Hey everyone!

As some of you might know already, I am owning a Podocarpus Macrophyllus aka The Buddhist Pine and for the past 4 weeks I've been intensively studying and preparing myself to repot the tree in the right way. After countless hours of study me and my tree started to get to know eachother more and more up till the point I felt confident in the decisions I was going to make. Now, with the help of a more experienced man in the Bonsai field, I have brought the following changes:

-The new soil is a mixture of Akadama, Kanuma, Volcanic rock and zeolites.

-We have also cut some pretty good looking branches because they were less than 1cm close to one another and shaped the remaining ones.

For the moment I am thinking on making the lower left branch a "sacrifice branch" in order to thicken the trunk. The root system was quite nice, many thin roots but unfortunately is lacking in thick ones (meaning it doesn't have any strong principal roots). As you might see in the photos, I do have some pretty old 1/2 y.o. leafs left so my question would be "When should i start pruning the branches to encourage massive buds growth? Should it be in a month/3 months/6 months?" I would really love to see the tree blossoming and growing thick and healthy but I would love some estimation from other people as well. Moreover, because the bonsai has been pruned, repoted and wired last Tuesday, I will start fertilizing it with the beginning of June. Any tricks or pieces of advice would be more than welcome, I know I have to wait quite some time to see results but hey, any pieces of information are valuable!

S-bend, branch half-way growing up... congratulations, you have managed to create a mallsai.

I am not sure if that is a real congratulations or not hehe... I have just started my bonsai journey when I bought this S-bend Podocarpus in December last year. As every beginner, I fell in love with the perfect shape and I thought that is the way a bonsai should look like. It was later on when I start digging deeper and realize that more uneven shapes are appreciated in a Bonsai. I have read some articles saying that the transformation is from Mallsai to Bonsai that's why I am a bit confused when you say that I created a Mallsai. My biggest downside is that I live in an apartment so I have no possibility of buying an outdoor tree, so until this will change I will have to practice on indoors

Røng wrote:

I have read some articles saying that the transformation is from Mallsai to Bonsai...

That's a long and difficult road, and 90% of the time it leads to frustration.
But trying anyway is a good way to learn, if you have the patience.

Thank you Clicio! Well no easy road brought real satisfaction did it? My only concern is, on a market with small demand such as Romania, you will mostly be finding mallsai trees since very few people will spend more than 15-20$ for a plant. How can I find the difference between a mallsai and a proper bonsai? What features should an INDOOR tree have to be called bonsai? You see, the fact that Auk said i have managed to create a mallsai pretty much disappointed me but at the same time is my first tree and it has a special place in my heart. My only problem now is that when i will buy my next tree i want to be able to identify whether is a bonsai or mallsai. Hope you can help me out on this one!

Røng wrote:

I am not sure if that is a real congratulations or not hehe... I have just started my bonsai journey when I bought this S-bend Podocarpus in December last year. As every beginner, I fell in love with the perfect shape and I thought that is the way a bonsai should look like. It was later on when I start digging deeper and realize that more uneven shapes are appreciated in a Bonsai.

It is symmetry that is not appreciated in bonsai. It is not natural. What you have done is shape a tree according to your (incorrect) image of a bonsai.
Don't do that. You should not try to make your plant look like a bonsai, you should try and make your bonsai look like a tree.

Well Auk, this is where you are wrong. I have also attached a photo with the shape the bonsai had when I bought it, all I did was to help the tree survive and develop in a healthy way. The S-shape wasn't given by me but by the people in the nursery.

The way I placed the branches was nothing else than helping the tree assimilate as much light as possible and also give it an elegant movement. I have put so much love into this tree and I've gotten a stronger bound with the nature through it while intensively studying for the past months. My journey in the Bonsai Art has started only 6 months ago and I believe that absolutely nobody in this group, not even you, has managed to create something artistic with their first tree. Let's face it, the majority of us have started with a Mallsai and then started to deepen their knowledge and found what shape and qualities a tree should have. I have gotten a bit offended when you said I managed to create a Mallsai like all I want to do is to sell a piece of wood to some dummies for 15-20$ like some nurseries do. I am more than happy with the tree I've got and as long as I treat it right and support its healthy development then I can say that my soul can have peace. At the end of the day, Bonsai is an art and everybody can express themselves through it while getting bounded with the nature, there is no wrong or right.

I am not here to ask for help such as "Please help me identify my bonsai" so if there is any help or tip you would like to share with me regarding my bonsai then I would be more than happy to hear. Criticism is fine also but only if is constructive

Røng, I’m sure Auk didn’t want to do any harm for you. What I see, those here, who’s working years and even decades on one tree to make it as best as possible and could call it bonsai, they had more than enough newcomers who’s bought a young Chinese mallsai labeled as Bonsai, and didn’t want to understand the difference between 20 minutes and 20 years.
If you look around in the older threads, you’ll find trees which labeled mallsai, or even ugly at first, but their owners proven wrong the skeptics to create a valuable Bonsai from it in years. Those trees are what they are now, and it’s just upon us, if we can make better with time.

I try to see the bright side If we buy a 40 yo oak yamadori from a reputable nursery from €€€ like beginner.. Would you dare to touch it without any experience? Me not... So the theoretical side we can learn easily, but I need those patient zeros, to near the brain stuff, put something in my hands also.

Now just don’t get fed up if someone say something about your tree, cause it is, what is is. Is up to you, to prove them wrong with time and patience, or better to say that, you prove that you can make something interesting and unique from your tree.

I thinking about where you can buy valuable indoor stuff. I’ve got more lucky at least with the balcony.. So some mediterranean trees maybe can successfully kept inside if you’re good enough, specially if you can keep the window open day and night in the summer. If I’m in your place, I look around in the nurserys.

And change the flat! I believe you have the finest yamadoris around you!

Thank you so much Felidae for you kind words!

That is exactly what I tried to point out, I am not here to ask basic or dumb questions, I am here because I want to learn about Bonsai! Seeing such a great community here I was hoping to find a lot of Bonsai enthusiasts that are willing to support newcomers into developing their passion with some pieces of advice or some hints. I do understand that leatherback, Clicio, Auk, Mimo and many others are pioneers in bonsai but we shouldn't count everyone as a newbie that comes here, drops a question and never comes back and I thought I've made myself clear about my intention throughout my previous posts on the forum.

Nevertheless, I've spent 50€ on the pot and other 20€ on soils, fungicide and fertilizers summed up by DAILY care just because trees are very valuable for me and I do not intent on keeping it only as a hobby.

However, I am going to buy some more bonsai trees soon in order to practice my skills and as you said to near the brain stuff My only concern now is how exactly do I identify a good tree material from other Mallsais? What are the details I should pay attention at? It needs to follow a specific natural shape? It needs to not be S-bend? It has to have a thick trunk? What exactly should I look for? If anyone has the answer then please let me know!

Once again Felidae, thank you for your wonderful message! Much love to your Podocarpus cuties!

Røng wrote:

Thank you so much Felidae for you kind words!

Your welcome, but I didn’t meant to be.. I just typed how I currently see the situation

How exactly do I identify a good tree material from other Mallsais?

That will be the noob answering to noob case
What I’ve got, the most valuable part is the root base and the trunk taper, but those rarely we can score in the garden center (see my ridiculous olive.. I have an idea to fix it, but it’s a different topic). Read about those, and also from structure and traditional forms from different sources. Actually in that site, also have info

Much love to your Podocarpus cuties!

Never do that again...