Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
I do this with mine. I live in NY where the winters are cold and no respecting tropical could survive outside.
They live in my basement under lights during the winter.
Brazilian Rain Tree: Pithecellobium Tortum or Samanea Saman
- Thread starter Matija
- Start date
I do this with mine. I live in NY where the winters are cold and no respecting tropical could survive outside.
They live in my basement under lights during the winter.
ibakey
Mame
Very nice! Thanks for the various information! I just went ahead and got some Brazilian leopard tree seeds from rarepalmseeds.com to be shipped to Europe. Doubt there are anyone in Europe having cuttings for sale.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
I am not sure why you thinki this is a good video on repotting. I would say, it is not a good example of how you repot bonsai. The minimum I would have expected is a way to fix the tree in the pot. In summer a tree with very few roots and a large head of foliage.. One summer storm and the tree flips out.
ibakey
Mame
Yeah, I was wondering why he didn’t secure the tree down with wires and used stones.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Popular / Well-known does not always mean best technique.
WNC Bonsai
Masterpiece
Nigel does not wire in any of his trees. He usually places rocks on the surface around them and leaves them there until the roots take a good grip and stabilize the tree. Not my favored approach but it seems to work for him. He is very meticulous about combing out the roots to get a good radial base. I need to do mine soon and will follow his example except I will wire mine into the pot.
LanceMac10
Imperial Masterpiece
Seems a bit of a shame to do such a great root-ball trim and preparation for future basal flare just to hold it down with soil and rocks?
A wide, shallow container as used here is a great idea. BRT's like to run roots in a moist, warm soil in a pot. They'll quickly explore the edges of their container and will respond well to an "oval-ish" container as opposed to an angular pot where energy is wasted dealing with sharp direction changes. If not properly fastened to the bottom of the pot, the roots will push the base up and begin to form something roughly equivalent to a cheerleader's split.....sans the skirt and nice gam's....
It's bonsai, bro....can't comment to the visual fail slaps ya'll in the gizzard.....do' still spillin' over!! Sweet!!!
WNC Bonsai
Masterpiece
Nigel has been doing it his way for about 30 years, and as I remember even the Japanese didn’t start using wire until after WWII. At any rate Nigel has over 178,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, he is doing bonsai as a full time job, and manages to support his family with the proceeds. Must be doing something right!
You are correct in that there are no thorns on Albizia Saman (according to my reading Samanea Saman is no longer the preferred scientific name for this tree -- the common name is Monkeypod) and the trunks do not flatten like BRTs do. The full size leaves on Albizia Saman are also quite a bit larger and the trunk is a much lighter color. The thing they have in common is that the leaves fold up in the evening, allowing nighttime rainfall to pass through the canopy unhindered.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Sorry. Popularity if not always best practice. This is just teaching bad habits.
I think most people that have bonsai will have found ppots on the ground after a storm or pet passed by. For that reason alone it is wise to secure the tree in the pot.
WNC Bonsai
Masterpiece
I was just watching a video by Corin Thomlinson of Greenwood Bonsai in Nottingham in which he planted 17 maples in a forest back in March and then did an update today showing the growth since then. He pointed out that he does not wire in trees in forest plantings as he feels it hinders his ability to manipulate the trees as he arranges them in the forest setting. He does keep them in a greenhouse afterwards as does Nigel which protects them from winds which might blow them out of the pot. I do wire mine in since I do not have a greenhouse and have had pots blow off of benches and squirrels knock them over so agree that in most cases it is a good idea. However I do not accept it as dogma and denigrate the work of others simply because they choose a different approach that works for them, after all Japanese bonsai growers managed to get by without it for over a thousand years.
canoeguide
Chumono
I was already enjoying your description but this cinched it! LOL
leatherback
The Treedeemer
OK, sure. It is the best instruction on repotting ever.
Happy?
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
It's funny, I never heard of this Nigel dude until he was mentioned recently on this forum.
I have been hearing about Ryan Neil, Bjorn, Boon, Bill Valvanis, and Walter Paul, for over 10 years. All of them have been making a living from bonsai, at least 2 of them for decades and all of whom have 100s of 1000s of followers. They all must be doing something right? Incidentally they all wire their trees into the pot.
I have been hearing about Ryan Neil, Bjorn, Boon, Bill Valvanis, and Walter Paul, for over 10 years. All of them have been making a living from bonsai, at least 2 of them for decades and all of whom have 100s of 1000s of followers. They all must be doing something right? Incidentally they all wire their trees into the pot.
ibakey
Mame
Haha, well well well. Professional liabilities seem to greatly outweigh enthusiasts. God forbid if they manage to sell a tree before the roots set into the pot.
Nigel tends to prune the roots rather aggressively when he repots trees, in my opinion. This is not a criticism, just an observation. Clearly it works for him in his climate with his aftercare regimen. (However, I'm not convinced that others in warmer climates could get away with the same amount of root pruning and still have their trees survive and thrive.) I suspect that the aggressive root pruning may have something to do with why he doesn't wire his trees into the pot. There's just not that much root mass left after pruning. I would expect that it would be difficult to get the wires to stay in place in the root ball if you're trying to thread the wire through the root ball instead of going over the top. The wires would likely have a tendency to slip off laterally. Sure, you could run the wire over the top of the nebari and that would stay in place, but then you have to worry about remembering to cut the wire later before you get ugly wire scars on the nebari. So, he just skips it, puts a rock on top of the soil surface, and puts the tree in his greenhouse where it'll be safe from the mischief of squirrels until it's had a chance to get established in the pot. It's not what I would do, but I guess it works for him.
Paul F.
Shohin
I know this is an old thread but this guy seems to sell actual Brazilian rain tree seeds
Whether they are or not, I’m not sure.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1177750348/brazilian-rain-tree-pithecellobium
Whether they are or not, I’m not sure.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1177750348/brazilian-rain-tree-pithecellobium
Thanks for this. I just ordered and will let you know how it goes.
Paul F.
Shohin
I ordered some too
I actually bought them before posting that link because I know you bonsai nuts will clean that guy out before I get any.. I’m a sucker for BRT… I also found some Brazilian Leopard Tree seeds on EBay. Was stoked about that.I ordered some too
can’t blame you. I also bought some BLT seeds online previously and have been enjoying growing them. I’ll post some photos when I have a chance (and to hopefully elicit some tips).
