Celebrating Bonsai

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That is a real skill--I have not had any luck with it. Brown thumb.
My advice to "brown thumbs" is to definitely not buy a bonsai. Instead, go to your nearest garden centre and buy a potted plant/tree. A broadleaf tree is best because you can actually see it grow. But rather than stick it into the ground just put it into another slightly larger pot, not a bonsai pot. The idea is to take care of it without jumping straight into it with wires and scissors. Look on the internet to find out if the species you chose should be kept indoors or outdoors, how to water it and how to feed it (when necessary). Spring is coming so this is the best time to find something. This year, just take care of it and keep it alive. You'll have 12 months to read everything you can about it and next Spring you can begin working on it: clipping, wiring, etc. and by then you'll have an idea how you want it to look. Buying a "ready-made" bonsai is a bad idea for anyone, even for me. Over the years I've bought 4 or 5 "ready-made" bonsai and each one of them died. It's complicated. But if you take my advice you'll not only succeed but you will soon be a bonsai gardener, not just a bonsai owner and you'll be proud of creating it yourself. :)
 
A "ready-made" bonsai requires a lot of experience that beginners simply do not have.
Hey, Mudwhistle and GLASNOST. PJ got a four-year-old outdoor SATSUKI AZALEA Bonsai as a gift back in January. Naturally, didn't set it out on the deck or anything in our winter, that has gotten down to single digit temps. It was green and healthy, but now faded and browning, looking sad. It has been on a plant stand, near full glass, (Low E) patio doors, hardly what you would call natural light, as I know they cut out portions of not only ultraviolet, but of course infrared spectrum and no telling what other parts of visible spectrum, though I am supposed to me somewhat an expert on glass. Could light be the problem? Or is there something else she needs to know just to get it to spring and the ability to set out on the deck?
 
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We have 5 bonsai's, this photo was about July last year. They've been repotted and tidied since
Cool. Showed yours to PJ. Was trying to identify variety, when realized you named yours. She says she may have to label hers if it makes it. She repotted today, following a procedure shown on YouTube and watered as directed, though instructions with the plant, say don't water in winter. Then she moved the lil' guy (compare to your, he just a baby 4 year old) outside, since it was 76 outside today.

You read my post. Got any recommendation for her? Will a pic of the lil' guy help?
 
Cool. Showed yours to PJ. Was trying to identify variety, when realized you named yours. She says she may have to label hers if it makes it. She repotted today, following a procedure shown on YouTube and watered as directed, though instructions with the plant, say don't water in winter. Then she moved the lil' guy (compare to your, he just a baby 4 year old) outside, since it was 76 outside today.

You read my post. Got any recommendation for her? Will a pic of the lil' guy help?
I bought a Bonsai and called him Brian. The dogs names begin with B so we have a B theme going on. So the tall S shaped one, Big Bertha, and Brian are the same type, the tag says, ",Bonsai Zelkova". Those two need watered every day, to every other day as they're prone to drop their leaves. The others look like two different types. I just but them when I see them cheap on the supermarkets.

So they're on a go slow at the moment, losing leaves, but in a couple of months, I'm going to refresh the soil with new Bonsai soil mix. We've got the wire to make the growth go where we want.

We've planted some Bonsai seeds, it looks red in the picture, so I'll have to dig the info out to see which type it is. Seeded it a month ago, it'll be 3 to 4 moths before anything appears, and 3 to 4 years before you can start to prune and wire it.
 
Hey, Mudwhistle and GLASNOST. PJ got a four-year-old outdoor SATSUKI AZALEA Bonsai as a gift back in January. Naturally, didn't set it out on the deck or anything in our winter, that has gotten down to single digit temps. It was green and healthy, but now faded and browning, looking sad. It has been on a plant stand, near full glass, (Low E) patio doors, hardly what you would call natural light, as I know they cut out portions of not only ultraviolet, but of course infrared spectrum and no telling what other parts of visible spectrum, though I am supposed to me somewhat an expert on glass. Could light be the problem? Or is there something else she needs to know just to get it to spring and the ability to set out on the deck?
This is a deep problem made exceptionally complicated by your specific circumstances. Do you want the bad news first or the worst news first?

1). "ready-made" bonsai have been nurtured by those who know what they are doing. There may be simple-created bonsai that require little preparation (such as ficus) but preparation is definitely needed. The newly-introduced buyer has no idea how much effort has gone into the plant so they cannot know what is required to keep it alive and/or thriving. It's complicated.
2). Azalea is one the most difficult plants to "bonsai" because it is extrememly sensitive to so many factors, much more than say a ficus.
3). I know that you'd love to get some straightforward answers to your question (and man I'd really like to provide them!) but it's actually a very complicated situation just because Azaleas are so finicky. I don't know if this will help but after more than 25 years of experience, I have never ever succeeded in keeping an azalea alive long enough to make a good bonsai out of it. I know that I am not helping very much and I am very sorry. What I can tell you is that - yes - lighting can definitely be part of the cause of the problem but I suspect it's much more than that.

I am happy to give advice on how beginners should take their first steps toward bonsai gardening but it isn't a quick result project unless you are willing to take it step-by-step and enjoy the small steps along the way. If people would do that then one day they'll look at it and suddenly without warning realize, "It really is a bonsai!"
 
This is a deep problem made exceptionally complicated by your specific circumstances. Do you want the bad news first or the worst news first?

1). "ready-made" bonsai have been nurtured by those who know what they are doing. There may be simple-created bonsai that require little preparation (such as ficus) but preparation is definitely needed. The newly-introduced buyer has no idea how much effort has gone into the plant so they cannot know what is required to keep it alive and/or thriving. It's complicated.
2). Azalea is one the most difficult plants to "bonsai" because it is extrememly sensitive to so many factors, much more than say a ficus.
3). I know that you'd love to get some straightforward answers to your question (and man I'd really like to provide them!) but it's actually a very complicated situation just because Azaleas are so finicky. I don't know if this will help but after more than 25 years of experience, I have never ever succeeded in keeping an azalea alive long enough to make a good bonsai out of it. I know that I am not helping very much and I am very sorry. What I can tell you is that - yes - lighting can definitely be part of the cause of the problem but I suspect it's much more than that.

I am happy to give advice on how beginners should take their first steps toward bonsai gardening but it isn't a quick result project unless you are willing to take it step-by-step and enjoy the small steps along the way. If people would do that then one day they'll look at it and suddenly without warning realize, "It really is a bonsai!"
PJ Thanks you and appreciates the honesty, saying still going to give it a try, as it ain't dead yet.
Naturally, I thank you also.:)
 
PJ Thanks you and appreciates the honesty, saying still going to give it a try, as it ain't dead yet.
Naturally, I thank you also.:)
I'm hoping that someday soon I'll read about you in one of the bonsai periodicals,

"Beginner produces the best azalea bonsai ever seen outside of Japan and managed to win the highest honour ever bestowed upon a bonsai gardener!"

Of course, I'll respond with, "I taught him everything he knows!" :hyper::)
 
I'm hoping that someday soon I'll read about you in one of the bonsai periodicals,

"Beginner produces the best azalea bonsai ever seen outside of Japan and managed to win the highest honour ever bestowed upon a bonsai gardener!"

Of course, I'll respond with, "I taught him everything he knows!" :hyper::)
If so, it will be PJ not me.;)
 

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