1.5 years of bonsai, 63 trees, I've come a long way!

[Adair M]

That fast growth also means that wire needs to be removed quickly. And new growth re-wired!

Your collection looks like a lot of collections stated by beginners: lots and lots of “starter” plants. Lots of duplications.

It looks too crowded, each tree needs a bit more space.

But, you’ll figure this out...

 

[Eckhoffw]

No kids and no wife = yes I can manage this so far! I get to pick and choose a project I want to work on, and I have worked 90% of these trees so far at least once, maybe more than that because I'm new and I obviously like to do too much too quickly.

I also tend to throw my trees into small pots early, and then I'll move them to something bigger if I just want it to grow. I'm also a teacher so lots of free time!

Haha! Yeah, I have the same tendencies/habits. I’m at about a year into this hobby and man... I haven’t counted my trees in awhile but I know I must be around the 50 mark. I try to hide the numbers from my wife by spreading them around.
Some in the ground - some in the cold frame -
Some under lights in the basement- and so on!
Keep on rocking! If you do decide you have too many to care for, send them to me & I’d be happy to plant sit for you!
Happy new year.

 

[rockm]

That fast growth also means that wire needs to be removed quickly. And new growth re-wired!

Your collection looks like a lot of collections stated by beginners: lots and lots of “starter” plants. Lots of duplications.

It looks too crowded, each tree needs a bit more space.

But, you’ll figure this out...

Yup.

Everyone goes through the "I HAVE to have one of those, and one of those and one of THOSE" phase. It usually happens a year or so in, once you find yourself not killing things immediately. The next phase is usually enjoying all 5,345,376 trees you have accumulated for a few years until you have a "eureka" moment realizing that 5,345,370 of those trees are pretty crappy compared to other bonsai you've seen. During this period, most bonsaiists are out looking at more advanced trees owned by others near them, or going to bonsai exhibits and shows--seeing "real" bonsai in the flesh snaps you out of your dream that your trees are "bonsai" or even reasonable facsimiles of bonsai ;-). This results in a sell-off, or a drastic reduction in collections, which leaves a dozen or so of the most promising trees to go forward with.

All of this can take a couple of years, or a couple of decades, depending...

You're on a well-traveled trajectory, enjoy the ride. ;-)

 

[Adair M]

One other comment...

You say you have lots of time... and you say you have to weed the trees often...

That’s all good, you do need (have to) keep the trees weeded. But... that time you spend weeding is time you’re not improving the trees doing actual “bonsai stuff” (wiring, unwiring, pruning, potting, etc.)

Having too many trees that don’t get improved, but become “chores” looses its appeal after a while.

 

[SockUnicorn]

One other comment...

You say you have lots of time... and you say you have to weed the trees often...

That’s all good, you do need (have to) keep the trees weeded. But... that time you spend weeding is time you’re not improving the trees doing actual “bonsai stuff” (wiring, unwiring, pruning, potting, etc.)

Having too many trees that don’t get improved, but become “chores” looses its appeal after a while.

This is true. But it's also practice. I wouldn't say maintaining your trees is necessarily fun, but when you're a beginner doing chores is actually "learning." so I would say I'm a lot more comfortable repotting a tree, or wiring a branch, or any general maintenance compared to a lot of people a year into the hobby.

You could have a philosophical argument about which part of what process is worth all the effort. But I think learning on less experienced material, and learning more quickly are both beneficial to my future in the hobby. I would say 80% of my trees I intend to turn into true bonsai, there are only a couple that I don't see a real future for. Not expert level stuff, obviously, but not just plant in a pot either. All in good time!

 

[Acer palNATEum]

Yup.

Everyone goes through the "I HAVE to have one of those, and one of those and one of THOSE" phase. It usually happens a year or so in, once you find yourself not killing things immediately. The next phase is usually enjoying all 5,345,376 trees you have accumulated for a few years until you have a "eureka" moment realizing that 5,345,370 of those trees are pretty crappy compared to other bonsai you've seen. During this period, most bonsaiists are out looking at more advanced trees owned by others near them, or going to bonsai exhibits and shows--seeing "real" bonsai in the flesh snaps you out of your dream that your trees are "bonsai" or even reasonable facsimiles of bonsai ;-). This results in a sell-off, or a drastic reduction in collections, which leaves a dozen or so of the most promising trees to go forward with.

All of this can take a couple of years, or a couple of decades, depending...

You're on a well-traveled trajectory, enjoy the ride. ;-)

Isn't this the normal progression in any hobby though? I don't think this is exclusive to bonsai.

Once you know what you are doing and dive deep into any hobby you look to upgrade your tools/materials. You are not going to buy Trek Fuel EX 9.9 if you have never been mountain biking before. You are not going to invest in a SawStop table saw to cut your first board. And you certainly are not going to get a Alienware Aurora if you signed up for a Steam account for the first time yesterday. My point is that hobbies and interests evolve over time and as you become better at them and have a more refined eye, your tastes change and you become more willing to invest money in your hobby/interest to keep progressing to the next level.

