Hi bbf,

Wow...that's a big rock! Should look good tho. I went to my first meeting recently with a Bonsai club and someone mentioned gently wrapping the cone-shaped pile of soil with dampened sphagnum moss then gently wrapping the moss with some wire. The purpose of the moss is to help keep the soil from washing a way and to keep the roots hydrated. The purpose of the wire is, of course, to hold it all together. Then just mist it daily with water in a spray bottle. It might be wise not to do too much more to this one until it fully recovers from the injury and the re-planting onto the rock. I'm *rootin'* for this little Scheff!

Leslie

good idea, thanks leslie!

Hm.. Only 3 weeks ago you thought the plant was not going to make it, and now you have done extensive rootwork? Just remember: A good bonsai is made in years, not months. Rather take it slower, otherwise the risk of loosing plants becomes serious. The rule of thumb is: Never do serious wiring with 3-6 months of root-trimming, or vice versa. And always work on plants that are healthy and strong. If they are not: First get them back to health, for instance by placing them in a somewhat larger pot and providing them with plenty of fertilizer & TLC. They are living organisms and they do need time to recover for every shock.

It is a little bit like putting you in hospital with pneumonia, and the day that you kick the pneumonia, I tell you; Let's hike across the rockies. You would consider that unwise too right?

that is a completely different plant. the damaged plant is now just a stump with roots attached to it. it's sitting in the ground and I'm hoping it might still sprout leaves, but nothing yet. i bought a few different scheffs to try different approaches with the same plant.

Might be an idea to separate threads if you are talking about different plants, to keep it clear for all? I *think* leslie also thought it was the same plant..

if so, it was not my intention to add confusion. i explained how the tree had suffered some abuse and was, possibly, not going to make it. i offered to show some other plants (same species), that i was working on for those that wanted to see more pics of the umbrella tree. since this is the only topic i have see about this species in this forum, i thought it would be alright to post them here. i thought that those who had been following the thread, were aware of that, by then. i can see how it could be difficult to distinguish the plants from the pictures, alone.

Hi bbf,

I must admit, I thought it was the original Scheff you were talking about since this one too is a stump and I figured since you had tied a smaller one to it, that's where the leaves were coming from. Now I understand.

Perhaps in your future "Schefflera" posts you could come up with some kind of indentification system for the various trees ie: Scheff #1, Scheff #2 and so on or whatever idea you think might work best.

Leatherback is wise however, in advising to take it slow as the bonsai process is a very gradual one that requires much patience. There is a lot to remember so I have purchased a couple of note books...one is for general notes and the other is divided into three sections in which I will keep records and dates for each one of my trees as reminder of whenever work has been done on it as well as notes on the results and progression.

There is a wealth of information in the Main Menu of the site (upper left corner of this page) describing the various time periods between potting, chopping, trimming, pruning, training, etc. as each one of these actions creates a stress from which your bonsai needs a recovery period. Otherwise the plant becomes weakened making it susceptable to disease and other health issues.

I very much enjoy your sharing, enthusiasm and determination. Keep up the hard work!

Leslie

i understand, a few of the different trees look almost exactly the same. i will try to be more specific with future pictures.

Names work too. I got a group planting of aralias from Menards and I named them Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Or a simple thing you could do is purchase a package of colored paper and a package of popsicle sticks. Then glue/tape a little square of colored paper to a stick, then push the stick in the soil. The different colors could represent different plants.