名媛直播

So today my mum decided to surprise me by getting me a bonsai, having known for a while that I wanted one for a while. and as soon as I noticed I finally had a bonsai, I realized I new nothing about the art of miniaturizing trees. the woman at the shop didn't know what species it was (she doesn't often deal with bonsai). So after finding this site and using the ID my plant thing, we believe that its a Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glybtostroboides). And as you can see it has already been bonsai-ed. but now don't know what to do or what its needs are. So if anyone would be kind enough to tell me where to go from here that would be much appreciated.

FuzzBang wrote: but now don't know what to do or what its needs are. So if anyone would be kind enough to tell me where to go from here that would be much appreciated.

Hi there...

Hope this might be of help:



Alain

Hopefully you were told that it cannot be kept inside. This species needs a lot of water. Do not allow it to dry out. It is in quite a small pot, and the group that I have is similar and I re potted into a tray about half as big again. It looks to be in reasonable condition, and you cannot re pot until next spring assuming you are in the northern hemisphere that is.

m5eaygeoff wrote: It looks to be in reasonable condition, and you cannot re pot until next spring assuming you are in the northern hemisphere that is.

They also got spring on the upside-down-side, it's just in another month :silly:

Contrainer wrote: They also got spring on the upside-down-side, it's just in another month :silly:

Ha... According to the owner profile?s info, he/she lives in Lancashire, England... So, northern hemisphere and shouldn?t repot until next spring has arrived :whistle:

Alain

Ok, I missed that. These are quite commonly sold as groups, I prefer as single trees, but that's me. They will grow this year, and will need pruning to keep a shape. If you have a larger pot that you could drop into without touching the roots you could do it, but I would leave it until next spring. As I said before do not allow it to dry out. I keep mine in a tray full of water and it is filled every day. From wat we can see it has been cut and re grown, and an ugly stump has been left, this could be cleaned up at some point. But for now buy a book and read about bonsai. Learn how to water and add fertiliser, and how to look after this species. Have a look at bonsai4me.com you will find Harry has several super books for beginners as well as species guides. From where you are there are two nurseries, Greenwood 名媛直播 near Nottingham, and Willobog bonsai in Northumberland. Both worth a visit if you can,

Ok. So after a lot of reading I have some questions.
1)Is there a particular type of food I should be using for this plant, and what is usual for most bonsai? (my mum uses baby bio for her plants, is this ok?)
2)How often should i prune it back and how?
3)As you can see from the pictures there's an array of roots protruding from the drainage holes, should I do anything about that (since i cannot re-pot until next spring)
4)for growing bonsai, am I going to s=need any specialist tools, and where can I get them?

I'm also interested in getting another bonsai to start from scratch, I would like to keep it indoors and should be relatively tolerant of newbie mistakes. and maybe something that looks a bit like a juniper or ficus. so if anyone know a variety that fits and where i can get hold of a kit, that would be appreciated.
Thanks

You could cut those protruding roots off, as it wouldn't do the trees that much harm.

In another perspective, you could also put a pot slightly bigger (it does nog have to be very deep) underneath this current pot and let the roots continue the started growth in it.

Also, you could put this pot outside on the bare ground, and let the roots continue growing into the earth.

However, I'd rather put it on the surface of the earth than on a bigger pot, as nature likes to be in touch with mother earth

FuzzBang wrote: 1)Is there a particular type of food I should be using for this plant, and what is usual for most bonsai?

Generally, a slow release balanced fertilizer should suffice (that is a fertilizer with similar, if not equal, NPK proportions) from spring to autumn. Then, when autumn comes it is regarded as a good praxis employing a low or free Nitrogen fertilizer. In winter, you shouldn?t fertilize at all if the tree does not continue to develop (AKA: conifers and deciduous species, this is your case with the Dawn Redwood). Now, as possible fertilizing rates you could do it fortnightly during the months the tree is in active growth. However, it should be noticed that this would depend on the tree?s needs. Overfertilizing a tree could be dangerous and if you are not sure is always better reducing the proportions than increasing it or dimminishing the frequency, that is maybe every three weeks or even monthly. Again, this would depend on the tree?s needs. As for quantities... Just do as the manufactures recommends on the package.

Also, you should know how each elemment present in a fertilizer (NPK proportion) affects a tree?s growth in order to adapt or manipulate the tree?s needs or your purposes. (N: for promoting leaves and stem growth, P: encourages healthy root growth, K: promotes flowers and fuits)

FuzzBang wrote: 2)How often should i prune it back and how?

Well, after reading a bit I see this tree possesses a strong tendency to backbud easily and it seems it will promote strong and vigorous growth after pruning... So, probably you should be prunning often to keep the tree into the desired shape. As for shape... Every tree needs to be pruned severly at least once in its live. This is called structural pruning... The right time to do it in this species I don?t know it for sure, but I?ll take my chances and would say that due to the backbudding feature stated earlier you could prune it right now and expect the tree?s strong reaction. Now, once this is done, I would leave it alone at least for a year. And then you could start with the maintenance pruning, which is the prunning modality I was initially talking about to keep the tree?s desired design.

FuzzBang wrote: 3)As you can see from the pictures there's an array of roots protruding from the drainage holes, should I do anything about that (since i cannot re-pot until next spring)

Well, you could remove those roots alright. I don?t think much damage would come to the tree?s health. However is good noticing that if the roots have already begun to protrude from the pot?s bottom, this tree would probably be pot bound and a transplant, next spring, is imminent.

FuzzBang wrote: 4)for growing bonsai, am I going to s=need any specialist tools, and where can I get them?

Yes, you are going to need some new tools. Not all of them, but just a few for now. Then, when you acquired the practice and knowledge you can expand your set of tools. For now here are the tools:



I?d say that from this file, tools: 2, 3, 6, 8, 14, 23, 25. This is by no means absolute, but these tools are usually very handy to have them around. Of course, you don?t need to buy them all at once (they tend to be expensive). You could go step by step and acquire them progressively.

FuzzBang wrote: I'm also interested in getting another bonsai to start from scratch, I would like to keep it indoors and should be relatively tolerant of newbie mistakes. and maybe something that looks a bit like a juniper or ficus. so if anyone know a variety that fits and where i can get hold of a kit, that would be appreciated.

Well yes, any Ficus variety should be more than appropriated. They are extremely hard to kill and would endure many of our newbie?s mistakes. Just DO NOT buy the Ficus Ginseng. (Those ficus with exuberant and disproportionate roots.)

Hope I might have been of help

Alain

alainleon1983 wrote: Generally, a slow release balanced fertilizer should suffice (that is a fertilizer with similar, if not equal, NPK proportions) from spring to autumn etc. etc. etc.

Well, after reading a bit I see this tree possesses a strong tendency to backbud easily and it seems it will promote strong and vigorous growth after pruning... So, probably you should be prunning often to keep the tree into the desired shape. As for shape... Every tree needs to be pruned severly at least once in its live. This is called structural pruning... etc. etc. etc.

I?d say that from this file, tools: 2, 3, 6, 8, 14, 23, 25.

Seriously, dudes...
I appreciate you are all trying to help, but are you all still remembering what type of 'bonsai' you are talking about and the stage of the trees? This is like giving someone the instructions how to build a fighter jet, while all he did was ask how to fold a paper plane.