Forest Training Pot?

[JoeR]

What can I use or make for a training pot or dish for a forest? I have some tridents that I am making a forest with and I need something to put them all together in. It needs to be at least like 2"+ deep?

What have you guys used? Or does someone have a cheap chipped forest pot maybe?

Thanks for looking.

 

[Adair M]

Just curious... When are you planning to make this forest? That's something you do just before bud break in the spring.

 

[sorce]

I love the pots I made and with a little stiffners you could totally use this material for a forest pot.

http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/those-pot-materials.18202/

All the info is there.

Sorce

 

[Alain]

I'm growing a bunch of babies maples and plan to do a forest with them.
For the moment some of them (the tallest ones) are in individual plastic pots that I chopped to reduce their height but I also planted 9 of them in a wood box.
They were also in individual pots since last year - they are 1 year old - I reduced their root ball and plant them together this year.



Btw: I removed the separators in the box and drilled drainage holes in the bottom.

 

[Adair M]

JoeR,

You have all winter to find a forest pot. When you build a forest, typically you start it in its final pot. You want the roots of all the trees to commingle and grow together to form a mat. That takes several years. But once it happens, then you can treat it as one tree when you repot it.

 

[JoeR]

Just curious... When are you planning to make this forest? That's something you do just before bud break in the spring.

I planned on doing it in spring for sure. I am just thinking ahead.

Im not sure I could fit them comfortably in a final pot because I still want some growth- I need all branches still.

Maybe I will post pictures this afternoon of thw trees.

 

[M. Frary]

I have 2 I started this year. Small ones. Tamarack and American elm. I put them in colanders.
I'll take some pictures later. But the trees are only from pencil diameter to maybe 3/4 inch. 7 trees in each. I'll let them grow another year together and then get pots for them.
I'm doing a larger one next year. I'll have to build a box to put them in first.

 

[Dav4]

You may be better off developing the individual trees for another season or two before constructing the forest.

 

[JoeR]

You may be better off developing the individual trees for another season or two before constructing the forest.

I have been debating that. I will get others opinions when I post some pictures.

 

[Adair M]

Alain,

Is that all the root reduction you did when you started that forest? That's way too much roots!

You see, when you leave that much root on, you tend to plant each one in its own space, and they all are the same distance from each other. You can't Pkant two trees very close together.

Your composition has all the trees rather far apart, all spaced out. They should be in groups, some close together. Some farther apart.

 

[Dav4]

Alain,

Is that all the root reduction you did when you started that forest? That's way too much roots!

You see, when you leave that much root on, you tend to plant each one in its own space, and they all are the same distance from each other. You can't Pkant two trees very close together.

Your composition has all the trees rather far apart, all spaced out. They should be in groups, some close together. Some farther apart.

...and you eventually want to expose the rootage. Without doing meaningful root work and planting them on a flat surface, those roots will be a problem.

 

[sorce]

@JoeR

Did you happen to See @Maros forest that was collected as is.

There's more than one way to "obtain life goals 3 and 4"

I agree you have to have some surface root work done, but you can grow it out anywhere.

The best thing I like about that Material, you can pretty much shape it anyway you wish. Any depth.

Once I find a pot and tree match, I will make a basket to mimic it, So slip potting is close to seamless.

My trees will Probly live in these 90% of thE time.

Sorce

 

[jk_lewis]

You may be better off developing the individual trees for another season or two before constructing the forest.

Yes. It is much more difficult working on the trees when the forest is all put together. Gather the trees you want (and a few extra) and cluster them (in their separate pots) in various groupings. Experiment a bit. When you find a grouping with promise, begin to trim away branches that would interfere with neighboring trees.

Rearrange the trees again into various groupings and repeat the process. Take a year or two to do this.

Note: Trees selected for a forest planting should not be all the same size (girth or height). At least the major tree should be taller and fatter than any of the others. The secondary tree and tertiary tree also should be larger than the other lesser trees.

