to help me cover cost for wire & pots.

Of the 60 in pots, I have 20 or so that will become a bonsai in my care, most of the others I expect I will give up in the next 5 years, as they are just not interesting enough. Maybe 5 of them are now alread brushing towards being a bonsai, and they may get nice pots, rather than plastic dishes this winter. Assuming I can find the right pot..

In any case: I have so much material growing, that starting april to the end of summer, I always have something to do, from wiring or removing wirte to trimming & repotting. And of course, thinking. Looking. Putting it back and think some more.