Seasol benefits

[craigw60]

Of course Brett is correct in saying there are different levels of growth, but it must also be remembered that trees at different levels of development require different treatments. The pines which Brett showed us are so young the only requirement is for strong growth so the feeding pattern is tailored to suit that end.
Once the tree has achieved its desired height/trunk diameter then things will change because needle length becomes important so feeding habits should be modified to a level which would encourage growth but not so much as to blow the needle/leaf size out of proportion. As Brett stated this is a big topic.
Craig

[Glenda]

......... Terracotta breathes and retains moisture when a breeze passes it will cool it. ............Cheers Pup

If you seal the terracotta with the special sealers they sell, does this happen still? I have just bought some new pots and sealed them, but haven't used them yet. The others are unsealed. Sorry to get off topic

Glenda

[Rhiannon]

Haha, there's so much information to take in I think my brain might melt.

As far as the bonsai literature goes, what's the best source to learn the ins and outs of feeding your trees from?

I'm already attempting to get my hands on John Naka's Bonsai Techniques as recommended by Antonio (as soon as I can find one that isn't gonna cost $80 just for second hand haha), but I'm not sure what that's like as far as feeding info goes. And I don't wanna annoy everyone here with questions every 10 seconds lol.

[dayne]

start a thread stating what trees you have what stage their at andeven some pics and where you live in vic the guys down there will help out for sure its so specific that theirs no point giving info for figs if you only grow maples or azaleas allso its a bit different from one place to the next

[Rhiannon]

its so specific that theirs no point giving info for figs if you only grow maples or azaleas allso its a bit different from one place to the next

I was afraid you'd say that.

So there's no general rules that are conserved between species? It's different for every single one?

So far, everything's been growing really well and it seems that every day I go out to water them there's a new shoot emerging. I don't know if I could be doing better or if they could be growing faster, i.e., I don't know if they're just growing at their normal rate. I figure at this point it's just good that they're all healthy and I'm keeping them alive, but as time goes on that won't be enough.

[Ron]

...I'm already attempting to get my hands on John Naka's Bonsai Techniques as recommended by Antonio (as soon as I can find one that isn't gonna cost $80 just for second hand haha), ...

There are some new copies available on eBay for around $50 plus postage.

http://shop.ebay.com.au/?_from=R40&_trk ... Categories

[Pup]

Haha, there's so much information to take in I think my brain might melt.

As far as the bonsai literature goes, what's the best source to learn the ins and outs of feeding your trees from?

I'm already attempting to get my hands on John Naka's Bonsai Techniques as recommended by Antonio (as soon as I can find one that isn't gonna cost $80 just for second hand haha), but I'm not sure what that's like as far as feeding info goes. And I don't wanna annoy everyone here with questions every 10 seconds lol.

Rhiannon John.Y Naka techniques 1 is $ 30 american new techniques 11 is $ 60 new signed.

Feeding for fast growth is different from growth of established tree's. 95 percent of my tree's need to be fed just to keep them healthy. So they get fed once per fortnight with a balanced fertiliser. That contains an NPK ratio of 14- 4.4- 28 + the micro elements. I have used this for most of my Bonsai journey. To increase growth I would use it more often. On natives I use miracleGro for Azaleas and Camellias npk 28- 1.2- 10 + micro elements at the same per fortnight. It works for me.

If you go onto Bonsai Clubs International site you will find out how to order John Y Nakas book's.

Cheers Pup

[Bretts]

As long as all your trees are not dieing you are doing a great job as a beginner Rhiannon and you should be proud I personally would not recommend John Naka's books in this instance. I have only recently read them and after much hype of how the Deborah Koreshoff book rivaled the Naka books. I personally feel Deb leaves Naka in her wake
Edit: Oh and a very limited information on fertilizing as far asI can see?
One of my favourite books at the moment for simple straight forward advice would be the Hamyn care manual Bonsai by Colin Lewis.
I have maybe had it less than a year but I think It would have been a great book to start with. It has a decent chapter on Fertiliing bonsai.
The best I could recommend is too trawl ebay whenever you can be bothered looking for bonsai book bargains

[Ron]

....The best I could recommend is too trawl ebay whenever you can be bothered looking for bonsai book bargains

I never buy a book (and I buy hundreds every year) without checking

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/

Prices are at least half those in Oz with free air express postage (I usually get my books in about a week - faster than books from Sydney just 90kms away). Naka's books aren't available there unfortunately and neither is Brett's Colin Lewis recommendation.

[bodhidharma]

As long as all your trees are not dieing you are doing a great job as a beginner Rhiannon and you should be proud I personally would not recommend John Naka's books in this instance. I have only recently read them and after much hype of how the Deborah Koreshoff book rivaled the Naka books. I personally feel Deb leaves Naka in her wake
Edit: Oh and a very limited information on fertilizing as far asI can see?
One of my favourite books at the moment for simple straight forward advice would be the Hamyn care manual Bonsai by Colin Lewis.
I have maybe had it less than a year but I think It would have been a great book to start with. It has a decent chapter on Fertiliing bonsai.
The best I could recommend is too trawl ebay whenever you can be bothered looking for bonsai book bargains

Personally, i think that both books(or 3 in this instance) are a wealth of knowledge But take into account that Deborah Koreshoff's book also comes with an Australian's perspective (as she is an aussie) and sublety looks at trees from an Australian point of view. That, alone is a huge benefit.

[Ron]

I have about 15 or so bonsai books and at my stage I keep coming back to the Australian book 'Bonsai Art & Technique' by Jennifer Wilkinson as I find it the most useful. They often come up on evilbay for less than $10.

[Bretts]

Hi Pup
I have another couple of larger pines growing in akadama sand mix, terracotta pot. Growth with them seems fine as well. I have been a big fan of the terracotta pots but maybe slowly heading back to the good old black nursery pot for reasons such as you say.


Hi Craig
I am still dreaming of the days I am using fertiliser to refine growth.
There's Enough to learn about development growth for me at the moment

Would love to discuss this more with both of you but I think there are enough subjects going on here at the moment. Maybe I will start another thread about this if I get a chance

[Rhiannon]

I had a look at the Naka books on eBay, they were about the same as Amazon except new from what I could see. Postage is $15, though, so I'm still having a look around. I don't have an eBay account, either, and have always been fairly sceptical of it. I'll have a look through the links you guys provided, thanks. But as far as I can find, the book isn't available for sale in Australia?

Oh, and Bretts, I expected that Bonsai Techniques wouldn't have much fert info, as from what I've heard and can infer it's more about ... well, the technique? Can't think how else to describe it. But that's why I was wondering if there's anything in the way of books dedicated at least in part about to feeding them. Sometimes it feels like for everything I learn, I realise there's 10 new things I know nothing about.

Appreciate the input guys, thanks.