AusBonsai

hi all,

new member, first time poster, wanna thanks all first for the amount of information provided that is of great help for newbie like me. am from mauritius and want to know if there is any one from mauritius here as it is proving very difficult to get the tools needed to do bonsai here. bonsai pot are rare and very expensive, and i havent seen on sale any growing medium u have mentioned here only pumice and spaghnum moss. so if any guys from mauritius here please guide me where u do get your supplies.

Hi coomy welcome! Unfortunately I'm not in Mauritius, have you looked at the cost of tools and pots via eBay? I think the best potting medium is whatever you have access to-sounds like potting mix it is!

ya have been scouting ebay for pots and tools, guess the bonsai fever has not yet gain my little island, at least am blessed with a tropical climate.

you should be able to collect some tropical figs on Mauritius as they make excellent bonsai. You could consider obtaining flat slabs of granite or planting on rocks if getting bonsai pots is difficult. .

am still new to it so planting on rock is a level i have not yet reach but will definitely have a look into it, just a quick question tough, if you have potting soil, spaghnum moss and pumice, can a mix be done with that and if yes in what ratio. hope my qustion is not too stupid

Hi coomy and welcome. You can try contacting Xavier for local info on all things bonsai. Good luck

ya have read one of his post, would like to hear from him

Everyone has their own favorite potting mix but you can grow good bonsai in any good potting mix without adding any other stuff. I think some growers make up their own mix just because they can, not because it is better! Having said that, everyone has different conditions so a mix developed to match the local conditions will be best rather than copying what someone else uses but you can start off with a general mix and try different additives to see what happens.
The important thing is good drainage so less fine particles and more lumps (3-6mm) is good. Pumice should be a good additive if you can only get a potting mix with finer particles.
In Mauritius I'd expect a mix that works well for the Queenslanders should work well for you.

Hi Coomy20,

Welcome. I am from Mauritius but live in Australia. I started doing bonsai about 18 years ago when I lived in the UK but had to sell my collection when I moved to Oz 6 years ago. Since the I have been building up my collection again but it will take some time. As for bonsai in Mauritius I know for a fact that it is very rare. I also know that a lot of Mauritian go to China or India for trade, perhaps you could ask one of them to buy the tools you need. As for plants, there is an abundance of trees you can bonsai. Firstly, go to the tea plantation and ask the planters for the trees they very often pulled out and throw away. There's also plenty of figs growing in the forest, including pines. Go by the rivers in Mauritius and you will be surprise of what you can find. If you have difficulty getting tools please let me know, I may be able to help. All the best.

Hi Coomy and welcome to AusBonsai
Another member from Mauritius is awesome.

Suggest you send a PM to Xavier as he has about 2 years or so membership and should be quite able to give you so local tips.
If you are close enough then a get together will be cool too

Possibly ebay wil be your Best bet for tools, but you wil be able to improvise too.

Ken

thanks all for your input, there is really a great community there. i ll try ebay for sure and i ve been trying to get one of the tea plant, they are amazing dont know if they ll send one to me. right now am concentrating on figs as they can handle my amateurish hand

shibui wrote:Everyone has their own favorite potting mix but you can grow good bonsai in any good potting mix without adding any other stuff. I think some growers make up their own mix just because they can, not because it is better! Having said that, everyone has different conditions so a mix developed to match the local conditions will be best rather than copying what someone else uses but you can start off with a general mix and try different additives to see what happens.
The important thing is good drainage so less fine particles and more lumps (3-6mm) is good. Pumice should be a good additive if you can only get a potting mix with finer particles.
In Mauritius I'd expect a mix that works well for the Queenslanders should work well for you.

This is some of the best advice on potting mix I've ever seen. Very solid, and absolutely true. There is no magic mix, you just have to be careful to match your watering to your mix. If it doesn't drain well, water less, etc.

Hi Coomy,

Did not realize you where from the same Paradise
Just dropping a welcome to the forum note.
I'll answer all your other question later on.

I've written a blog on where to get some stuffs in Mauritius : http://maubonsai.blogspot.com/2013/02/w ... itius.html
Its incomplete, but I've posted it as it is... did not have much time lately to complete it.
But it should be enough to get you starting.

