I copied this picture from BVF's time capsule thread.
Here's what I see:
This tree was not decandled this year. The needles are long and appear to fairly thin. The internodes are getting long. 2 inches or so. Guy wires appear to be the primary training technique. The soil surface appears to be good soil.
The trunk is a little thin for the height of the tree. Being in a bonsai pot, the trunk will not be getting much thicker. The bark is beginning to get rough.
To advance this tree:
Choice one: take it out of the pot and put it either in the ground, or a large colander to allow a branch to escape and build trunk girth.
Choice Two: keep it in the bonsai pot and work on ramification of what's there.
In either case, this tree is malnourished. It's crying for fertilizer. I don't know about the soil it's in. The surface soil looks good but what's underneath? I'm guessing that there's a lot of the original nursery soil underneath. Which means next spring it gets a half bare root repotting
It also needs fertilizing now. To build strength for next spring.
Next spring, after the half bare root repot, wait 3 weeks and begin fertilizing. Add more each week. Until decandling time. After decandling, refrain from fertilizing until the summer needles appear, then resume fertilizing campaign.
This fall, remove the damn guy wires and wire this thing out properly. Pull all 2014 needles, which will make it easier to wire. Wire every branch, every twig all the way out to the tip.
I'm sorry, but the guy wires are a lazy mans method. They will never produce top results.
If you need to learn to wire, watch the Colin Lewis tutorials on www.Craftsy.com. They're free once you register. You simply can't place branches properly using only guy wires. Guy wires are a "last resort " technique to move heavy branches.
Bonsai is wiring, and wiring is bonsai.
For conifers, it's the only way.
If you think I'm coming on too strong, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to pick on coh, but I see a lot of folks making similar mistakes.
Bonsai is obedience training for trees. Too many people let their trees do what the trees want to do. No, we have to take control over the tree. We fertilize, provide good soil and water to make the tree strong to be able to do the tasks we demand of it. Which is to tolerate wiring. The thing is, a properly wired tree exposes the inside of the tree to the sun. Which promotes back budding, interior growth, and overall better health.
Is it tedious? You bet. Will you have to remove the wire in the future? You bet. Then rewire!
Bonsai is wiring, and wiring is bonsai.
Here's what I see:
This tree was not decandled this year. The needles are long and appear to fairly thin. The internodes are getting long. 2 inches or so. Guy wires appear to be the primary training technique. The soil surface appears to be good soil.
The trunk is a little thin for the height of the tree. Being in a bonsai pot, the trunk will not be getting much thicker. The bark is beginning to get rough.
To advance this tree:
Choice one: take it out of the pot and put it either in the ground, or a large colander to allow a branch to escape and build trunk girth.
Choice Two: keep it in the bonsai pot and work on ramification of what's there.
In either case, this tree is malnourished. It's crying for fertilizer. I don't know about the soil it's in. The surface soil looks good but what's underneath? I'm guessing that there's a lot of the original nursery soil underneath. Which means next spring it gets a half bare root repotting
It also needs fertilizing now. To build strength for next spring.
Next spring, after the half bare root repot, wait 3 weeks and begin fertilizing. Add more each week. Until decandling time. After decandling, refrain from fertilizing until the summer needles appear, then resume fertilizing campaign.
This fall, remove the damn guy wires and wire this thing out properly. Pull all 2014 needles, which will make it easier to wire. Wire every branch, every twig all the way out to the tip.
I'm sorry, but the guy wires are a lazy mans method. They will never produce top results.
If you need to learn to wire, watch the Colin Lewis tutorials on www.Craftsy.com. They're free once you register. You simply can't place branches properly using only guy wires. Guy wires are a "last resort " technique to move heavy branches.
Bonsai is wiring, and wiring is bonsai.
For conifers, it's the only way.
If you think I'm coming on too strong, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to pick on coh, but I see a lot of folks making similar mistakes.
Bonsai is obedience training for trees. Too many people let their trees do what the trees want to do. No, we have to take control over the tree. We fertilize, provide good soil and water to make the tree strong to be able to do the tasks we demand of it. Which is to tolerate wiring. The thing is, a properly wired tree exposes the inside of the tree to the sun. Which promotes back budding, interior growth, and overall better health.
Is it tedious? You bet. Will you have to remove the wire in the future? You bet. Then rewire!
Bonsai is wiring, and wiring is bonsai.