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Not a fan of Turface. I think you'd be better off, just going pure pumice. or Pumice/lava.

Hey Paul, if you're talking about the black spots on the actual fruit, that's just genetic and a desirable trait. There are tons of different Princess persimmon varieties, some with spots, some pure black, all kinds of different shapes and sizes.

Yup tree will be much larger. Yes I repot starting after Christmas and usually finish up in late Feb. Our winters are so mild in So Cal that re potting timeframe is different than many other parts of the country. Thanks Ryan!

Thank you! Yes I absolutely plan to grow the tree larger, however I’m not exactly sure how large yet. I plan to keep growing it until it looks right to me. I can imagine the trunk being 2x-4x thicker than it currently is, and I will cut it back to a new leader in the future to improve trunk...

Here’s a fun long term project I worked on recently. I airlayered this tree in May 2025 by ring barking the trunk and using a wire tourniquet with rooting hormone. 1/1/26, I removed the layer and planted it onto this Ibi stone I got many years ago in Japan. I buried the majority of the stone...

Absolutely love that RMJ and Nao pot, but are stunning! Updating the thread w a newer pic of my Redwood in one of Nao’s. Sorry should have cleaned the pot before taking the pic.

Many bulk landscaping supply stores have it by the yard in California. There's a place locally here called Air Vol Block that has it for about $100/yard. Air Vol Block Website: https://airvolblock.com/bulk-landscaping/ Here's a spot in the Bay Area, CA I know about...

Hey @Dav4, do you have access to pure pumice? I've used Turface and Pumice and found much better results using pure sifted pumice. If I didn't have pumice, I'd order super coarse perlite grade off amazon.

Hey! Because the climate is so mild with warm winters compared to the plants native environment, sometimes trees leaf out early especially in So Cal. While it's not ideal, it's not horrible either. If you'd like to re-pot the tree, I'd do it now. Personally, my repotting season is generally...

Jan or Feb would be ideal, put it in pure sifted pumice-available in SLO at Air Vol Block. Good luck!

I've primarily used it for help with Pest and Disease Management. For example, I wasn't sure if it makes more sense to use the same pesticides/fungicides for a year straight, then rotate to something new, or if you should rotate every time you spray. Chat GPT showed me the studies which...

Epic Tree/Pot combo!!! Congrats sir! I'm not So Cal, however in San Luis Obispo County, I've kept RMJ with no issue-super healthy.

Fun project, love the story, thanks for posting!

That’s a great point I didn’t even think about. Appreciate it!

Some really spectacular tree, great work!

Oh Awesome, I'm UCSB class of 06, lived in IV for a few years, it was epic!

You are correct, I don't know what those Europeans are doing but seems they've figured out the secret! Yours looks awesome, really well done. I will contact him, thank you so much!

Aww very nice, thank you for the info, will look into! do you feel like it's quite strong? the tree i'm planning to put on the slab is XL and very heavy.

It seems like it's more challenging to find large rock and artificial slabs for planting in the US. I'm currently looking for one, but haven't seen many for sale? The only source I know of through Mirai seems to be all sold out for now.

Did you go to UCSB? Go Gaucho's! I've seen this incredible tree many times:)

I found this interesting Sierra Juniper in the mountains last week, fascinating to wonder why it's all twisted and knotted compared with all the other trees growing up right.

Japanese Beech in particular have been notoriously challenging to source for years:( You could try European Beech, which should be much easier to find, more hardy, slightly larger leaf.

Agree. I'd add that Bjorn has some great resources on this disease and others on his Bonsai U platform, I'd highly recommend Bonsai U!

Super bummed I couldn’t make it to the 2025 US National and NA Bonsai Pottery Competition this year. I sure would love to see who won prizes along with pics of the winning Trees and Pots, thanks!

Personally I use both Bio-Gold and Osmocote. I only use a tiny amount of Osmocote and a lot of bio gold. I also use a few different liquid fertilizers. You def don't need to just stick w/ one.