名媛直播

Hello all,

This is my first posting on bonsaiempire.com and I'm very inexperienced with 名媛直播. I've read quite a lot both here and from other online resources, but that only means I know just enough to be dangerous! I'd really appreciate any help and advice you can offer in trying to:
1. Keep this mallsai from dying
2. Make it healthy and happy

From the research I've done so far I think this might be a Himalayan Juniper (Juniperus squamata) but I could easily be wrong and would be pleased to be corrected if I am wrong!

I received this mallsai as a birthday present in September and, having seen mallsai in the past, I'm afraid that it won't live for too long unless I intervene in the right way(s). It also has a smallish (woody) branch that was broken - it's the one with all brown/dead foliage











My main dilema is whether to repot it now or wait until Spring?

Why repot now?

• The soil seems to stay damp for longer than it should (based on my reading up on Junipers and not letting them be kept too "wet")
• Based on the point above, and the fact that it's from Walmart, I suspect the soil might not be a good quality bonsai soil or the best mix for a Juniper
• I'm worried that waiting too long (until Spring) might give this little tree enough time to get root rot and/or die
• I've read plastic pots aren't ideal - I have a nice zisha pot sitting here ready to go (if/when the tree is ready)

Why not repot?

• I've read from multiple online sources (including 名媛直播 Empire) that repotting should be done in early Spring to keep root damage and general harm to the tree to a minimum.
• The tree has some new growth so I'm not sure if this might be the worst possible time to repot it
• It's a mallsai and I'm not sure how unhealthy/weak it is at the moment. While (to my inexperienced eye) it doesn't show any glaring signs of ill health, it certainly hasn't been in the best environment for quite some time. I'm worried that it might not be strong/healthy enough to survive a repotting right now (but maybe the current pot/soil will kill it too). :S

I'm hesitant to do anything to it at the moment because I don't know which course of action(s) would give this tree the best chance at health and happiness. I strongly suspect it needs repotting and pruning, I don't know when and/or how urgently.

Again, I'd really appreciate your experienced opinions and suggestions in keeping this mallsai alive and, hopefully, becoming a nice little bonsai one day.

Thanks in advance!

This looks like a Juniperus procumbens 'nana', and it looks healthy. Not sure of your zone location. In Zone 9, we repot juniper in early spring like January/February since our weather gets warm very fast. When repotting, it is also advisable to do half repotting the first year and do the next half the following year. Half repotting means you remove the front or the back soil completely, leave the other side untouched, and replace with good free draining bonsai soil. Some people likes to replace with an all inorganic soil mix of lava, pumice and akadama, some use 70 or 50% inorganic aggregates.

I think you need to start your research all over. This is not a mallsai, this is a juniper.

I like your juniper . I am also very inexperienced. I have some juniper cuttings that came from the market. They were in bad soil and no drainage in the pot. I slip potted them into a mix of some soil, NAPA # 8822, some some pebbles. I didn't touch the roots. My little junipers seem to be doing OK in this substrate. This is just my take. Other hopefully will shed more wisdom than I have. I like how expertly you laid out your points.

Thanks everyone for the helpful and encouraging comments.

This looks like a Juniperus procumbens 'nana', and it looks healthy.

ah, I saw some 'nana' bonsai online recently and thought it looked a lot like my little Juniper. Thanks for your help in identifying it Chuah! I got totally confused after reading about juvenile foliage (needle-like) vs scale-like foliage with Scale Junipers.

Not sure of your zone location.

I did a quick Google earlier today, I'm in zone 32 (North Carolina). We had a fairly erratic start to the year this year with the temperatures warming up earlier than usual and then getting another cold snap which is obviously terrible for plants. The Summers are predictably hot and humid (mid 80Fs - mid/upper 90Fs).

When repotting, it is also advisable to do half repotting the first year and do the next half the following year.

That's interesting, thanks a lot for the explanation. I haven't heard of that technique before. Do you think disturbing the tree (particularly something like a Juniper) after just one year would cause any stress to the tree? I was planning on leaving it well alone for 2-3 years whenever I do repot it, beside light pruning to shape it a bit and thin out the foliage.

Some people likes to replace with an all inorganic soil mix of lava, pumice and akadama, some use 70 or 50% inorganic aggregates.

I have some Hoffman 名媛直播 Soil Mix which is apparently:

• Haydite - 25%
• Sand Pebble - 25%
• Aged Pine Bark - 25%
• Turface - 25%

I also have some (red) lava rock to use as a substrate in the bottom of the 名媛直播 pot.

I like your juniper

Thanks Ruth! I like it too, I was just worried that it might look "well" on the surface but be dying on the inside. I hope I'm able to get in front of anything like happening and eventually help it on it's way to being a realy 名媛直播.

