A little fun with a spud...

[Dario]

Hi all, I couldn't work out where to post this? So please move it to a more apropriate place if need be?
Anyway, just for a laugh I thought I would attempt a bonsai? out of your average potatoe.
I went to the fruit shop and purchased a few spuds, put them in a dark place (an empty clothing draw), and waited...
After a couple of months or so, my spuds started to sprout. Periodically I took them out of the draw to check on their growth and once they had enough sprouts, I started pruning.
Every couple of weeks I would take them out of the draw and give them another prune.
It was interesting to use the clip n' grow technique and watch them quickly develop.
When pruning, I left a stub which would then dry out so that it could be broken off.
The spud will let you know when its energy resources are all used up as it will start to go all wrinkly and wither. Discard of it before it statrs to decompose.
Here are some pics of the finished product.

P2180780.JPG

P2180787.JPG

P2180788.JPG

P2180789.JPG

P2180790.JPG

P2180794.JPG

It only takes a few months from beginning to end, and then you can start again?
Maybe if you have some young kids you could help them make a potatoe bonsai?...or maybe not?
Hope you had a laugh over this.
Cheers, Dario.

[Craig]

Nice one Dario

[bodhidharma]

That would be fun. I dont know why you didnt go the whole hog and actually put it in a little Bonsai pot.

[bonsaibruce]

Greetings, Put it in a big bonsai pot and then in the growing on beds and grow your own.
As an old Mullumbimby boy I know about grow your own.
Happy Bonsai,
Bruce.

[kcpoole]

Very cool
I would put them in a pot too

Ken

[GavinG]

Seriously warped. Many thanks,

Gavin

[Andrew Legg]

Hi Dario,

Nice trees. Having a closer look at the first one, I must say that I like the clump style you have going. I particularly like the small jin at the base. I do however think that the tree growing out the side is visually distracting and that it should be removed. Of course you can't move it to the same place as the others as although horticulturally this should not be an issue if you do it at the correct time of year, aesthetically even numbers are a no no! The lowest branch on the right seems to form a bar branch with the one on the left. Perhaps if you remove the downward growing section there it will alleviate this impression and the tree will look less balanced. Doing this is also of course a horticultural imperative to avoiding the inverse taper that is bound to result if it is left in place for too long. This email would of course not be complete without complimenting you in the placement of your planting on what appears to be a lovely red-brown oval rock. You planting position is impeccable and the way in which it conforms to the "Rule of Thirds" seems to be almost uncanny. My only criticism is that you should consider raising the planting position a little to further expose what (given your attention to detail) promises to be a fine nebari. My final suggestion is that you try to get the individual truncks to seperate visually from eachother. At the moment they appear almost too close together, and this is probably this composition's greatest weakness. Some improvements in ramification will definately improve the visual impression of the tree, but as it is still early days I guess this will come with time. What I do like is than you have defoliated it for presentation to us. Of course I may be wrong, it could just be deciduous by nature. I wonder what such a tree would fetch on E-bay. Truly the best indrawer bonsai I have seen!

[paddles]

Hi Dario,

Nice trees. Having a closer look at the first one, I must say that I like the clump style you have going. I particularly like the small jin at the base. I do however think that the tree growing out the side is visually distracting and that it should be removed. Of course you can't move it to the same place as the others as although horticulturally this should not be an issue if you do it at the correct time of year, aesthetically even numbers are a no no! The lowest branch on the right seems to form a bar branch with the one on the left. Perhaps if you remove the downward growing section there it will alleviate this impression and the tree will look less balanced. Doing this is also of course a horticultural imperative to avoiding the inverse taper that is bound to result if it is left in place for too long. This email would of course not be complete without complimenting you in the placement of your planting on what appears to be a lovely red-brown oval rock. You planting position is impeccable and the way in which it conforms to the "Rule of Thirds" seems to be almost uncanny. My only criticism is that you should consider raising the planting position a little to further expose what (given your attention to detail) promises to be a fine nebari. My final suggestion is that you try to get the individual truncks to seperate visually from eachother. At the moment they appear almost too close together, and this is probably this composition's greatest weakness. Some improvements in ramification will definately improve the visual impression of the tree, but as it is still early days I guess this will come with time. What I do like is than you have defoliated it for presentation to us. Of course I may be wrong, it could just be deciduous by nature. I wonder what such a tree would fetch on E-bay. Truly the best indrawer bonsai I have seen!

What else can I say...

As a parent with young kids... I view this as a viable thing... I'm off to get some spuds for the kids

[Gerard]

Very cool
I would put them in a pot too

Ken

I usually put potatos in a pot.