For pics of nice forests -- https://www.google.com/search?q=for...ChMI7NGYkrfdxwIVgWs-Ch3vmAv0&biw=1280&bih=582

For an excellent discussion of a forest planting and how to do one, see -- http://valavanisbonsaiblog.com/2014/03/28/creating-a-beech-forest-bonsai/

The process is the same no matter what species you use.

 

[augustine]

Certain products, kitty litter and dishwasher soap tablets and I'm sure others, come in rectangular plastic buckets. The kitty litter container is about 11" x 7" and good for a training container for forests. I just cut it down to the required depth. The plastic is heavy and I draw the lines and cut with a hacksaw. (The edges can be cleaned up with a file or rasp) Drill lots of holes for drainage. A homemade wooden box is also a good idea, you can make it just the right size.

 

[Bolero]

JoeR, Maybe this will help you, maybe not...
3 years ago I started this American Larch Forest, I went from Bonsai Nursery 2" & 4" pots directly into this 18" x 13" x 2 1/2" Ceramic Tray/Pot.
Some are wired into the Tray some are in loose.
The average trunk size is now 1/2" some 3/8" or <...
The Forest setting is comprised of 15 Am. Larch, they are 19" tall from the dirt surface.
I consider this a "Work in Process", occasionally one dies and I add another one or two...
I store it my garage in the Winter and it stay around 40 degrees to 30 degrees...
It presently needs some serious Pruning, I have to get after it...

Hope the info helps you in your Bonsai Gardening efforts.

Chuck

 

[Alain]

JoeR,

You have all winter to find a forest pot. When you build a forest, typically you start it in its final pot. You want the roots of all the trees to commingle and grow together to form a mat. That takes several years. But once it happens, then you can treat it as one tree when you repot it.

Didn't know that.
For the moment, as I seriously reduced the root balls of my little maples, I don't think they already mingled. I plan to keep them like that (growing in a box together but without mingling) for a while, the time they grow closer to their final sizes.

However I don't plan to use a pot for my forest but a slab of real rock. I though in this case you have to grow the tree individually until you plan then on the slab. Is that correct or should I try to obtain the mat of roots and then transfer the forest - as an equivalent of 'individual tree' - from its training pot to the slab?

 

[Alain]

Alain,

Is that all the root reduction you did when you started that forest? That's way too much roots!

You see, when you leave that much root on, you tend to plant each one in its own space, and they all are the same distance from each other. You can't Pkant two trees very close together.

Your composition has all the trees rather far apart, all spaced out. They should be in groups, some close together. Some farther apart.

No I reduced the roots much more than that. Just a small disc of roots remain. But unfortunately I didn't take picture.
I think on this one I cut approximately like that:




And also I know that for the moment my plantation is nothing even close to a forest. I'll work on it much more in a 'forest mind' next year. But as my maples are all (at least I think) sycamores or equivalent they were all growing like stupid straight stick with a couple of leaves on top.
So this year I just tried to reduce the roots and chopped the trunks in order to force then to abandon the 'toilet brush in a pot' style.

 

[CWTurner]

I used a large terra cotta tray from Lowes, 14" round. I had to bore a bunch of drainage and wiring holes in the bottom though (to do that you need a masonry bit, some water, and a light touch).
CW

 

[Adair M]

Actually, each tree can grow in its own pot until you're ready to make the forest.

I like slab forests. Generally speaking, a slab is more appropriate for a conifer planting than a deciduous planting.

They're also more of a challenge to set up. Quite frankly, I don't think you're ready yet. Master creating regular forests in pots or trays before you attempt a slab.

It's kinda like someone who just got their driver's license wanting to race in the Indy 500.

 

[Paradox]

Some really great advice and info from everyone here. I wish I had gotten this info when I was contemplating a trident forest using whips from Bill V.

I also debated putting them together from the outset or keeping them seperate for a while. I opted to put them all (7 trees) in an Anderson flat. Guess that was a mistake.