Ickyguy's 2023-2026 little Christmas tree entry

[IckyGuyBonsai]

Well, after looking around at a few more places with no luck, I went ahead and snagged a couple small spruce for $6 while I was at the grocery store. I grabbed a couple of the fullest that I could see and looks like I may have actually picked some interesting, though small, material.

Here they are, untouched and with their original festive tags. First step will be repotting them come spring, but until then, they can handle some clipping here and there to see what I'm working with. More pictures to come!

Not sure if we're supposed to have a single tree, but once i get some scissors in there, I'll be picking a single one to progress the contest with, while keeping the other to experiment and play around with before possibly throwing together a group planting down the road with some other DAS I have around.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

Well, after looking around at a few more places with no luck, I went ahead and snagged a couple small spruce for $6 while I was at the grocery store. I grabbed a couple of the fullest that I could see and looks like I may have actually picked some interesting, though small, material.
View attachment 521202
Here they are, untouched and with their original festive tags. First step will be repotting them come spring, but until then, they can handle some clipping here and there to see what I'm working with. More pictures to come!

Not sure if we're supposed to have a single tree, but once i get some scissors in there, I'll be picking a single one to progress the contest with, while keeping the other to experiment and play around with before possibly throwing together a group planting down the road with some other DAS I have around.

Nice 1 tree is good for the contest! I’ve found several twin trunks recently and bought two of them (one 3’ tall and the other shorter). Looking forward to the contest!

 

[Eckhoffw]

Not sure if we're supposed to have a single tree, but once i get some scissors in there,

excited to see what you find!

 

[IckyGuyBonsai]

An impromptu day off gave me some time to get at these guys a bit. Only thinned out some tight clusters of weak sprouts and some interior shaded out stuff, just enough to get an idea of the "trunks" I've got to work with.

First one has a little movement down low I could cut back to, as well as some stronger lower branches to work with. Meh not too bad.


The other one has a considerable amount more low established branches, which has also given it a bit more trunk caliper than the other. There's some pretty obvious bigger cuts I could've made to clear things up more, but I'll get to that after repot.


These guys have some good visible roots in the pot, and good buds set for next spring. Since they're still so young and in small pots, I'm guessing these will be easier to handle root wise than other DAS I've encountered that regularly have a massive tap root circling around from the years of slip potting in the nurseries.

 

[IckyGuyBonsai]

Been juggling a busy work season with an even busier repotting season. So far I've repotted 30+ trees and still managed to miss the window on a handful, but that's the name of the game.

These two both got potted into baskets and will be left to run this year before hacking em back in fall. Gotta be sure I keep in mind that this contest is only 3 years

 

[pandacular]

What is the potting substrate? Looks like pure, chunky pumice.

 

[IckyGuyBonsai]

Yeah I use pretty much straight pumice for everything in my garden. Sometimes I'll sift out the chunkiest bits, especially for smaller pots, but for growing things out, I'm not as worried about it

 

[pandacular]

Nice, your source of pumice looks a lot less "dusty" then mine. Perhaps next year I'll try to sift AND wash all my pumice.

I am definitely a big fan of pumice. Any tree I've repotted out of pumice + some organic has had excellent roots, even collected trees where the pumice is mixed with field soil.

 

[IckyGuyBonsai]

dusty

I just get 5gal buckets of it from a local landscape supply. It usually has a good amount of dust in it if it's dry (good ol pnw), but I still usually rinse through it even if I end up not sifting out any of it.

Straight pumice is the way to go for me. It's definitely a more hands on substrate in that it'll dry out quicker than organics, but I enjoy being hands on in checking my trees every day and watering as needed. Plus, as you said, it grows some great roots. I'm just about done with this seasons repotting and almost everything except some random seedlings, are in pumice now, we'll see how it goes keeping it all watered this summer.

 

[pandacular]

You may want to check out landscape supply and trucking stores. You can get 100 gallons (1/2 cubic yard) for about $50. Might be a bit more work if you have to shovel it and sift it more, but it’s a great bulk supply.

 

[IckyGuyBonsai]

I live in a rental so I don't have the space to process a 1/2 yard, otherwise that is the way to go. But it's a few bucks per bucket and that's enough to get through a good few repots depending on the size. I don't have anything big enough to warrant drowning in pumice, that's for next year when I move and hopefully have some space to spread out my operation.

 

[IckyGuyBonsai]

These guys are still chugging. I'll let em run until fall when I'll give em a good chop and wiring