AusBonsai

this is worth watching -excellent finish and style --does anybody here use cement pots for display or for cheap trainers---what are the pros and cons of cement pots .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiCWgGkhtng

Usually there are concerns with the concrete sucking moisture out of the tree or leaching something back in . I know some clears and sealers will prevent this . Id imagine it would be heavier then clay also..... Alpine is pretty knowlegable on construction materials he maybe the one to ask.

I have had trees in concrete pots for years now , both pines , there does not seem to be a problem with water wicking out and I am reliably informed that modern cements do not leach lime into the soil .
Weight is a problem , I have been working with a glue/cement/other bits mixture for a few years . I have several with trees in them and they are performing well . The beauty of this system is that they are lightweight and can be made to almost any size and shape with a wide range of colours . Any wear and tear can be repaired.

Always good to see different pots; these look like they could have been taken by NASA-secret artefacts spied by the Mars Rover!

I can see some of my aggressively twisted pines growing in and around that top pot. Instead of a little man I might make a tiny one of these.
Bonsai teaches me patience.
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Have only made simple cast mould pots.
Used fibre to strengthen the body.
Soaked for 6 weeks in water to leach out extra alkalines.

Not difficult to do.
Laters.
Tambrand.

This J.B.pine is from seed and has lived in a cement pot almost all of it's
life. The porous pot helps with our heavy rains,

More recently.
2nd and larger cement pot with leaves cut to show branchlets.

Gee I like the lighting in that last picture; somehow bleak but statuesque at the same time. The leaching and faint green (algae?) on the pot adds to a feeling of age. Very cool.


Bonsai teaches me patience.
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Two pines that have been living in cement pots for years . Plus a recent slab in my lightweight configuration - wire frame with glue/cement skin - stained with a coffee based brew . Now I need to drink more coffee!
Cheers
Graham

I have a few which I have been using as grow pots for years, no problems but they are crappy looking

Why bother with concrete when there are any number of pottery groups all over the country. The three that I have had, (and still have) dealings with, have besides all the equipment, members who are only too willing to help newcomers.
There is absolutely no need to be able to 'throw' pots on a wheel... great pots can be coaxed from clay slabs and slump moulds! And there is the added bonus of being able to gild-the-lily with a multitude of glazes

Hi Pat
You will have to post more as I like your words of wisdom,plus you only have 3 tools in your tool roll,but in real life you must have more, to be able to create the lovely pots I have seen around the traps

Tell me about it. I just can’t wait to move so I can proudly display my 100 trees in his pots, without fear of tree limbs dropping and smashing them.

It was Pats pots that started my love of hand-made pots.
My first love. Haha. He makes the greatest pots in Australia and drinks good beer. What a legend.

His pots just echo Australian natives.

EDIT: on a side note, cripes I couldn’t imagine what cement would do to my back.
River sand already gives me a hernia.

Hi Rory , if you need a 600 mm x 400 mm tray that doesn’t break your back , the one in my previous post is only 5.7 kg . That size in ceramic would weigh a whole lot more .
Cheers
Graham

I read up on Yi-Xing. [1990]
This what we can do in clay.
Vitreous at 980 deg.C [ small corton cone 08 ]

local clay from the canefields.
Laters.
Tambrand

CRIPES!! Thanks guys, but I only wanted to let people know that there is plenty of help available if they wanted to make their own pots the traditional way.... clay!
To emphasize, I live in the sticks, but within an hours drive of me there are four pottery groups with members ranging from raw beginners to seasoned potters and none of them make bonsai pots

regwac wrote:Hi Rory , if you need a 600 mm x 400 mm tray that doesn’t break your back , the one in my previous post is only 5.7 kg . That size in ceramic would weigh a whole lot more .
Cheers
Graham

Hi Graham,

Thanks mate. I'll keep that in mind. I'm still trunk developing my many Casuarina group plantings, and will definitely keep you in mind, as that is quite light.
With the river sand that I now use, and once they're watered they weigh a tonne. I love some of the colours you get on your pots Graham.

I can't wait to be able to display some of those really large freeform pots I acquired off you for solitary trees too. The earthy colours are beautiful Graham.
I've sold and given away my excess pots now, and only kept the ones I love.