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  1. MichaelS

    Japanese Quince

    Just a tip - seal ALL cuts with kiyonal paste. They are very prone to fungal infections.
  2. MichaelS

    Lads, any Giant Sequoia tips????

    10 meters apart is right next to each other for a Sequoiadendron. I planted one in my garden 15 years ago. I stood back and tried to imagine a giant tree. I imagined shit. What I thought was enough space will soon be an embarrassment. I will have to start cutting down mature trees around it to...
  3. MichaelS

    Fall pruning: before or after leaves have fallen?

    The time to prune Japanese Maples where the roots are not being cut is at leaf fall when sap is being withdrawn or at the least sap pressure is reduced. When half or a little more than half of the leaves have gone is optimal. If you cut roots you have a much wider window. Here I mean substantial...
  4. MichaelS

    Kotobuki seedling.

    To tell you the truth I can't quite remember why I grafted it because it was a decade ago but it was probably because the seedling was a bit weak or slow compared to it's siblings?? I have another clone from the same batch which is more vigorous and with longer needles but still well worth...
  5. MichaelS

    Kotobuki seedling.

    This clone is a seedling from kotobuki with extra-short needles which don't seem to get any longer so far and without any dwarfing techniques. It is grafted onto a BP seedling. I might try to graft a piece of it onto another BP stock to see if it changes.
  6. MichaelS

    Critique my trees! Cedrus, Chamaecyparis and Cryptomeria

    Good on you for trying to style the cedar as a cedar -the most majestic of all trees. The bad news is that it's 40 year project. Like it has been said, you need to thicken the trunk by letting it grow but most of the branches on it now will be replaced by the smallest ones such as in the pic...
  7. MichaelS

    Can anyone give me any tips regarding Atlas cedar?

    How to turn a cedar into a Japanese white pine. Why do people do this to the majestic cedars? They are completely different to pines. To begin with, their growth is concentrated at the top of the tree which is usually flat, not domed.
  8. MichaelS

    New better Product on the market to replace Akadama

    I would not so quick to jump to conclusions. The CEC in Akadama is also not high (and does not particularly need to be) I have used it mixed with other materials on various things (including some cacti) and I have not observed much in the way of negative results. I will know more when I look at...
  9. MichaelS

    When should inexperienced bonsai growers shut up and let the experts talk?

    ''When should inexperienced bonsai growers shut up and let the experts talk?'' All the time....... But seriously, you should never ''shut up'' and as long as you ask questions and consider the answers you are doing the right thing.
  10. MichaelS

    White Leaves on Brazillian Rain Tree

    I was going to say Fe deficiency but seeing the distortion in the newest leaves I'm more likely to think it's a virus.
  11. MichaelS

    New better Product on the market to replace Akadama

    No I used one of these kits.. https://www.bunnings.com.au/manutec-garden-care-products-soil-ph-test-kit_p3016727?region_id=116118&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8MuspfnkgAMVTIBLBR0qBgI4EAQYAiABEgL4_vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
  12. MichaelS

    Post Your Sunset Pics

    One night in my backyard in Victoria AU. in the Southern Hem. The similarity to Michigan tree murderer's first pic in amazing.
  13. MichaelS

    Build a Zelkova!

    Latest... 1- Defoliated, ( I got my daughter to do it ), 2 - close up of the mess, 3 - trimmed and wired and 4 - starting to leaf out.... (It will be allcut right back at leaf fall)
  14. MichaelS

    Probio Carbon - Mirai Asymmetry Podcast with Karen O’Hanlon

    What is she saying? Buy my stuff and things will be great?
  15. MichaelS

    Prunus Serrulata - Thoughts?

    I grew flowering cherries from seed years ago. I did a cross between campanulata and ''Okame'' They took 10 years to flower. I have one left. It is very nice and worth naming. Next season I'm planting seeds from campanulata x ?, Kojo no mai x ''incam'' and ''incam'' x Kojo. I hope to see the...
  16. MichaelS

    Probio Carbon - Mirai Asymmetry Podcast with Karen O’Hanlon

    Not at all unless you apply too much P (mainly) or too much N. Or you use ridiculous concentrations. Too much P inhibits or stops mycorrhizal development dead, and too much N slows it down. K has no effect. Adding microbes to your potting mix will in most cases turn out to be a complete waste of...
  17. MichaelS

    New International BONSAI OnLine Now Available!

    Thank you for the generous offer Mr. Valavanis. I have learned more from reading the Japanese articles on International Bonsai than I have from all other sources put together.
  18. MichaelS

    Probio Carbon - Mirai Asymmetry Podcast with Karen O’Hanlon

    A good organic fertilizer, the occasional use of synthetic fertilizers for certain varieties and the occasional dose of seaweed is all you will ever need. Don't waste your money. Your plants will not be any healthier.
  19. MichaelS

    Thoughts on Peter Chan? (Herons Bonsai)

    They are all hybrids between 2 (or 3 possibly Rh nakaharai - a Tawian plant) species. Rh. indicum (Mie satsuki) which is from higher elevations in southern Japan and has narrow leaves - more cold hardy, and Rh. eriocarpum (Maruba satsuki) which is a sea level species from Yakushima Island off...
  20. MichaelS

    Azalea kinsai deciduous or not?

    Wow the cold must really affect them. Mine stay perfectly green all year. My climate is similar to that of San Fran.
  21. MichaelS

    Twisted ‘Kishu’ Shimpaku Juniper

    It will make a nice little tree as is. If you want it thicker, you MUST cut off everything but one leading shoot before letting it grow freely. Probably the one moving to the left. Failure to do this will destroy any taper. Even then inducing good taper will be a little more trick than usual...
  22. MichaelS

    Collected river (creek) sand

    Huh. I didn't know I've been doing the wrong thing for 40 years!
  23. MichaelS

    Collected river (creek) sand

    Absolutely you can use it as long as your are sure that 1/ it is not alkaline (contains lime or limestone) and 2/ that it is free of pathogens. Check for lime by putting a drop of hydrochloric acid on some on it. If it bubbles it has lime. Pathogens can be killed by putting boiling water over it.
  24. MichaelS

    Kiwi’s old JBP

    You seem to have branches looped around the trunk to where they don't belong. There might be something very interesting in there somewhere but it is very hard to suggest it without actually having it front of you. The first thing you could do is to wire the looped branches back into their...
  25. MichaelS

    How to correctly season bonsai tools.

    I've got some rust converter somewhere. I might try it when I have nothing else to do...... I might have to take it apart and re-rivet it after sharpening?
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