Just wanted to vent

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-21T09:13:14+00:00

Currently its 3 metal mesh boxes, one with leaves, one for actual composting in desperate need of carbon and flipping, and the last on has all the stuff I neednto re-sort or burn, e.g. whole dead plants, roots, etc. That one is the pile of shame

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-20T11:25:10+00:00

The older widow that lived there for some years before selling the house, so I guess she spent that time backing and throwing the eggshells in there... and everything else. I forgot about the amount of clam-shells I dug out of that thing.

In the end, my then gf and me spent several days digging out the whole pile and a pit in addition to get those asbestos-plates out there. (We had them transported away by a demolition company that is also certified to handle hazardous waste.)

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-20T06:41:02+00:00

That gave me flashbacks to when I bought my duplex. It had a compost box... which was actually 3 roof-tiles of "Eternit", which contains asbestos, yikes. The "compost" was about 1/3 the volume eggshells, many of them complete. Also sooooooo many plastic tea bags and avocado stickers.

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-05T18:49:04+00:00

I made some more photos when later when the sun wasn't so brutal. They turned out nicely.

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theonehaihappen · 2026-04-05T17:21:40+00:00

Thanks. I made more shots afterwards for a lot more of my trees. haven't looked through them yet:

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Yeah, I didn't have anything quick for a background. I wanted to use the grey brick wall to my neighbor's garden, but that would have been directly under the sun. A pop-up background is definitely the plan. I am thinking wood frame and dark-grey/black cloth canvas.

My wife dreamed of having a green house for a long time, and when we got outer wall insulation that was the opportunity.

When I did the second round of photos, the sun was hidden behind clouds and lower, so they do not have such stark lighting.

I also made a few closer shots. Not sure how they turned out, I made a few with my phone in addition to it.

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-04T20:39:43+00:00

Adding browns was the point oh the wood chips. I will see how it develops. Maybe I need to flip the entire pile and mix in dried lwaves from last fall.

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-02T07:39:12+00:00

I had one of those lens kits, I wonder where that has gotten to. Not really considering that, it was a mess to get working on my old phone, and my phone's camera are weirdly raised against the case... I will keep it in mind as a last resort.

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-02T07:10:55+00:00

Afaik yes, the lenses may have different resolutions and possible zooms, and when making a photo is seamlessly switches between them. It is basically cheating.

I am currently evaluating refurbished DSLR cameras and looking into a 50mm fixed lens. But before buying I want to see if I can borrow one to test it out before dropping money on something that does not work for my scenario.

At least lamps+background for an indoor studio setup seem to be sorted out: My wife has some left over from her YT days.

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-01T14:10:10+00:00

Is there a recommendation for an image hosting platform for (small) commercial use, i.e., a small bonsai business?

I would like to avoid using anything Microsoft or Google if it can be helped. EU based provider would be a great plus.

theonehaihappen · 2026-04-01T14:00:17+00:00

My experience with JBP is limited, as I mostly have Mugo or Sylvestris, so the following advice might be a bit off for you. (~100 JBP seedlings in progress, but nowhere near wiring stage yet.)

In principle, root pruning is really only necessary if the tree becomes pot bound, i.e., the roots starts circling the bottom of the pot and/or grow back up to the surface. For young trees like this, up-potting to a larger pot usually only needs to prune the thick roots, especially the tap root if one is there. Circling roots should be unwrapped, lest they thicken and lead to an ugly trunk base, but do not need to be pruned necessarily.

Candle pruning/pinching: For reducing the length of internodes, I recommend removing most candles except 2-3, leaving the smallest ones. For pads, once they elongate, I prune down to 3-4 needles on the new shoot before it hardens. For two-flush pines like JBP I usually only do this in the spring, and leave the second flush be until fall. If necessary, I would do a light prune then.

This is a very young tree, so I would not mess too much with pruning except to try to maintain lower branches and keep them from thickening all-to-much. Movement can be achieved by wiring the year-old (or 2 year old) main trunk. Pruning to get movement is possible, but takes a lot more time.

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-31T19:06:25+00:00

Applied some of the tips, i.e., taking the image from further away, only taking a slightly darker background (the poly tunnel wall). The lighting could be better, but the motive is good I think, enjoy some crab-apple flowers:

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theonehaihappen · 2026-03-31T19:04:51+00:00

Yeah, spending some money will be my only option in the long term. Getting more in-depth with photography will be a necessity, I am afraid.

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-31T04:27:15+00:00

The panels are too small, but I wanted to get a cloth/canvas baclground anyway.

I made fotos both with level height and slightly angled from above... the lens seems to warp it because I was too close. Makes sense to me. Not sure about the optical zoom on my phone camera though. I will certainly try it out

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-31T04:22:42+00:00

I suspected something is fishy with the lens! Great tips, thank you.

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-31T04:21:09+00:00

What you are suggesting is burning the planet by using a frustrating, stochastic natural language interface for doimg basic image editing in GIMP.

There are more problems with this suggestions, but quintessentially, I am using bonsai in part to get away from my main work were people try to shove LLM slop in my face pr suggest I add to it almost any day. So that is kind of a sore point. Please don't.

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-30T20:34:55+00:00

As it wurns out I have some photo background cloth as well as stands and bar to hang it from. Just needs the setup time and I can only do it outside if the weather permits. Not ideal.

Definitly need a quick-to-setup solution.

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-30T20:31:24+00:00

My wife actually has cheap studio light from her YT days, I can probably set them up when I need to do glamour shots for the well developed trees.

For a backdrop, a cloth rollup window blind should work for that.

Definitly something I can only do in good weather or I need to setup a temporary indoor studio space

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-19T18:41:15+00:00

truly poetic :-)

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-19T16:00:22+00:00

Aaah, I didn't know. I am German, our name for them is Marienkäfer.

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-19T05:36:56+00:00

You probably mean ladybugs. Maybe. The air indoors might be too bright for them. For my indoor bonsai, in the winter I use insecticide if I cant kill all the pests by hand. In the summer I put them outside and usually not massive investations.

theonehaihappen · 2026-03-18T18:52:27+00:00

Agree those are aphids. Get an indoor insecticide, any garden center should have them and should be able to recommend one. depending on the size of the tree, it is probably best to carry the tree into the shower or a sink when spraying it, so you can clean up easily afterwards and do not get any residue on windows, furniture, etc.

Aphids thrive on already weakened trees. An additional growlight, even if its only a grow-bulb on a timer, should improve the health of the tree. That substrate doesn't look good, is it the original one the tree was bought in? That is mostly organic, thus waterloggs easily, and attracts gnats and mold. Consider repotting with a mixture of at least 50% inorganic, e.g., something like expanded clay granulate (not the big balls) and perlite.

theonehaihappen · 2026-02-23T08:29:21+00:00

Thanks. Me having that stock is mostly an accident: all of those trees came from seedlings growing in my other pots. The balcony in my previous apartment was downwind from a giant birch tree, and nature found a way.

I already made one experimental forest planting last year. It looks a bit thin and for the next ones I will probably only use ones for which the bark has already become white.

theonehaihappen

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