hello,yup your ficus should do well.might wanna let it be for awile then trim some more. the chinese elm i collected from a ditch,theres sevral arround here that are naturally bonsaid by the deer. your ficus is looking well frog
This may be a bit of a silly question but whenever I try to root cuttings in water, the water evaporates eventually over the span of a few weeks or even a couple of months (as it should). Does it upset the chemicals or hormones in the water if I keep diluting it/topping up the water level? Should I make another solution of rooting hormone and water and top up my glass of ficus cuttings when the existing water now evaporates?
its ok to top it off,ficus really dont need the hormons but it would induce rooting faster.what i do is cover the top of the glass container with tin foil and poke the stems thru,still gotta fill it once in awile but not as often
Hmm. I'll see what I can do with the bunch of cuttings. Thanks again. Have you ever thought of making a bonsai forest? Not just individual trees. Also, have you done the root-over-rock technique? Developing aerial roots? Bagging and keeping the roots humid until they reach the ground takes an immense amount of patience, dedication and care, and while I'm willing to lavish plenty on my trees, I'm not sure if I should be messing with the roots or the humidity. If you have any good books about ficus and the techniques for helping bonsai along, I'd be up for any suggestions. I know I won't be doing any right now but it helps to visualize and there are some things that may have to be started early. I've done some aggressive searching online about ficus retusa but the information is repetitive and there's only so much I can glean.
my maple seedlings are for a forrest.gonna take awile tho. i had a root over rock ficus a few years back but it died when the wind blew it off the deck when i was out of town it was dead befor i got to it books,,bonsai basics is a good one,,so is the art of bonsai,i found both at the local public library back to root over rock ,,works good (for me annyway)to wrap the roots arround the rock and put that just under the soil,let that develop for awile then dig it up and replant it exsposeing the roots (easy to do with a ficus) frog
I see. Out of curiosity, how long will it take for your maple seedlings to mature? I'm sorry to hear about the ficus. Thanks for the suggestions (book and rock planting). Actually what you mentioned about going out of town brought up another alarming question. I can't let someone into my house and don't know of anyone I can trust with trees near where I live. If it were the juniper, I would readily pass the tree to a friend to tend for a week or so if I'm on vacation. But what about this ficus which is now in a relatively hefty pot and doesn't like to be moved around? I was looking at some of those gel water beads and I know there are watering systems you can buy but I'm wondering if there's a simpler solution. I know bonsai shops sometimes babysit a bonsai but they're expensive.
It will probly take 5-8 years before i can biuld the forrest with those trees.i may biuld one soon with diffrent stock thou this year or next, still lookin for the right tray to biuld it in. watter((( i useally have a niebor watch my trees.
Sounds exciting. All the best on your forest/group planting. I'm sort of holding my breath right now - the calm before the storm, for all the leaves to drop due to change in environment etc. Only time will tell and I'll keep you posted. By the way I also made 5 azalea cuttings the other day, they're in soil with a baggie around them. No plans really, just experimenting. Planting these plants into smaller pots are exciting but worrisome. It's like having a pet - they can't sustain themselves for long. I may be moving away for uni in two years and this is a real bummer. If it comes to this I don't know how I'll move the trees, if they can actually survive shipping or what. Guess we'll cross one bridge at a time.
Yes Yes,keep us posted. Allso if you get anny new trees (nercery stock or collected) post them up.Ill post up new stuff allso.This thread is like the official bonsai thread for hippys. one more thing,,when you say UNI,are you talking of the university of northern iowa,just currios. peace frog
Yup over 50 posts on this thread,i think thats allmost a record for the gardning forrum. Annyone one eles in here grow bonsai?
Will do. I meant Uni, meaning university, masters somewhere. We'll see. I'm just thrilled that there's at least you here who's into "bonsai". I'll put that in quotations because there's the traditional and then there's the less conventional. You know I read some articles about the spacing, no even numbers, branches should be so and so, how it should be potted, how the roots must be shown etc, that I nearly wanted to throw my hands up in the air because everything seemed so rigid, controlled, full of rules, no space for creativity. Having said that, all of those are likely very good to know because there will be very traditional bonsai enthusiasts (whom I have nothing against either, mind you) who may think less of people like me who are not as apt to stick to the rules... least of all if I have an even number of branches! I would much rather take in the tree itself and go along with its nature and if the 14th branch looks good, then it looks good. Any why shouldn't a bonsai in a rectangular pot be placed in the middle? Or a tree in a polygon-shaped pot be placed to the side? With time and a little help from the trees, I'd hope to one day prove these wrong. That there is no right way in pruning, in placing as long as it causes no harm nor difficulty with the trees' ability to flourish. _________________________________ Recently I also came across a website with a plethora of bonsai lovers drooling and lusting over trees in the gallery section. Some comments were unnerving and disturbing to me. They revolved around ownership, hinted at trees being a form of wealth and a crazed type of material possession. I was disgusted. Are we not simply borrowing these lives (of trees) from nature? How dare anyone claim ownership, lust after ownership of the trees, demand extravagant prices for what is priceless? It was ridiculous. I felt embarassed. I felt ashamed all of a sudden to be associated with "bonsai", this maniacal commodification of wonderful life. I felt sick. For awhile now I've been wrestling with the idea of not knowing where my tree (just the juniper at the time) would go when I am dead or gone. I was troubled, even restless. Who would take care of them? But now I know that if anything should happen to me, I would want these trees returned to the ground. It doesn't matter how long they have been bonsai'd, or how long it has taken to reach them to a particular state of "pleasing beauty". I never want them to be shuffled back and forth, owned like a cold necklace of gold by some lustful maniac and prized only for its monetary value and a thing to be prized and hoarded. That's my small message for today and I hope people interested in bonsai read this and realize the absurdity and disrespect of the aforementioned behaviour.
