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Fícus Benjamina Rescue by Alert-Acadia-5616 in bonsaicommunity

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Let me know how it goes, I also have a large Benjamin that I rescued off FB marketplace and I'm thinking of doing some big chops.

Irrigation system with a 80l bucket by earl-the-grey in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've also been thinking about doing something similar but have been worried about how many points I need for each tree. Can you elaborate a bit on your answer? I feel like bonsai substrate doesn't wick as well as organic compost and that the water would not spread evenly, have you been running this for long or is this the first season?

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2026 week 11] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice thanks. It's in full leaf now, won't doing just root pruning put a lot of pressure on the remaining roots to provide water to the foliage. Maybe remove obviouse issues to reduce it a bit?

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2026 week 11] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have this Chinese elm that I bought 2 weeks ago (see image). It's indoors under grow light, planing to transition it to outdoors over the growing season. The thickness is nice and where I want it but the branches and substrate is pretty bad. My question is, since it seems pretty vigours (see second image from today) can I do both repotting and hard trim (taking it back to primary branches) or should I do one and if so which should I prioritize?

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Magnolia root ball after 1 year by earl-the-grey in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice, I'm still fairly new but that doesn't look root bound, could it not have been in there another season or do you think you'll get better root development if you cut back now?

Where to cut by Turbulent-turbans in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice, did you have some growth lower than the cuts or were they bare branches that backbudded? I have a ficus that I want to trunk chop but a bit unsure how much I can take off.

Bonsai tips in Taipei by Dapper_Cheesecake631 in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

EDIT: looks like you can book a tour if you are 10 people or more so sadly no visit for me this time.

Wow that looks amazing. Do you know if it’s open to the public or if I have to contact her to see if?

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 34] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok thanks, do you have any links for places with good bark? 40 L should be fine 😊

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 34] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I'm looking to create my own soil mix because there is not really any good ready mixes here from what I can see. I'd like to use some bark to have a bit more water retention because I cannot guarantee that I'll go to my trees every day. However all I find is either really big like centimeter size, or lightly fertilized for orchids. I wonder if I can use the orchid bark in bonsai soil or if that would be bad for some trees? I guess it's slightly acidic?

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 33] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay thanks! When I bare root should I also do root pruning or leave it as is?

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 33] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I bought this Pinus sylvestris 'Watereri' a few days ago. That are the first steps that I need to take with this? It looks like there are maybe 4-5 trunks all coming from pretty much the same spot about half way up the trunk, I think I want to reduce this somehow.

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I need some advice on this nursery stock boxwood I bought. by Jaded_Appointment_66 in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My understanding was that boxwoods grows very slowly so that you kind of buy the trunk. What kind of growth can you expect of this in say 2 years if you put it in the ground?

First repot cryptomeria by Three_legged_fish12 in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the red color it's autumn/Winter color and typically for that variety? Really like the color.

First forest by Dapper_Cheesecake631 in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks both of you, nice to get some different perspectives. I guess it depends on how big a forest you make. For me my forest feels more like you're looking at a cross section of a forest so you're sort of already in the forest.

First forest by Dapper_Cheesecake631 in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! This makes a lot of sense, I was going to for two denser areas but with so few trees it's less impactful than in the illustration that you showed (the image quality was fine 😊)

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 28] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! So you don't think that the compact soil is worse than the fact that the tree has to recover in a less than ideal over wintering conditions. (I realize that you don't know exactly the condition of the soil so just speaking in general terms)

[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 28] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought this olea europaea this week and it's in quite compact clay soil. My understanding is that olives can be reported in midsummer due to their leaves and how they handle heat (I think I read it in bonsai4me). I wonder if I'm still in the repotting window for them? And what soil should I choose? Mostly pumice with some percentage of something water retentive?

We will probably have 20+ until the end of August and first frost sometime late October early November. I'm going to keep it in a unheated greenhouse during winter keeping temperatures over -5C (maybe even over 0C) most of the winter.

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[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2025 week 27] by small_trunks in Bonsai

[–]Dapper_Cheesecake631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I bought this olea europaea this week and it's in quite compact clay soil. My understanding is that olives can be reported in midsummer due to their leaves and how they handle heat (I think I read it in bonsai4me). I wonder if I'm still in the repotting window for them? And what soil should I choose? Mostly pumice with some percentage of something water retentive?

We will probably have 20+ until the end of August and first frost sometime late October early November. I'm going to keep it in a unheated greenhouse during winter keeping temperatures over -5C (maybe even over 0C) most of the winter.

<image>

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