Something I do think is more exclusive to bonsai though is that advanced practitioners denigrate or at least are dismissive of the journey as if everyone should get to "their level" right away. I see no issue with @SockUnicorn having this many trees or even not working all of them. Like he said, he doesn't have kids, a wife, and has lots of down time from his chosen career. So if anyone has time to care for them he does. But if he did happen to run out of time one year and didn't get around to working every one of them...who the hell cares? He is not letting any imperial masterpieces go to pasture so to speak. This is because he has, like many just staring their journey, designed his garden that way: containing accessible material of many different varieties in order to figure out what interests him and what excites him. The ones he works and develops year after year will eventually become better and better, hopefully reaching showable quality. The ones that don't get worked he will realize he is not that into for whatever reason. They will end up being donated to a club, sold to finance other (better) trees, or eventually his eye for bonsai will develop to a point where he sees a new direction and will redesign the tree completely, rekindling his interest in it.

It is silly to think someone 1.5 years into their journey knows what style, species, soil makeup, wiring techniques, pruning timing, overwintering setup, pest control, and etc. works best for their microclimate and personal abilities. Thus, experimentation with 60+ trees that the community won't lose sleep over if one of them passes is a good thing and should be celebrated and encouraged as such. Then if somewhere down the line @SockUnicorn decides he want to winnow down his collection, ending up with 10-30 high quality trees including some that @rockm or @Adair M might think is at least a "facsimile of a bonsai" it will be the result of his journey not despite of it.

 

[SockUnicorn]

Isn't this the normal progression in any hobby though? I don't think this is exclusive to bonsai.

Once you know what you are doing and dive deep into any hobby you look to upgrade your tools/materials. You are not going to buy Trek Fuel EX 9.9 if you have never been mountain biking before. You are not going to invest in a SawStop table saw to cut your first board. And you certainly are not going to get a Alienware Aurora if you signed up for a Steam account for the first time yesterday. My point is that hobbies and interests evolve over time and as you become better at them and have a more refined eye, your tastes change and you become more willing to invest money in your hobby/interest to keep progressing to the next level.

Something I do think is more exclusive to bonsai though is that advanced practitioners denigrate or at least are dismissive of the journey as if everyone should get to "their level" right away. I see no issue with @SockUnicorn having this many trees or even not working all of them. Like he said, he doesn't have kids, a wife, and has lots of down time from his chosen career. So if anyone has time to care for them he does. But if he did happen to run out of time one year and didn't get around to working every one of them...who the hell cares? He is not letting any imperial masterpieces go to pasture so to speak. This is because he has, like many just staring their journey, designed his garden that way: containing accessible material of many different varieties in order to figure out what interests him and what excites him. The ones he works and develops year after year will eventually become better and better, hopefully reaching showable quality. The ones that don't get worked he will realize he is not that into for whatever reason. They will end up being donated to a club, sold to finance other (better) trees, or eventually his eye for bonsai will develop to a point where he sees a new direction and will redesign the tree completely, rekindling his interest in it.

It is silly to think someone 1.5 years into their journey knows what style, species, soil makeup, wiring techniques, pruning timing, overwintering setup, pest control, and etc. works best for their microclimate and personal abilities. Thus, experimentation with 60+ trees that the community won't lose sleep over if one of them passes is a good thing and should be celebrated and encouraged as such. Then if somewhere down the line @SockUnicorn decides he want to winnow down his collection, ending up with 10-30 high quality trees including some that @rockm or @Adair M might think is at least a "facsimile of a bonsai" it will be the result of his journey not despite of it.

You have encapsulated my personal process. I'm a science teacher so Im looking at it as one giant experiment. I have learned so much about bonsai in my climate over this past year, about fertilizing and pest control, wiring and repotting and whatnot. Not to mention like you said, trying to develop my own style, but that's something that will take years.

 

[rockm]

This is true. But it's also practice. I wouldn't say maintaining your trees is necessarily fun, but when you're a beginner doing chores is actually "learning." so I would say I'm a lot more comfortable repotting a tree, or wiring a branch, or any general maintenance compared to a lot of people a year into the hobby.

You could have a philosophical argument about which part of what process is worth all the effort. But I think learning on less experienced material, and learning more quickly are both beneficial to my future in the hobby. I would say 80% of my trees I intend to turn into true bonsai, there are only a couple that I don't see a real future for. Not expert level stuff, obviously, but not just plant in a pot either. All in good time!

"I would say 80% of my trees I intend to turn into true bonsai"
Men plan, God laughs...

Not surprising you've learned more about your climate. Bonsai is a key to a wider understanding of nature, if you pay attention...wait till you start looking at the bases of EVERY tree in the Interstate median for "bonsai-ability"...Or when you are able to not only ID native trees, but understand where to look for particular species...

And yeah, this is a common trajectory for many hobbies, which is why I said "you're on a well traveled...yaddah, yaddah, yaddah..." ;-)

 

[rockm]

Isn't this the normal progression in any hobby though? I don't think this is exclusive to bonsai.

