New to Bonsai growing! (Fukien Tea)

[spookedhippie]

Well thought it time to share an update. The tree is doing well. The leaves have stopped falling off and there seems to be a lot of new buds growing very quickly.

Now the new additions!

I found another fukien tree in a garden shop by me that was at such a silly price i had to buy it. It seems in amazing condition but I'm going to leave well alone till its adjusted:



Then the addition I'm most excited about is my baby Maple. I brought this at christmas (what started this whole interest) as a starter kit. Of course it went in the fridge and i've been following the instructions very closely. However after it came out of the fridge the 3-6 weeks till you see action was a little exaggeratted. After 4 days this little guy has sprung up! Its showing signs of getting greener everyday so I'm really happy that this kit has worked. I think there is at least one more that is still growing its roots so hopefully i'll see it emerge in a few days/weeks:


Hopefully these two will run a little more smoothly than my first but i definately have the bug!

[spookedhippie]

right think i need some advice. A second sprout seems to have shooted up but they seem to be growing quite fast and the box says when they hit 2 inches to plant them into a pot. They provide one terracota pot but would it be better to place them in a very small bonsai pot with humidty tray? I've seen them at my plant store but have no idea!

[FLBonsai]

right think i need some advice. A second sprout seems to have shooted up but they seem to be growing quite fast and the box says when they hit 2 inches to plant them into a pot. They provide one terracota pot but would it be better to place them in a very small bonsai pot with humidty tray? I've seen them at my plant store but have no idea!

spookedhippie,

For potting any bonsai material you should first consider how large you want the trunk of the tree when it is "finished". If you want a maple with a 5inch diameter trunk you would want to continually pot it up till it was in a large container that would allow it to flourish.

If you place your maple spout into a bonsai pot its growth will be severely limited as compared to a regular growing pot.

[spookedhippie]

Thank you very much FL! So in other words a bonsai pot is the final stag of repotting once I'm happy with the size of the tree?

[Gnome]

spookedhippie,

Developing a bonsai from a seedling or cutting is a long process that takes years or perhaps even decades if you desire a larger specimen. Pot your seedlings into appropriately sized individual containers. Over the years pot them up as necessary while all the while guiding the roots toward an eventual nebari.
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... 8639#18639

For deciduous trees you need not do much the first season and, depending upon species and your plans, perhaps no pruning to the top at all for quite a while.

Elms, for instance will break bud readily on old wood so you could grow one out for ten years if you wish just to chop it back to within a few inches of the ground.
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... 2841#22841

Maples might take a little more forethought, but still hands off for the immediate future. This first year is just going to be a 'growing year' Just water and feed it.

Norm

[spookedhippie]

thanks for the link Gnome, so I'm trying to have a set of flat roots? Looking at the instructions i was givn it seems i won't be oing much for 3 years at least but it does say that once they grown slightly more i need o repot them in their own pots with soil, i presume that is the right thing to do?