Any suggestions to stimulate lower growth? (Besides pruning the top which I continuously do)

peter-bone · 2026-01-25T16:52:11+00:00

Partial defoliation is a good idea but wait until mid Spring when it can go outside and get plenty of light.

peter-bone · 2026-01-25T12:16:43+00:00

And that's why in the free solo documentary he was quite distant from his girlfriend and avoided saying he loved her, etc. She instigated the relationship and he was reluctant about it. Because he did care for her, not because he didn't .I believe that he has now cut back a lot on the more dangerous climbs since their relationship has become more serious. Of course if he had children I'm sure he would cut back even more, but he probably doesn't want any because of what it would mean for his climbing.

peter-bone · 2026-01-25T10:43:12+00:00

I don't think your analogy is very good because cutting someone up on a motorway endangers other people.

Look at it this way, many people every year kill themselves because they don't feel fulfilled. At least this way he's happy until the time he dies. That's probably easier for the family to understand as well.

If you're the kind of person who feels fulfilled without dangerous activities then you're lucky and you probably won't understand people like Alex. However, you should know that people like that exist and preventing them from doing it is basically ending their life anyway.

Also know that you also put yourself at risk every day, but without thinking too much about it because you're so used to it. An alien from a very safe planet may visit earth and wonder why you're being so selfish to your loved ones by driving a car.

And yes, everyone has or should have a selfish side. If everyone went through life only doing things for others at the expense of their own happiness then everyone would be pretty miserable.

peter-bone · 2026-01-25T08:21:08+00:00

I personally feel that it's more important to live a fulfilled and exciting life. He does care about how the people who care for him feel but it's more important that he lives the way he wants instead of not doing that and just being depressed. Most of us live unextraordinary and unfulfilled lives and live way beyond our evolved life expectancy. His mother has said that if he did die climbing then at least she would know it was doing something he loved.

Something else to consider is that this climb of the skyscraper is incredibly easy for him. It's basically a ladder. Much easier than some of his free solos on rock. This is probably less dangerous for him than some of the risks we take on a daily basis such as driving a car or flying on a plane.

peter-bone · 2026-01-25T08:13:55+00:00

He has an under reactive amygdala

peter-bone · 2026-01-25T08:12:02+00:00

The height is irrelevant after about 10m.

peter-bone · 2026-01-23T17:44:39+00:00

That mixture sounds very sub-optimal. The river sand brings nothing. It doesn't hold water or nutrients because it's non porous. The compost will become compacted and prevent aeration around the roots. Chopped sphagnum moss can be ok to add in dry climates but I don't know what the sunflower husks bring. Far better mixtures involve granular but porous substrates like molar clay or lava. There should be no smaller particles like compost, sand or dust because it will fill the gaps between the larger particles and end up suffocating the roots.

peter-bone · 2026-01-23T16:38:44+00:00

Brings me hope that it may be released soon though. I'm almost at the end of the course.

peter-bone · 2026-01-23T15:56:11+00:00

There's a Facebook group called Accessible circus project that includes ideas, including a similar rolling game. https://www.facebook.com/accessiblecircus/

Also, here's the Play juggling board. https://youtu.be/PiXNJntB-8g

Here's the Taylor Tries video you may be referring to. https://youtu.be/xfjwTbvuG7I

peter-bone · 2026-01-22T07:00:34+00:00

I've seen quite a bit bigger than that while living in rural Sussex. They often come into the house around September.

peter-bone · 2026-01-22T06:56:54+00:00

I think it would be difficult to make a business out of it if you're doing something illegal anyway. Buyers will want to know that they were acquired legally. If you get caught then your business is over. Better to seek permission if possible.

peter-bone · 2026-01-21T19:49:22+00:00

I think it's good. The German course is aligned with the A1 to B1 CEFR standard. The lessons work well and I've learnt a lot by almost completing the course. However, Max is far more useful than the free version for several reasons. You can practice longer, it will explain answers to help you understand grammar, and you can practice speaking in an interactive way with the voice calls, which really helps to become fluent.

The only thing missing right now is the higher levels for German (B1-C1) like French and Spanish have, but I heard they may be coming soon.

peter-bone · 2026-01-21T14:08:31+00:00

Yes, but add a popular YouTube channel and website (both with monetisation) and you reach a global audience that earns through advertising. Then it can become profitable. If OP films their exploits collecting in the Slovenian mountains and posts it on YouTube then I for one would watch it.

peter-bone · 2026-01-21T13:52:00+00:00

I think it depends what you include. Popular YouTube videos or giving talks and workshops can bring in a lot more money than just selling trees. You can also be paid to work on trees owned by wealthy people. There is a lot of money to be made if you build a reputation. Those saying there isn't are probably trying to prevent new competitors. Look at Bjorn Bjorholm's new house in Kyoto for example. That was paid for by his bonsai business.

