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Unfortunately, due to the lack of any proper bonsai, prices are crazy here. I paid 400 UK pounds for the first picture i posted here which turned out it wasn't even a bonsai. That is why i want to make sure i get the right one this time around.

I think the price of the pot was the predominant percentage of the price in the first picture.

And that was a discounted price because the pot had a crack right down the middle. Tough market here. What i will do is go and select two or three i am interested in and if it is alright with you kind folks, will post proper pics up here, go to a coffeeshop and hope someone is online to give me some feedback before purchasing. The owner was kind enough to agree for me to switch the one i have now with one of the more developed ones, which of course cost a little extra but happy to pay if it means a more developed one that i have hope in keeping healthy.

OK with me

don't forget, this is as much your forum as it is ours, that is, not including the obvious fact that the admin technically owns it.

Fine with me too, but I wonder if maybe you should give it some time and first try to learn what a good bonsai looks like?
It's hard for us to determine the quality of a tree from a photo only. While, for example, that cascading tree (bottom left) looks nice at first glance, that rock might be hiding a trunk that's not interesting at all - making the whole tree less worthwhile. The third tree too looks nice at first glance, but the trunk is relatively too thin. It might be possible to bring the branches into proportion by shortening them, but again, that's not so easy to see on this photo.

Try to make photos from different angles and close-ups of the trunk base and roots.

here is a link on more bonsai aesthetics. this also is what you would look for in nurseries when buying some nursery stock, of course, not all these qualities are present in nursery stock, as they are not fully trained. the thing is to also have a good eye for these things. this is what I love about bonsai: how they teach you how to look at every little detail, and how they have a big impact.

Excellent link, very informative, i know a little more know what to look for. And very kind of you to say regarding the site, i am glad i bumped into you good folks.

As the tree is already purchased, i will have to exchange it tomorrow so best try and see if i can find a good solution. Will try to get some good shots.

Shukran, thanks.

Think I am going to jump in here..

400UK pounds for that is a rip-off. Where your your "here"? (Perhaps also update your profile with your location; Care and everything depends on location).

That being said.. You are clearly just starting out. People are now advicing you to get an even more expensive tree, without being able to see what you have there, and just judge your plant by the cover. My first response to such recommendation: Why not keep this, and try whether you can keep it alive. In order to grow it in a more developed tree, and eventually a bonsai, takes a lot of skill. But on which tree would you rather develop skills.. A 400 pounds or a 750 pounds tree. Also.. I amnot sure where you live but is there no such thing as buyers protection: If you are sold somethign which is not what they claim it is, you have the right to return it?

What do you mean with 'I have to pay a little more'?

Finally.. If that guy is charging you that much, stop going there. For a fraction of the cost you can mailorder trees from reputable sellers. And the bonsai community is a friendly bunch. I can imagine people would be willing to assist you in finding a good seller. For one, if you are in the UK, Kaizen 名媛直播 has decent prices and decent starter plants.

Yes, I said starter plants. Do not buy 'finished' trees unless you know what you are doing. One bad season can put a good tree back several years. So while you are learning the quality of the tree deteriorates with evere day you look at it. (Note: If you have experienced people around you it is a different story, but based on the rip-off purchase you made, I assume you do not know people close buy that do bonsai).

Also.. I wondewr how many people on the forum have more plants that may be considered bonsai than plants that are really just starterplants / pre-bonsai. In my opinion the web is full of people that do not have fully developed bonsai. And I admit. I do not have fully developed bonsai that I would enter into competitions. What I mean to say is: YOU have to like the plant, and YOU have to be comfortable with caring for it. The label is NOT important, unless you want to win the best of british bonsai award..

Anyhow. My 2P in this.

Allow me please to also jump into this conversation too. You'll see several months ago some other user was looking for advices in this direction and this post I posted it earlier, so I'm copying it here again hoping that might help you in your quest:

David Benavente is a Spaniard 名媛直播 Artist and these are his recommendations:

1- Do not pay future at the price of the present (We should not have to pay for the tree that could be, but for what it is at that moment.)

2- Do not underestimate the risk of buying a weak or diseased plant (do not buy a plant in poor condition but if you do, the price should be so appealing that justifies the risk.)

3- Blessed are those who have found a reputable supplier (It is good to have a regular supplier, who over the years, have proven to be worthy of trust.)

4- A tree does not have to be more expensive because of being recovered (yamadori) (Sometimes trees that should not have been recovered by his lack of interest as a bonsai are charged with unjustified quantities of money only by the fact that they are yamadori.)

5- So, what is valued in prebonsai?
* Cultivation phase
* Phase of education of the rootball (nebari)
* Tapering of the trunk
* Texture of the bark and wood
* Proportion and movement
* Ramification
* Species
* Pottery

And those are my two cents as well... Oh, and I agree with Leatherback... 400 pounds seem waaaay too excesive and we firstly need to learn how to take care properly of our plants and the main condition to do so is love: We need to love and care for our plants.

Alain

leatherback wrote: Anyhow. My 2P in this.

Valid points, and I think pretty much in line with what I said.

He's in Dubai. I was hoping you would jump in, as you may a bit more about the region than we do.