I'll try to share more info soon.

Hi again,

Ok, so I'm going to give you some of the places that I can find bonsai stuffs in Mauritius.
Sorry Aussi folks, but its kinda gonna be Mauritius specific names/terms in some places

Lets get started:
First thing, this is a complementary information that goes with this article : http://maubonsai.blogspot.com/2013/02/w ... itius.html
I was planning to add the stuffs that you'll find below in that article later on.

coomy20 wrote:am from mauritius and want to know if there is any one from mauritius here

I'm here First part was easy enough...

coomy20 wrote:as it is proving very difficult to get the tools needed to do bonsai here.

You can get started with basic gardening tools.
I don't think you have a 5cm thick root to cut or big stuffs like that.
The basic gardening scissors, and Pruning shears that you have on the market [ in supermarkets or in quincailleries ] is more than enough to start.
You also have a nice gardening set in gardening section of Supermarkets here - try Intermart Ebene, or Shoprite Trianon.
You'll also find several stuffs on and off at daiso, in the gardening section.
Things like drainage covers, small rakes, root rakes, tiny knives etc
You can get some small wires in the gardening sections of supermarkets :

See my warning note in my article about the 3mm thick wires.

coomy20 wrote:bonsai pot are rare and very expensive,

I'm afraid its going to be more expensive to buy them from ebay, but at some point in time it might be well worth the investement.
Ok so pots:
One word of warning before hand: Buy pots that have at least 1 drainage hole! There are some supermarkets that sell "cache pot" labelled as bonsai pot. Those DO NOT HAVE drainage hole, however beautiful that may look, don't waste your money on them. [ unless you want to drill your own drainage holes lateron ]
Same thing when buying on ebay. You have several sellers that shows the pot from the side or slightly indented, but you dont see if there are drainage holes. If you don't find mention of it in the description of the product, contact the seller before buying the "pot".
You have "training pots" and "bonsai pots"
Training pots = gardening normal pots. You have LOTS of places where you can buy them.
You can get a lots of stuffs from "Plastic world" shops or shops that are kind of like that.
You have them also in supermarkets and garden centers/nurseries.

You can also use cheap plastic passoirs.


For the bonsai pots, try the following places:
1. Daiso - Yeps, there are tiny pots @ Daiso. Well they are selling off their stock lately, but it should be around Rs30~80 for a small pot.
Don't know if they still have pots, but last time I when there, there were those white pots.


2. Intermart Ebene - Gardening section.
Again its something that comes on and off. With the chinese new year they may have replendish their stocks. You'll have to go and have a look.


3. Vaneron Garden
That would be the place where you would get the greatest variety and with a decent price tag [ they do have to make a profit too ]


4. Any gardening section in a Supermarket, or in a nursery : Just ask where the pots are.
I've been seeing some plastic bonsai pots too lately at various places. Nurseries and supermarkets mainly.

coomy20 wrote:and i havent seen on sale any growing medium u have mentioned here only pumice and spaghnum moss. so if any guys from mauritius here please guide me where u do get your supplies.

The tough topic...
I've got a bonsai soil set here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtolord/se ... 642000271/
Its a mix of all the stuffs that I can use to make my bonsai soil mix - 100% locally available stuffs
What you can get on the local market:

Water retention mediums:
1. Perlite
2. Cocopeat
3. Fired clay pebbles & soil
4. Sphagnum moss [ recently available on the market ]

Hard mediums :
1. Pebbles
2. Sand [ construction sand or rock sand ]
3. Macadam [ small ones ]
4. Aquarium sand

Organic mediums :
1. Pine barks
2. Cocopeat
3. Sphagnum moss
4. Charcoal

How you mix them and in what proportions will depend on your tree and also where you live.

Bonsai Soil Substrate by Xtolord, on Flickr
Above is basically my bonsai mix


Where can you get those:
About 80% can be obtained at Vaneron Garden. Stuffs like Perlite, pine bark, cocopeat, sphagnum moss you'll easily obtain there.
The hard mediums you can get them at Espace Jardin, or at aquarium shops. The aquarium sand is very expensive in my opinion, but if you have a tiny pot you can buy only a small amount just to fit inside the pot.


I think that about covers the basics.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.