Once you know what you are doing and dive deep into any hobby you look to upgrade your tools/materials. You are not going to buy Trek Fuel EX 9.9 if you have never been mountain biking before. You are not going to invest in a SawStop table saw to cut your first board. And you certainly are not going to get a Alienware Aurora if you signed up for a Steam account for the first time yesterday. My point is that hobbies and interests evolve over time and as you become better at them and have a more refined eye, your tastes change and you become more willing to invest money in your hobby/interest to keep progressing to the next level.

Something I do think is more exclusive to bonsai though is that advanced practitioners denigrate or at least are dismissive of the journey as if everyone should get to "their level" right away. I see no issue with @SockUnicorn having this many trees or even not working all of them. Like he said, he doesn't have kids, a wife, and has lots of down time from his chosen career. So if anyone has time to care for them he does. But if he did happen to run out of time one year and didn't get around to working every one of them...who the hell cares? He is not letting any imperial masterpieces go to pasture so to speak. This is because he has, like many just staring their journey, designed his garden that way: containing accessible material of many different varieties in order to figure out what interests him and what excites him. The ones he works and develops year after year will eventually become better and better, hopefully reaching showable quality. The ones that don't get worked he will realize he is not that into for whatever reason. They will end up being donated to a club, sold to finance other (better) trees, or eventually his eye for bonsai will develop to a point where he sees a new direction and will redesign the tree completely, rekindling his interest in it.

It is silly to think someone 1.5 years into their journey knows what style, species, soil makeup, wiring techniques, pruning timing, overwintering setup, pest control, and etc. works best for their microclimate and personal abilities. Thus, experimentation with 60+ trees that the community won't lose sleep over if one of them passes is a good thing and should be celebrated and encouraged as such. Then if somewhere down the line @SockUnicorn decides he want to winnow down his collection, ending up with 10-30 high quality trees including some that @rockm or @Adair M might think is at least a "facsimile of a bonsai" it will be the result of his journey not despite of it.

Oh lighten up Francis...I've ACTUALLY DONE THIS VERY THING. for Christ sakes. Where did I say he shouldn't enjoy it? I actualy wrote a sentence TELLING HIM TO ENJOY THE JOURNEY for crying out loud.

Seems to me that YOU are quite the judgmental nag your're accusing me of being...

 

[SockUnicorn]

Battle Royale!

 

[Eckhoffw]

Haha!
Sounds like parents trying to prevent their kids from making the same “mistakes” they did.

 

[Adair M]

Isn't this the normal progression in any hobby though? I don't think this is exclusive to bonsai.

Once you know what you are doing and dive deep into any hobby you look to upgrade your tools/materials. You are not going to buy Trek Fuel EX 9.9 if you have never been mountain biking before. You are not going to invest in a SawStop table saw to cut your first board. And you certainly are not going to get a Alienware Aurora if you signed up for a Steam account for the first time yesterday. My point is that hobbies and interests evolve over time and as you become better at them and have a more refined eye, your tastes change and you become more willing to invest money in your hobby/interest to keep progressing to the next level.

Something I do think is more exclusive to bonsai though is that advanced practitioners denigrate or at least are dismissive of the journey as if everyone should get to "their level" right away. I see no issue with @SockUnicorn having this many trees or even not working all of them. Like he said, he doesn't have kids, a wife, and has lots of down time from his chosen career. So if anyone has time to care for them he does. But if he did happen to run out of time one year and didn't get around to working every one of them...who the hell cares? He is not letting any imperial masterpieces go to pasture so to speak. This is because he has, like many just staring their journey, designed his garden that way: containing accessible material of many different varieties in order to figure out what interests him and what excites him. The ones he works and develops year after year will eventually become better and better, hopefully reaching showable quality. The ones that don't get worked he will realize he is not that into for whatever reason. They will end up being donated to a club, sold to finance other (better) trees, or eventually his eye for bonsai will develop to a point where he sees a new direction and will redesign the tree completely, rekindling his interest in it.

It is silly to think someone 1.5 years into their journey knows what style, species, soil makeup, wiring techniques, pruning timing, overwintering setup, pest control, and etc. works best for their microclimate and personal abilities. Thus, experimentation with 60+ trees that the community won't lose sleep over if one of them passes is a good thing and should be celebrated and encouraged as such. Then if somewhere down the line @SockUnicorn decides he want to winnow down his collection, ending up with 10-30 high quality trees including some that @rockm or @Adair M might think is at least a "facsimile of a bonsai" it will be the result of his journey not despite of it.

Not at all. I’m just saying that pretty much everyone who is avid about this hobby goes thru this stage of “wanting one of everything in every style”. I did. But, what I found out that is when you have too many trees, it’s hard to pay attention to all of them. Wires cut in, trees that should get repotted, don’t. Fungus spreads. Insects invade.

And it’s not that you are neglecting the collection, it’s just too much for a single person.

But, hey, it’s all part of the learning curve.