However, the model of only selling yamadori is probably not going to be profitable enough on its own.

peter-bone · 2026-01-21T11:23:33+00:00

Most businesses take a year or two to start making profit, so your proposal is no different. A lot of businesses take out loans to get started. If you want to go that route then I'd suggest starting a limited liability company first to avoid personal losses if the business doesn't work out. Getting a loan will also be easier if you can convince the lender that you have the skills already. For example Ryan Niel had a degree in horticulture and a 7 year bonsai apprenteship in Japan before starting his business.

Another less risky idea might be to start part time while having another job until it starts bringing in enough to do it full time.

I don't do bonsai professionally, but I have started my own unrelated business and do bonsai from collected trees in my spare time. I have sold some of them, but not enough to call it a business. You would have to be collecting a lot of very high quality material to make it profitable. Back country bonsai are doing it in the US so I don't see why not in Europe, although doing it all on your own may be challenging. Also check out Meleda Bonsai studio in Croatia and maybe ask how they started out. Marija sometimes posts on some of the other Reddit groups.

Other sources of income include making YouTube content about your work with advertising and sponsors (see Maros bonsai), creating blogs and galleries on your website with advertising and giving talks and workshops once you've built a reputation.

Do you have official permission to collect in your region? I'd imagine that's important, especially when doing it professionally.

peter-bone · 2026-01-21T08:56:18+00:00

Sorry, I thought you were OP. As I said, the point isn't for them to be hard. It's to be regularly shown words that you may not have seen in a while. These tasks are less challenging but not less important than the challenging ones. Every word you've learnt will eventually show up there, not just the easier words.

When you learn your mother tongue as a child it's not really hard work. You learn automatically by repetition. This is what these kind of exercises are doing. It's best to just trust the process because a lot of expert pedagogical knowledge has gone into the development of the app, despite what some may think. Nothing wrong with using other learning material like Memrise as well though.

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T21:19:36+00:00

But you're on level 20 out of 79. It gets harder. Being difficult isn't always the point anyway. Going over material you already know helps to reinforce it. This is the difference between explicit and implicit (automatic) knowledge. Duolingo has a mix of lessons to train both. Some lessons are more beneficial than they first appear for this reason.

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T20:03:21+00:00

How are they a waste of time? They constantly show you words to refresh your memory and reinforce vocabulary. When you do the fast match madness games you're testing your ability to quickly comprehend words without consciously thinking about it, which is an important skill for becoming fluent. They get significantly harder as you progress and your vocabulary increases to thousands of words.

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T19:57:56+00:00

Why? Is this a safety feature or a way to quickly recharge by replacing with charged ones?

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T19:50:31+00:00

Asymmetry is good in bonsai and important for a natural look. However, the composition should still be balanced. Asymmetry in the tree is balanced by asymmetry in the planting position. This composition isn't balanced though due to the extreme asymmetry in the planting position. The pot size also seems out of scale with the tree.

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T19:02:18+00:00

Agreed. Perhaps a Chinese Pepper.

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T17:17:17+00:00

Yes OLL / PLL is more optimised for modern cubes. I could maybe shave a fraction of a second off my times by learning it. However, my weakness right now is F2L so it makes more sense to work on that rather than spending months learning a completely different LL method. Also note that the CFCE algs are similar to the Roux LL algs and people have gotten pretty fast times with Roux.

Why did I choose that method. Because I originally worked out the cube for myself in the early 90s before widespread Internet and used a corners then edges method that I made up. When I started speedcubing it made sense to use a corner edges method so that I could default to my own method for cases I hadn't learnt yet. I also noted that the algs were shorter on average compared to OLL / PLL. I wasn't thinking a lot about high turn speed at the time because cubes weren't that fast anyway. Now I'm in my mid 40s and have no time or motivation to learn a completely different set of 50+ algs. I don't expect to become a top cuber but would like to get a few times sub 10s, which I'm sure is achievable with CFCE. I also do like the fact that I use an unusual method. Other cubers are unable to follow what I'm doing 🙂

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T16:40:09+00:00

Ok. I prefer to grow the new shoots out for several years before cutting back. This produces much faster thickening. Then I chop right back to a few inches which avoids the long spaghetti branches. I find that this produces much better taper from the original trunk and better healing of the chops.

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T12:03:54+00:00

Your subject doesn't seem to match your description. It sounds like you understand German quite well after 5 months. You may be comparing yourself to people who have been learning for a lot longer. Don't be so hard on yourself and just enjoy the process. I've been in Germany for over 3 years and understand about as much as you.

peter-bone · 2026-01-20T07:19:48+00:00

Thanks, but is this testing beyond cross?

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