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| ID and advice help for a beginner http://weetrees.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13574 |
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| Author: | Tinbum [ 01 Jun 2015, 18:40 ] |
| Post subject: | ID and advice help for a beginner |
Hello all, I was in a garden centre Yesterday with my girlfriend looking for a small house plant to clean up the air around the house a bit. We bought a peace lilly in the end and also bought a little Bonsai tree we noticed sat in the corner. The label said it was a "mixed" bonsai, which i don't really understand so have no idea what species it is. Pictures http://imgur.com/gallery/nrFVp I love some help to ID my new bonsai and any advice on what i should be doing to help it live. Ive been told that the first thing to do with a new shop bought Bonsai is to submerge it fully in water for about 30sec is this correct? Ive already given it a small drink of bonsai food that i bought with it. I also found that my brother had a Bonsai tree in his room but it has been very neglected and is nothing but a dried up twig in dry dirt. The leaves have all dried out and died but Im wondering if there is anyway to recover it? If not then id love to try and grow my own, maybe from a cutting of my living bonsai, is there any advice you can give me for doing this? I know there is many thing sot do but the only thing im real unsure of is what bit of the tree do i use for a cutting? Thankyou in advance, I look forward to sharing my Bonsai experience with you all! |
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| Author: | Keith.W [ 01 Jun 2015, 20:48 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
I believe it is a Chinese Ligustrum, I don't have one so can't help much and I don't think they are hardy in our climate. I'm sure others will chip in with advice. |
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| Author: | Jerry Norbury [ 01 Jun 2015, 20:57 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
So you didn't believe the advice you got on Reddit? Figures. |
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| Author: | Tinbum [ 01 Jun 2015, 21:01 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
delete this |
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| Author: | Tinbum [ 01 Jun 2015, 21:04 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
Jerry Norbury wrote: So you didn't believe the advice you got on Reddit? Figures. Its not that I don't believe what people have said, I would just like to be 100%. Everyone I've asked has given a different answer including one person who said I should not keep it Indoors, which is not really an option for me. |
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| Author: | Keith.W [ 01 Jun 2015, 21:05 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
What's Reddit? |
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| Author: | roger m [ 01 Jun 2015, 21:46 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
Hello and welcome to Wee Trees. You'll find some care information here. http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Ligustrum.html Roger |
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| Author: | Gwen Potter [ 02 Jun 2015, 13:55 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
Tinbum - Welcome to WeeTrees. You do indeed have a Chinese ligustrum, a member of what in this country would be a privet. However, the Chinese variety is not frost hardy. This is important because in my opinion supermarkets and garden centres should be banned from selling these trees without a name label and proper care instructions. Strictly speaking no bonsai is an 'indoor' bonsai. There are no such things. However, there are some varieties used as bonsai which are OK outside in our summers (April-October) and then need some protection from deep frost. Chinese ligustrum is one such tree. I have one which is outside all summer and in the cold greenhouse for the winter. Not warm at all but frost free. These mass produced 'bonsai' are rammed into these blue pots in what, for the UK is unsuitable growing media, but let's not worry about that for the moment. If you HAVE to keep your tree indoors, it needs to be within 12" of good daylight (but not on a shelf over a radiator) and needs turning around every few days to make sure it gets an even amount of light. I would suggest that you place it on the kitchen draining board and water from the top until water starts to appear out of the drainage hole. When it has stopped running out, replace it in its former position. You can place something under the pot to save it dripping onto whatever surface it is standing on. To start with, do this every other day. If the soil still feels wet after a couple of days, then delay the watering until the next day. This is rather hit and miss if you try to keep trees indoors. Trees like to dry out a LITTLE between waterings (NOT bone dry) and then receive a thorough watering until water runs from the drainage hole. Don't use bonsai fertiliser 'neat'. Read the instructions about dilution and follow those instructions. Only give feed once about every ten days if the tree is growing and looking healthy, i.e., making more leaves. This is just some basic information to help you keep your tree alive. Better to ask now than leave it until it is like your friend's tree and dries up beyond recovery. Some very general basic bonsai advice can be found on bonsai4me.com but it is based generally on trees that grow outdoors. There are no 'indoor' bonsai, only those that dislike our winters. P.S. I see Roger has already recommended bonsai4me.com ! |
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| Author: | Deano [ 02 Jun 2015, 22:33 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
Nothing wrong with asking in more than one place. I know I do in many cases. |
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| Author: | Tinbum [ 04 Jun 2015, 17:49 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: ID and advice help for a beginner |
Thankyou Gwen. From what everyone has told me, Im under the impression that all I can do with this bonsai is keep it alive? This is of course fine with me, it has a nice interesting shape and is a good size. If i wanted it to grow a bit bigger would i just upsize the pot? I also realised today while in the garden that we have what I think is a young leyland cypress. Its a few years old and is growing quite happily in a very unlooked after flower bed. As keeping my new bonsai alive should not take me a huge amount of effort, I thought that i could maybe uproot the cypress and put it in a pot and use it as my first bonsai project. Is that the right kind of thinking? I will take some pictures of it tomorrow and upload them, as I would be very interested in peoples opinions on what I could/should do with it. Thanks all for your replies so far |
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