Pot Size Dilemma

[billa]

Hi Gang,

Ok so I try and add my own sense of individuality while adhering to traditional Japanese methods when approaching our beautiful art.

Generally speaking, I would love to know how closely people stick to the tree to pot ratio regarding pot size…you know that rule of thumb where the pot length should be equal to 2/3’s of the tree height?

I just re potted my Chinese Elm into a new pot (LOVE this new pot)and up close it looked fine…but from a distance it seemed kinda small. The pot has a length of 2000mm and the height of the Elm is approx. 3800. I have totally missed the rule of thumb thing.

I searched many photos of random bonsai, many seem to totally ignore the ratio but I found that most of the spectacular bonsai adhere to it.

Would love to know your thoughts on why this ratio exists and if for example I was to enter my elm into a competition…would it loose points for having a small pot? I did have to trim a fair bit of the root ball so it could fit into the pot...

Thank you friends