I am not *completely* new to bonsai, but I may as well be.
I have had bonsai before, but they never survived long. Part of this is because I am a full time college student, and my permanent residence (PA) is on the other side of the country from my college (AZ). This summer, my plants seem to be doing remarkably well, but I thought I would have the foresight to ask for advice ahead of time so I'm more informed when bumps come along. Feel free to tell me I've got delusions. There are pictures here: [url]https://picasaweb.google.com/cftalo/Bonsai#[/url]
The first tree has been dubbed "Dan" - short for a fantasy language translation of "Long Branch." I'm the weird sort of person who names everything.
I got Dan in AZ from a traveling bonsai salesman. I've heard good and bad things about buying touristy type bonsai, but I talked with the guy a while, and it seemed he knew what he was talking about. And the tree that I did end up buying seemed to have this healthy air about it - something I'd never noticed in any other trees I'd bought. The guy's instructions to me were to keep the plant moist, the humidity high, and to frequently put the plant outside. AZ doesn't have the nicest climate, so I only put him outside after the brutal morning sun had passed into the shade of the building, and I took him inside each night to avoid said sun. I believed I didn't have to mist the tree because the pot Dan came in is a split pot - one side tree, the other side a tiny pond.Dan did great all the way until the ride home, and a little bit after. This was my first time driving home (with my bf) and I knew that the climate change would be rough on the tree - I'd discussed it with the guy I bought it from. We carefully held him on our laps and watered him whenever he dried out a little. This was frequently, because I didn't want to water too much and have it drain out the hole in the bottom into my lap and all over the floor of my car.
There's a picture of him on my lap - he has a long trailing branch which we tucked inside the pond side so it wouldn't accidentally get stuck on something. A week or so after I got home, Dan had developed some brown spots, which I'd expected. The BF is good with plants and explained it: "He's got a cold."So the pictures are of Dan and his shrinking brown spots. He has a trunk that twists around itself. My future plans for him are more maintenance - someone has already done the bulk of the styling for me, all I need to do is maintain it. The guy I bought it from said that when bonsai need to be re-potted, the roots start mounding up at the base of the trunk. Dan's already had quite a mound when I got him, so I think it's soon time to re-pot him. the only other thing I'd like to do is perhaps gently loosen the curl of his trunk so that I can have him curl around something like the quartz point that is sitting in the pot.
Ok so I'm home for the summer, and Mom and I are perusing the garden when we come across this small maple sapling. "Aww, how cute!" I say. Mom half frowns "I don't want that there..." and she moves to pull it up. I gasp in shock. "Don't do that! I want it!"
Long story short, I now also have a maple seedling. I do not know what kind of maple it is (yet), but I suspect it is either a Norway or a Red because those are the most common here. I went to a nearby nursery and bought a pot, some plant food (used for Dan too), and soil. I got some screening to cover the holes - Mom uses coffee filters for her potted plants, but it didn't drain enough to suit my tastes. I was rather impressed with the bag of soil because we'd debated going and getting gravel for drainage in the bottom of the pot, but the soil was half gravel-type. I mixed it with some potting soil because our natural soil has a lot of clay in it, and I didn't want it to be quite THAT much of a change. So I potted it up, put it on my windowsill with Dan, watered it regularly and waited with baited breath.
I just wanted to interject here that I know bonsai are supposed to be outside, but I've mentioned this whole "killer of plants" thing? Half the problem was that I'd forget to water, and if the plants are on my windowsill next to my bed, I don't forget this. The window is open a lot, and gets quite a bit of sun in the afternoon. When it is no longer chilly and rainy here, I will venture out with them and put them outside during the day.
A week later, and I notice that Dan's brown spots are shrinking and he's got a TON of new buds, and the maple has sprouted new leaves! Let me take a moment to bask, this whole concept of my plants actually growing is just amazing to me.
The maple is going to be a challenge - skinny, rather tall, completely untrained. The main trunk was already broken when I dug it up. I did some shopping and sort of liked this: [url]https://home.versateladsl.be/graulusjl/bonsai%20acer%20palmatum%20japonica.html[/url]
That's the idea, anyways - informal upright.
I finally realized that bonsai things take a long time; that's probably what I was doing wrong before, is trying to rush things. So I haven't done anything in the way of training, I just want to have a picture in my head.
) of bonsai especially for evergreens like your Juniper. The soil should not be staying constantly damp, by the way.
But getting misconceptions out of the way is exactly what I was looking for, so thanks. 