AusBonsai

Hey everyone,

I've recently gained an interest in Bonsai just before christmas and have been reading the forums and bonsai books like crazy and am now chasing some advice on getting started..

On new years eve I popped into masters and bought a little $20 desktop bonsai juniper (Squamata?)...propably 3 inches tall...don't think much can be done with it at the moment other then letting it grow?

A few days later I came to the conclusion that I was approaching it all wrong and went down to bunnings and bought a Juniperus scopulorum from the nursery section (non bonsai) thinking that I'd turn it into a bonsai. Then after a bit more reading found out I'd need to let it grow for a few more years before I can really do anything with it.

Over the weekend I rang around a couple local Nurseries and found that they both have a small selection of bonsai. So I went out and grabbed an $87 Juniper Squamata and a $34 Cypress. Then popped into masters and grabbed some Debco Bonsai Potting Mix and then grabbed some 2mm bonsai wire from bunnings.

Now I've got a few quesitons that I hope someone can help me with

The cypress and desktop juniper I think are a little to small to do anything with at the moment, so should I look at transferring them from their bonsai pot intos a growing container? or would they be worth turning into a shohin?

I bought the $87 juniper in hopes of being able to get started into Bonsai right away, rather then waiting years for stuff to grow. What should my first course of action be? trimming, pruning, wiring etc.?

They get around 3 hours of direct sunlight in the morning and I think around 3 hours of sunlight in the late afternoon. They sit on a coffee table in a pretty small patio where they get shade through the middle of the day. I live up in Mackay North Queensland, so we get plently of humidity and heavy rain on and off through out summer. Most days it doesn't get above 30c but lately we've been around 30-35c.

So far my only experience with plants is a small herb pot and a few chilli plants which got scorched over the holidays with the heat we've been having but are looking to be on the mend.

I've attached a few photos using a coke can as reference to show you what I'm working with. Sorry for the large pictures, no photo editing software at work other then paint.

Thanks and I appreciate any help anyone can offer.

Camo

Hi Camo252 , mate you could trim and wire the juniper into a cascade utilizing either long branch or both , a shohin is also possible . The wiki section has great info on purchasing raw material/pre bonsai .

A healthy pot plant with plenty of foliage , be it small or fine foliage depending on the plant is all that is required for starters . Nurseries sell 10-15-20 dollar pot plants and are good training material , better than high priced plants in bonsai pots especially if they have a bit of foliage or shape/movement in the trunk , they all need refining so its a great cheap start your going to hack them while learning .

Just do some research or the best times for pruning ,wiring and re-potting times etc etc .

Best of luck . Cheers Alpineart

Welcome to the site firstly!

I'm still a newbie myself, so can't give you very much advice, but one thing I do is just buy general nursery stock (as Alpine has suggest) and work with that. Its a whole lot cheaper, and that way you'll actually have something to do. You'll find that a lot of the bonsai these big stores have, are way overpriced, so you are much better either going to a bonsai nursery or if there are none near, just a regular nursery and getting some suitable stock to turn into a bonsai.

Also if you're really keen to learn, then joining a club is by and far, the best way. You'll be able to take these in, and the members will be able to help you with everything from wiring to potting (and everything in between).
I've chatted with some of the members from the Mackay Bonsai Society recently, and they are really a lovely bunch of people. If you want more details on the group, you can find it here: https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/directory/l ... i-society/

Good luck

Thanks Alpine Art and Jason.

I might give the larger juniper a trim/prune on the weekend, and get a better idea of the shape of it at the moment.
Might also have a crack at wiring my Juniperus scopulorum into something interesting, and then pot it in a styrofoam box and let it get thicker. Any thoughts on where to find those large styrofoam boxes I see people using as grow boxes?

I might head into the nursery this weekend as well and try and find some thick and foilagey junipers or pines to play with.

I will look into the bonsai club as well, first hand help is always a good idea.

Poly fruit boxes are getting harder to come by as the supermarkets phase them out in favour of reusable plastic crates. Best bet to get hold of some is to find a local fruit shop, go inside and ask them if they have any to get rid of. You can also try asking the staff at the veg section of the supermarket they may still have some fruit coming in them.

2nd possibility is the fish section or a fresh fish shop. Some fresh fish are delivered in poly boxes with lids but no holes so you will have to punch holes in the bottom before use as grow pots.

All poly boxes start to degrade in sunlight and weather so don't expect them to last more than a couple of years. You will get covered in a white film of polystyrene dust every time you handle them or brush against one and the roots will grow right through the base so you often have to break the box at repotting time.

Thanks Shibui, I'll try out a few different places over the weekend. Failing to find any, are there any other recommendations for grow boxes? We're renting at the moment so putting them in the ground isn't really an option. Would a wooden box made out of treated pine or marine ply be suitable?

[quote="shibui"]Poly fruit boxes are getting harder to come by as the supermarkets phase them out in favour of reusable plastic crates. Best bet to get hold of some is to find a local fruit shop, go inside and ask them if they have any to get rid of. You can also try asking the staff at the veg section of the supermarket they may still have some fruit coming in them.

2nd possibility is the fish section or a fresh fish shop. Some fresh fish are delivered in poly boxes with lids but no holes so you will have to punch holes in the bottom before use as grow pots.

All poly boxes start to degrade in sunlight and weather so don't expect them to last more than a couple of years. You will get covered in a white film of polystyrene dust every time you handle them or brush against one and the roots will grow right through the base so you often have to break the box at repotting

Local aquarium are best bet for poly boxes as they use them to transport fish in. But you will have to cut your own holes in them

another thing is to find ,if possible ,a dedicated bonsai nursery and have a good close look at their pre-bonsai or starter plants-look at as many different plants as possible --you don't necessarily have to buy any but you will begin to learn about good ,better and best material to get--and ask as many questions as you have

Camo252 wrote:Thanks Shibui, I'll try out a few different places over the weekend. Failing to find any, are there any other recommendations for grow boxes? We're renting at the moment so putting them in the ground isn't really an option. Would a wooden box made out of treated pine or marine ply be suitable?

I'm in the same boat (renting), so I just purchased some large plastic bonsai pots and use them as my grow pots. They aren't as deep as the poly boxes, but they do the job they'll obviously cost you more, but for me the ease of being able to move them around is what drove me to get them. Plus they will last a fair while too

Like these:

Thanks everyone, If i can't find any polyboxes around I'll just go and grab the cheapest large plastic pot I can find at bunnings.

Much to my surprise it looks as if we have a bonsai nursery of sorts very close to Mackay, So i'll pop out and check out their range on the weekend. I'll also be giving a few other nursery/landscaping places around town a call too see if they sell any of the more established junipers or anything that I could turn into Bonsai.

Cheers

Camo252 wrote:Thanks everyone, If i can't find any polyboxes around I'll just go and grab the cheapest large plastic pot I can find at bunnings.

Much to my surprise it looks as if we have a bonsai nursery of sorts very close to Mackay, So i'll pop out and check out their range on the weekend. I'll also be giving a few other nursery/landscaping places around town a call too see if they sell any of the more established junipers or anything that I could turn into Bonsai.

Cheers

If you could PM me the details of the bonsai nursery near you, that'd be great. I can add it to our bonsai directory then

Alright, So I did a bit of pruning this afternoon and cleared out the inner trunk area.

I'm thinking of turning it into an informal upright with semi cascade but I would love to know what you guys think in terms of the direction I should take it.

Cheers