AusBonsai

One of the biggest mistakes I made in the early years of my bonsai life was to be in a big rush to get my trees into a bonsai pot. Once a tree gets into a pot it slows the growth right down and the development process is very tedious.
I know the allure of having trees in pots is very strong but in terms of establishing a collection its actually counter productive. To spend at least 5 years developing trees in large growing containers or in ground is going to give young growers a more established collection much more quickly. I wish there had been someone to give me this advice when I started.
I would strongly advise the people who are just starting out to spend their early bonsai years growing trees for a few years before potting them in shallow pots your collections will be much better for it.
There is heaps of advise to be had here and in the bonsai community in general on techniques for developing trees.
The reason I put up this post is that I am frequently seeing trees in bonsai pots that really need a lot more growing.
Craig

Good advise Craig

Bonsai is something that lasts a life time so 5 years in a grow box or the like is not much tome at all.

Andrew

this is to right craig. i can understand the urge to have some trees in pots too, its good to have something that is developed in a pot to work on as seeing an end result can stop the urge to get them in a pot to quickly. i only have about 10 trees in pots, the rest are in various stages of growing on ranging from 10 year plans to only 2 year grow out plans, a bigger tree obviously requires more time in the ground where a shohin size tree or smaller will develop in less time as such. my 2-3 year plan grow box trees are only going to be trees under 20cm tall by the time they come out and are potted.

some trees will thicken and develop in a pot, but dont go putting a pine seedling in a very small pot and expect it to be the same 5 years down the track as a ground/box grown tree.

jamie

I Reckon any new starter in Bonsai, should buy 2 trees every time they go to a nursery rather than just 1.

They can learn to Style on one of them to get the instant gratification of doing something NOW, and put the other in the grund/ big pot / grow box whatever for the future.

They will quicly learn to appreciate why they should concentrate on the more advanced stock.
By the time 3 - 5 years have past, when we usually "get it" they will already have the ground grown stock to work with

Ken

I have the intention to start some pines (already started) with the expectation of growing them on for at least 50-70 years. Means I'll proably never see them in a pot, but it's the journey not the destination...

Granted the tridents I am starting will be far quicker. 15-20 at a guess!!

KC
Couldnt agree more. I have done this and been very grateful for two reasons.
Ive killed heaps and now I have the back ups in some pots.
Also I think with life as busy as it is for me at the moment the grow pots and in ground stock needs less attention so I am able to get on with life.
In the future when life allows more time for me I will ahve the stock to work with.
One thing I have trialled is having a pine in a pot and slip potting it up a size or two three times in a growing season. Each time I left the roots alone and just pulled it out from one pot to the other and backfilled soil into the space.
I didnt take records but it worked and got more girth than the ones in the ground that year.
I am going to do it with a couple of maples this year.
by going up just a size or two at a time seems to allow rapid root development as the roots reach to the outside of the plastic pot each time.
Someone here will no doubt have a better scientific explanation for my result.

that is commitment jezz!! and those trees that are grown for 50-70 years will be what australia needs! if everyone could do this with even 10-20 trees each, ground growing for that time, by the time 50-70 years is up the nation would have such quality stock we could be up there!

just for this commitment jezz, i will be putting some trees into grow boxes to start with then the ground when i buy a place and grow them on for this amount of time aswell!

jamie

Totally agreed Craig. The most common perception is a tree must be in a bonsai pot to look like a bonsai. My initial misconception was like that too: I thought I had a bonsai when I only had a potted tree in a nice bonsai pot. Now I understood the difference but sometimes just can't resist wanting to find out if the tree looks better in a proper pot

And you are too right Ken. Buy 2 trees everytime so that you could try one in the pot and one in grow box. This would solve my dilemma but only if money is not an issue.
Cheers.
DK

i only have one tree in a pot, and its only there cause the styro fell apart,

it is a clero though and the trunk is pretty much at the size i want it so being in a pot isnt really slowing things down too much.

In my first year I tended to put everything in a bonsai pot. By the start of the second year everything was ripped out and put into styro boxes etc. I've probably only got 3 in bonsai pots now and a shiite load of surplus pots in the shed! Lesson learned early enough I think.

While its good to buy some trees if you are intending to field or box grow then you should be starting with very young plants so they can be wired for trunk movement from the word go. In that case the trees should cost nothing or next to nothing just the cost of some propagating medium or a bit of tube stock/seed. There is really nothing more satisfying than having bonsai that have been propagated by you and grown from scratch.
Jarrod is right the longer the time frame the better the stock will be. If you are prepared to put the time in then the results will be spectacular.
Craig