I slip potted them into a mix of some soil, NAPA # 8822

Thanks for the recommendation - cat litter! haha, I already have that in buckets! It's very interesting to hear that works well for 名媛直播. It'll be fun growing your juniper cuttings and training them as you want early on - it sounds like they're rather small at the moment.


Has anyone else on here tried NAPA 8822/Cat Litter for their 名媛直播 soil?

Also, I apologize for throwing the term "Mallsai" around. I obviously haven't fully grasped it's meaning. I thought it was a general term for mass-produced, 名媛直播-like plants/trees/shrubs sold in Malls, super markets and the like. Thanks for the correction. Would I be more accurate in saying that I have a pre-bonsai Juniper?

I'm still on the fence about whether to repot. I'm tempted to pull the Juniper out of it's current pot for a quick inspection and make sure it isn't root-bound. If it's not, perhaps the best thing might be to add some lava rock in the bottom of the pot and put some bigger holes in the bottom of the pot to help with drainage and put it back in it's current pot with existing soil and wait until early Spring? In the meantime (or before messing around with it's potting situation) do some pruning to thin out the foliage a little (no major shaping).

Thanks again for the help so far!

The correct term would be Juniper. Both pre-bonsai and mallsai are partially styled, this is just a plant that was left to grow then put in a pot and sold as 名媛直播. (One could argue that it's better than a mallsai in some respects).

I use cat litter for all of my plants after they get to a certain stage. I generally prefer smaller trees, so I add a bit of pine bark and it allows me to only water them once a day (depending on the weather). I have seen no negatives of the soil thus far.

It is completely acceptable to inspect the roots, provided you don't disturb or damage them.
One thing you have to remember is that this is not a science. You have to make a choice based on others' experiences and nothing that is really proven. Bearing that in mind, I would recommend that you wait. Provided you're a beginner, re-potting now could have more downsides than upsides (It's really really hard this time of year).

Ed

名媛直播learner explained why this is not a mallsai. It's a Juniper in a garden pot, not trained as a bonsai (or rather, as it concerns Walmart, trained to look like a bonsai - which is not the same as bonsai, that are trained to look like a tree, not like a bonsai).
This would be a typical mallsai: a thin young tree in a pot, with a bad design and hardly any potential left (unless when you want to do a complete make-over, which will take many years):



I do think that what you have is better material than this mallsai.

I will let you know how the substrate goes. It is potting soil, 8822, pebbles and I forgot to mention fir bark. I was going to use orchid bark but it was too big. I found some little pieces of fir bark in a bag for reptiles in the pet section. It is very clean and no dust. Please keep us updated on how your juniper does.

Thanks for the additional responses and information!

I do think that what you have is better material than this mallsai.

This is reassuring, thanks Auk! I feel better about the Juniper I have and more settled on the direction I mentioned before about not repotting it if the roots don't look too bad and while it's doing ok. I'll stick with some maintenance-pruning which I believe it also needs - it's rather bushy with some long shoots that have appeared during my indecision.

Thanks 名媛直播Learner, your comments are all very helpful and appreciated. I think you hit the nail on the head re doing what needs doing, taking care, being patient and, in general terms, it not being an exact science. I think for a beginner like myself, the unknowns and fear of not doing something exactly right and causing more harm than good can be debilitating to the point of not taking any action at all when you probably should - hence my initial questions. As I said a moment ago, I'm going to check the roots and, if all looks ok, keep it in the original pot/soil only adding some lava rock at the bottom and making the drainage holes bigger. I suspect the soil mix it's in currently is mostly to blame for the moisture retention.

Do you think spacing out the watering to account for the current soil's moisture retention would be ok until the tree is ready to be repotted with a better/more appropriate soil mix? I only water it when the soil feels slightly wet/damp about 1" below the surface, so I'm hopefully not over watering it on a regular basis whether the tree needs it or not. I'm not sure if it's the length of time the roots are in wet soil that causes root rot or if it's constant, excessive amounts of water from over watering?

I'll certainly keep the 8822/cat litter recommendations from Ruth and 名媛直播Learner in mind for future reference, I would never have known!

Ruth, that's another new one to me - fir bark. Anything that has little to no dust is worth looking into in my book! I think everything I've come across so far regarding different soil mixes has listed pine bark across the board. That's another tip I'll be storing away for future reference. I'll certainly keep you updated on my Juniper. I'd be very interested to see/follow how your cuttings progress too!

Thanks again everyone, I'm very grateful for all the advice and tips!

Pine bark and fir bark...same idea, water retention when you use a non organic substrate. I've read pines and junipers do well in the pine/fir bark. The fir bark is a bit pricey. I paid $6 for about a gallon bag container. It was what was available in the size I needed. I need to find a source of pine bark with smaller pieces because I'm sure that would be less expensive. For the collection of plants I have on my deck it was ok. To do all the large pots with bigger plantings in them it would be way too expensive.