Frangipani

[Jamie]

ron having lots of trees isnt a problem, i did it when i first started alot of them ended up being experiments that i had to try even though i was told it would not work. well it didnt work and eventually the tree suffered and died, i know what you mean by an amount of trees that may be causing stress by having to water, look after, repot, trim etc. etc. my daughter the other day went around and counted up everything i had including stuff in grow pots and boxes, not including all the cuttings i have struck and the total was 85 and i have more trees coming, before she counted them up i didnt realise i had so many, but i knew i had a bit and i needed to work out how i was to look after them, i know have them in groupings, those in pots, those in grow boxes and those in nursery cans. and with that i have all my shimpaku and juniper in one section, evergreens in another. i have a hose which can reach from one area to the other without hassle and a fine rose sprayer. just doing that has helped me

i think planting out will be a good idea, you would be surprised at what you can fit. grouping some stuff together will help aswell. now when i was talking about a bigger tree with more options i didnt mean a 150-300 buck tree or more, there are trees available that i have found much joy in working with that i only spent 20-40 dollars on, fast growing trees are also good, you have a few clero there so get them into some good soil and watch them boom. same with ficus... dont forget to feed

keep ya chin up, dont think about numbers, do what you have to do and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

i didnt say waht i did earlier to get you down either champ, it was trying to help.

jamie

[Pup]

Ron I am very sorry if what I posted was in any way to blame for your feeling sad. I said slow down not stop.

It is now you need to take stock as every one has suggested, and at this stage reading between the lines it is what you are doing.

You do not have to spend $100s to get a decent starter look for something around $30 I have one here ( still cant do it ) it is called what can be acheived quik time or something like that.
It was a garden crawl for the club. We more advanced growers, told the junior growers what was best to buy. We still had people buying $5 trees coz they could get more.
Never going to be a decent tree. That is what I said slow down take stock.

Cheers Pup

[astroboy76]

Ray Nesci's is good for intermediate stock. I bought two maples from there. they were 35 each and all i had to do was a bit fo thinning and wiring and a groing season later i have two marvelous trees. They are the closest i have to complete bonsai.

[Ron]

Please guys .... no one has written a single thing to upset me. On the contrary, you've all been fantastic with your replies.

After Jamie's I decided it was time to count up which I haven't been game enough to do

43 plants in bonsai pots

230 in plastic garden pots and a few in poly boxes. That doesn't include 8 lilly pillys I planted out yesterday.

Even I was surprised - I had no idea it was that many. No wonder watering, feeding and weeding has been taking so long. Strange thing is despite the number I seem to know each one as I was walking around picking which ones to get rid of and it's not going to be easy - no rush to do that though.

[astroboy76]

ok that is a lot to manage hehehe but you seem to be doing well so far. maybe an idea woudl be to group them all into like species ie: all the maples together, all the pines together etc. Have a close look at what each tree tells you about its shape. You shoudl be able to pick the best fo each species and the best of each style you enjoy and maybe cull the remainder if there are duplicates among them. this is only if it is getting too much for you.

[astroboy76]

my main concern for u is that with so many, they cream of your crop might not get all the attention they require or deserve.

what sort of tree's do you have? are they all similar or do you have a vast variety? you coudl probabl;y even try and sell some of your excess stock on ebay or on the buy and seel part of this forum. might put a little more $$ in your pocket that you can then use to help better your choice stock

[Ron]

....

what sort of tree's do you have? are they all similar or do you have a vast variety? y...

Probably not vast but I guess maybe 15 or so tridents (maples & elms of various types would be the biggest single grouping) and as many crepe myrtles and then a bit of variety. I'll do a stocktake over the next few days.

They're not just all $10 starters. Here's an Hokkaido elm (Nesci version) - 50cms high and trunk is 23cms diameter:

100_1618 (Large).jpg

100_1619 (Large).jpg

[astroboy76]

for some reason i couldnt view the pics. I recently did a stocktake of mine and culled about 15 plants. The ones i kept range from small to advanced. As i said earlier, some sing to me and others dont. those that dont got the chop hehehe

[Ron]

(Sorry I was stuffing around with the pics.)

I find myself leaning towards smaller plants. Not just because they're easier on my back but there's just something more 'intimate' about trees up to say 30 or 40 cms.

[astroboy76]

yes i agree. as a way to descrease your bonsai without decreasing your plants, have you considered makign some forrests of clump bonsai? coudl be a real winner if you have quite a few of the one species

[Mitchell]

....

what sort of tree's do you have? are they all similar or do you have a vast variety? y...

Probably not vast but I guess maybe 15 or so tridents (maples & elms of various types would be the biggest single grouping) and as many crepe myrtles and then a bit of variety. I'll do a stocktake over the next few days.

They're not just all $10 starters. Here's an Hokkaido elm (Nesci version) - 50cms high and trunk is 23cms diameter:

100_1618 (Large).jpg

100_1619 (Large).jpg

Oh no Ron! That elm is far too big for you, too much work, and looks terrible.....
How 'bout I take it off your hands for you... what's say $5.00?

That's a cracker of a tree mate!

[craigw60]

Goodness me Ron you have been busy
Craig

[laza32]

Hi Ron,

I wouldn't feel bad about going a bit crazy as mentioned previously it is a bit of a right of passage. You also have had the advantage of having the negatives (and positives) of having heaps of smaller stock at an early stage of your learning. I do feel for some people I have seen who have "being doing bonsai" for 5 plus years with nothing really to show for it apart from some average looking sticks in pots.

Pup is also correct on not having to spend $100's to get decent material at this stage of you bonsai. There is plenty of good stock suitable for shohin material under $50.

Keep up the enthusiasm and keep learning.

Cheers,
Adam

[Pup]

Ron have a look at my post from way back last year. What can be acheived quick time. It will explain why you do not have to spend heaps to get some thing.
With help the junior growers can acheive this, but they have to get away from piddling little $ 5=00 trees. this tree today is worth in ecess of $200=00 so my intial outlay and my work has payed of in 12 months not long in Bonsai.

I will post a picture of it today

Cheers Pup

If I go and do it now I can put it here under edit. back in a jiff.

P1090547.JPG

P1090546.JPG

[Jamie]

here is pups tree ron

viewtopic.php?f=131&t=1023&p=28406&hili ... ick#p28406