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applestar
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Re: bonsai newbie

There are really a huge number of "fig" (ficus) species and the bonsai you saw is probably not the familiar edible fig but something with small fruits and leaves -- ficus microcarpa or maybe misletoe fig?

imafan26
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Bonsai is an art, and at age 13, you have plenty of time to master the craft. The lesson you have to learn the most is patience. Choose your tree carefully, you want one that has character. Fruit and flowers are not the main attraction, the trunk and branch placement is much more important in bonsai. It takes time to look at a tree and envision what it can become. Most people choose a tree and then pick a style, but most beginners think of the style they want and try to make a tree look like it. Some trees are more amenable to certain styles than others. It is easier to go with the style that best fits the tree than the other way around. Bonsai masters take a lot of time studying a tree to decide which branches should be kept, which to cut, and where to cut to get the branch to bush out in the right direction. Most bonsai trees are trees that should be living outdoors most of the year. If you want an indoor bonsai, you will have to limit your selection of genera. Putting a tree in a pot does not make it a bonsai. Chopping the top off a tree willy nilly isn't either.

To answer your other question, sakura cherry blossoms are edible and they do produce fruit, but they are primarily ornamental and you have to be careful since you cannot eat them in quantity as they contain coumarin. Sakura are bare most of the year, they are not pretty trees when they are not in bloom. They are in bloom for about 2 weeks a year. In Hawaii, they bloom around February but the Okinawan ones can bloom later. The weather has to be just right for the trees to be full of flowers. In warm years blooming is sparse.

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Seananers
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rainbowgardener wrote:" I'm only 13 years old so I have plenty of time to devote to making a full blown bonsai." :D

Indeed!
yes quite :)

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Seananers
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imafan26 wrote:Bonsai is an art, and at age 13, you have plenty of time to master the craft. The lesson you have to learn the most is patience. Choose your tree carefully, you want one that has character. Fruit and flowers are not the main attraction, the trunk and branch placement is much more important in bonsai. It takes time to look at a tree and envision what it can become. Most people choose a tree and then pick a style, but most beginners think of the style they want and try to make a tree look like it. Some trees are more amenable to certain styles than others. It is easier to go with the style that best fits the tree than the other way around. Bonsai masters take a lot of time studying a tree to decide which branches should be kept, which to cut, and where to cut to get the branch to bush out in the right direction. Most bonsai trees are trees that should be living outdoors most of the year. If you want an indoor bonsai, you will have to limit your selection of genera. Putting a tree in a pot does not make it a bonsai. Chopping the top off a tree willy nilly isn't either.

To answer your other question, sakura cherry blossoms are edible and they do produce fruit, but they are primarily ornamental and you have to be careful since you cannot eat them in quantity as they contain coumarin. Sakura are bare most of the year, they are not pretty trees when they are not in bloom. They are in bloom for about 2 weeks a year. In Hawaii, they bloom around February but the Okinawan ones can bloom later. The weather has to be just right for the trees to be full of flowers. In warm years blooming is sparse.
thanks for the advice man that was really helpful :D. in all honesty I really wasn't to interested in the fruit and flowers I was just a bit curious. I'll take all this into consideration when I get my tree.

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Seananers
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applestar wrote:There are really a huge number of "fig" (ficus) species and the bonsai you saw is probably not the familiar edible fig but something with small fruits and leaves -- ficus microcarpa or maybe mistletoe fig?
yeah I looked up other fig bonsai's and I'm pretty sure the one I saw was a mistletoe fig :)



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