Shohin JBP I got from the exhibition.

Also, understand...she can appreciate your hobby...and embrace it without working any material. My husband is that way. It's enough for me. He has reimbursed me money for trees he really likes. I have a "kitty fund for bonsai". I put cash into a cup. When I get so much built up I buy. A few times...if I see something. I will just buy it. But...I try to remain under control with what I buy. I do have a space issue along with OCD.
I have space issues too :/ After getting this tree I came to the sort of brutal realization that most of my collection is below my capabilities these days and I probably need to get rid of alot of things to make room for more challenging projects. They're my little ugly babies though so that's tough.
 
I need to get in to trident maples someday. They are so cool and seem to be able to handle the heat in my area. Part of the reason I'm so taken with JBP is how hardy they are here.

yeah! I think the other thing is decandling a bit later than standard in spring / early summer to keep the new needles small like this. I feel like I’ll be playing a bit of a game of chicken til I dial in exactly when is best. It seems to be a general guidance for shohin JBP, in case you hadn’t seen that tip before
 
I have space issues too :/ After getting this tree I came to the sort of brutal realization that most of my collection is below my capabilities these days and I probably need to get rid of alot of things to make room for more challenging projects. They're my little ugly babies though so that's tough.
Soooo get that. I take on a personal relationship with my material. I see their future...and I'm hooked. I walked around trying to think of...if I had to keep eleven. Which would they be. Couldn't do it.

Jason Schley just bought a personal collection. The one kept eleven of his best trees. I can not even fantom that. I tried to walk through...make a list of keepers. When I hit 20. I knew I failed miserably. But my husband doesn't feel I need to part with any. The benches look comfortable he says. So...there is that.
 
Update: the tree is still doing well. The foliage has thickened up quite a bit but I have a big drainage problem. Water does not percolate through the roots well at all and due to the size or the pot the tree tips over very readily. Keeping it from tipping over is easy enough, but the percolation issue is a concern considering how hot it gets here in the summer. I am worried the tree won’t get adequate water when it is hot without a repot. I bought a pot that might fix both of these issues, but I’m worried it may be too radical of a shift in design and wondered what others might think. If anyone has other pot suggestions, or other suggestions in general let me know (especially if you have a pot or vendor to recommend). I’m not really itching to mess with it, I just want to make sure I have free drainage and more room to hold substrate so I can keep it adequately hydrated in summer. Currently it hasn’t been a big issue but I need to be prepared for temps well over 100 if we don’t have another mild summer.
 

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Update: the tree is still doing well. The foliage has thickened up quite a bit but I have a big drainage problem. Water does not percolate through the roots well at all and due to the size or the pot the tree tips over very readily. Keeping it from tipping over is easy enough, but the percolation issue is a concern considering how hot it gets here in the summer. I am worried the tree won’t get adequate water when it is hot without a repot. I bought a pot that might fix both of these issues, but I’m worried it may be too radical of a shift in design and wondered what others might think. If anyone has other pot suggestions, or other suggestions in general let me know (especially if you have a pot or vendor to recommend). I’m not really itching to mess with it, I just want to make sure I have free drainage and more room to hold substrate so I can keep it adequately hydrated in summer. Currently it hasn’t been a big issue but I need to be prepared for temps well over 100 if we don’t have another mild summer.

So, I ended up selling mine before the end of last year simply because I feel like I sorta got what I wanted out of it (up close and personal time with a tree of this caliber to try to figure out how it was made). That said, IF I had kept it, I likely would have kept it in the pot as-is (or one of a similar size).

I may have repotted this year just to free up some space, but my understanding is that the short needles would in part be due to the watering technique and pot size, which Suthin controlled up until it was sold. Too much space, and the tree will grow too vigorously and knock it out of whack - at least, that's my understanding. My plan had been to attempt to continue on the path Suthin had started.

As always, I'm open to being corrected, but that was my thought process. I just kept looking at it, thinking about how people say "if you can wire one of these you can wire anything", and realized I couldn't wire anything just yet. I didn't want to start with this. So, on it went, hopefully to someone better suited for it to keep it looking good for the long haul.

In terms of the watering issue, you might try placing it - in its current pot - on a tray with old bonsai soil. You could even fill that little pot you got and set the current pot on that soil. That should help it maintain moisture throughout the day, though I imagine in Texas you're going to need to keep a close eye on it.

Long story short, though, is that my assumption is that if Suthin did it the way he did it, he did it for a reason, and my goal if I had kept it was to continue with his strategy.
 
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Not to burst your bubble, but I don’t think the rectangle is really appropriate for that tree at all. If you’re worried about percolation, I’d just repot back into the same container over using the rectangle.

That rectangle would look great with a different tree though!
 
Update: the tree is still doing well. The foliage has thickened up quite a bit but I have a big drainage problem. Water does not percolate through the roots well at all and due to the size or the pot the tree tips over very readily. Keeping it from tipping over is easy enough, but the percolation issue is a concern considering how hot it gets here in the summer. I am worried the tree won’t get adequate water when it is hot without a repot. I bought a pot that might fix both of these issues, but I’m worried it may be too radical of a shift in design and wondered what others might think. If anyone has other pot suggestions, or other suggestions in general let me know (especially if you have a pot or vendor to recommend). I’m not really itching to mess with it, I just want to make sure I have free drainage and more room to hold substrate so I can keep it adequately hydrated in summer. Currently it hasn’t been a big issue but I need to be prepared for temps well over 100 if we don’t have another mild summer.
I’d go with a slightly larger round or keep same container and just add fresh soil, that way you can use bigger particles of substrates at the bottom for drainage then use smaller around the finer roots. I’m sure you’ll know what to do. The design is already there and you can still tilt the tree up so it’s not prone to tipping.
 
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