Oh ya THAT MANTALITY STARTED WITH THE LITERLTI OF CHINNA (A GROUP OF ARTIST MONKS) WOOP cap button.Tyring to bring nature closer to them for insperation.Then the japanese empiers who show there welth with there trees and gardens. yup like annything with the ancient monks there are rules,spaced branches ,pot size and placement highth and so on and so on. the rules do help with makeing a nice lookin tree.When i start a new tree i keep the rules in mind but stray from them verry fast.Non of my trees are correct ,branches straight accross from each other and with unnatural curves,placed in the pots in a uncorrect place. My wife and i are artists by trade non of my art follows the rules ( i use the rules to start but then get alittle rebelus and crazzy,)we are hippy artists and folks seem to like that about us thus keepoing us alive financally.i approch bonsai the same way,i want trees that reflect my style not the style of the literitti of chinna 3000 years ago. yes i aree with you,trees are there own being and are not annyones property.If annything my trees own me as i think of them more than they probly think of me. ive seen trees behind security and ive seen trees with chains and locks goin thru thru the pot to prevent theft.Some serius collectors even buy insurance for there trees. all that jazz is uptight thiking,i dont the trees would appreate it after all we take them from there home in the first place and wose yet we trwist and contort,and controll them. this thinking makes me ill,i like my trees to be wild and free,ill help them along but its up to them.
I'll be reading up a lot more on bonsai after tomorrow when my books come in - likely with a lot more questions. It seems there aren't any others interested in this but I'd be happy to discuss whatever comes to mind. I'm glad you feel the same way too about the trees. You've used the word 'hippy' a few times... like hippy bonsai thread and hippy artists. Though I don't really know what it is to be a quintessential "hippy"?
the thought that in many asian families, bonsai trees (some of which are 80+ years old) are handed from one generation to another, is kind of special to me. i think it has something to do with the fact, that they're living, growing entities which have been part of your family for so long, as opposed to jewelry and other materialistic possessions that people usually inherit. then again...a friend of mine once brought up that she thinks cultivating bonsais is unnatural and perverted since it means "holding down" a tree (through various techniques like cutting, water deprivation, small pots in order to prevent the roots from growing etc.) that would have otherwise been an impressive, huge tree full of strength and life. She got that right...I think.
Yes, it does strike me as unnatural at first also. But I've no care for these holier than thou individuals. Most plants are trimmed as well. Look at the typical hedges and house garden. Most house plants should also be trimmed and pruned at the roots when they're repotted (annually or between longer intervals). How is this any different from bonsai? It's rather hypocritical. You're right that these trees are loved and cared for most of the time, with abnormal amounts of dedication and devotion poured into them. The way that the "art" is confined to a plethora of rules is a breeding ground for those who are quick to condemn the whole issue. In my opinion, bonsai is a fancy term for "groomed trees". Does your friend feel the same way about pets? Those cutesy little things in clothes? The ones put into shows? The creatures that are unnaturally potty trained and neutered? If one wants to be so extreme and harsh in their judgement, it would make sense to condemn a whole lot more than just "bonsai". For the most part, this thread was not created to debate whether bonsai is good, bad or ugly, although you bring up great points. If you wish, a poll would be interesting. Please create another thread if you wish to debate the entire issue altogether. Thanks. I'd like this thread not have any questions or techniques drowned out by things that have little to do with helping others out. edit: I'm sorry also if my rantings in the earlier post were misleading. I was very shocked with the behaviour more of commodification of life rather than a tree being passed from one generation to another as a beautiful heirloom. The money seems to sully the whole picture but that's just me. I'm undecided as to whether this is abominable or if I was just so naive when I came across that site and the tone of voice there. Whether or not the entire thing is good or bad should be left to another thread.
She is nothing like a preaching jerk, rather a "live-and-let-live" kind of person…"hippie-esque" if you want to call it that way, with mixed views when it comes to human interference in nature. She likes to let things grow wild and free I guess and I do think she holds an interesting view when she questions if it's necessary to keep a tree from growing just for the sake of personal aesthetic preferences. It IS different with trees, seeing that – as I stated before - they would have otherwise been an impressive appearance…it's a bit like those obscenely unnatural small-sized/bred dogs (pugs etc.) that people request because they think it’s cute. Well, I didn’t really say this…but yeah, now that you mention it, it probably has a lot to do with the question whether or not art should be performed on organisms. Absolutely, we both resent that to the point where we wouldn't even visit zoos (not mention circuses). In fact, I love animals so much that I choose not to own a pet. I can't see how they would prefer to live in an apartment in a crowded city…that is if they had a choice to begin with. That’s cool, I leave it at this. I wouldn’t have cared enough to create another thread.[font="] [/font]
Heya Woodenfrog, My ficus cuttings rooted beautifully in the water (the only ones that have in water). I've put them in a pot for now but the only small pot I have at the moment is a "bonsai" pot. I've got not-so-fond memories of placing young plants in mediumsized or normal pots where their roots rotted. So this will do for now. About 12 cuttings rooted, tied in bunches of 3 or 4 here. Waiting for stems to fuse and for all to grow. If I'm doing anything wrong or if you have suggestions, let me know.
wow frog, that stump is really cool. i'd always thought of something like that but didn't think it was possible! i just found this thread and it's a bit old but im sure you guys are still around. it would be great if there were a bonsai-specific forum on hipforums...
