My first real bonsai! Excited excited excited! Prunus mume

Do you think George was worth the adoption price?

  • Total voters
    18
rockm said:
Yes. Investing in more than two or three tools up front isn't really worth the money.

A good concave cutter as a first tool is a great investment. $50 will get you a solid medium-sized concave cutter. "Regular" tools like scissors, hardware store wire cutters, Chinese restaurant chopsticks (as a root hook) etc. can be used instead of buying those things right away. Knob cutters, two sets of shears, trunk splitters, root scissors, jin pliers etc are frosting, really. They make jobs easier, but aren't critical.
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Mihai said:
Let's all play nice gentlemen :). No need for pecker measuring up in here :). The real question after reading your answers: so as a matter of fact you guys only normally use a few 2/3/4/5 tools on a daily basis... those are the staple and everything else is just frosting... right?
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Sorry if I came across defensive, I really didn't mean to. :). I think you are right Mihai and Rockm, some stuff needed, some stuff just nice to have.
I've not got anywhere near enough trees yet to be using all the tools that I have, but its nice to have for future.
 
Well hello gentlemen. I finally got the tree today ( damn snail mail... :( ). It looks to have survived the trip without major issues. The problem is that the soil it's in is extremely (and to emphasize) EXTREMELY low quality. The soil is so hard you can't even stick am chopstick in it. I'm at a loss... what's worse? Root bound plant in piss poor soil or changing the soil now...?
Anyone care to chime in?
 
The ones I don't repot this year are pretty solid too...
I just jammed a bbq skewer through in a couple of spots...
And occasionally dip the whole thing in a water bin.

New pics!

Get Kaneshin tools!

Sorce
 
Mihai said:
The real question after reading your answers: so as a matter of fact you guys only normally use a few 2/3/4/5 tools on a daily basis... those are the staple and everything else is just frosting... right?
Click to expand...

I concur with this. I use a knob cutter, shears and a concave branch cutter often. Good to have a flat nose pair of needle nose pliers (jin pliers) and a good pair of wire cutters. I did the same thing rock did, got a medium cheap set from ebay and found out what I used. They lasted 4-5 years, so that may be the way to start for you too. Then I've replaced the much used items with good brands. I went with Japanese tools to replace. (Kaneshin)

Just saw the post about the soil, it's generally best to not repot out of season if you can help it. Unless the roots are rotting then I'd wait. Just be vigilant about your watering.
 
Hey @sorce @JudyB , thanks for the quick answers. Maybe it's because of the week long t
rip stuck in the transport box with no ventilation but the soil smells a little funky :)).
I made a video of it so you can see the roots better sorce.


As you can see i can't stick the damned chop stick in even if i try to force it :eek:
 
Difficulty is how would you know if the roots are rotting or not, without repotting...

I would say, if the soil really is that bad to your reckoning then repot it. If you don't, you will only regret it later because you thought of doing it but didn't. However there are far more experienced people in here who should chime in.
Seems to me that the worst that could happen is the tree is weak from repotting and needs to heal until next spring, and might need extra protection in winter.. Maybe I'm wrong.. My opinion :)
 
And no, i don't plan to kkep it inside but it arrive at my office a few hours ago :P
 
Yeh that looks solid.. And the leaves look to be getting curled up and crispy (even more curled over than they usually were..) from the lack of water getting to the roots, because there is no room in the soil for the water to get in and feed it. Would also be a lack of oxygen.

Personally, I think it's dehydrated, and slowly dying from it. Anyone else agree?
 
Hey Conor... aiaiai... I don't like the sound of that :(... but you might be right... anyone up in here with first hand mume experience? Advice welcome :)
 
Ume leaves curl at this time of the year, it's normal for them to do so. It means that it's making flower buds if that happens. I don't think I'd do anything drastic to the tree at this point. I would be very careful to make sure it's getting water and nutrients. I would drill some holes down into the root ball, and back fill with some good soil component, like lava or pumice. I would probably also soak it in a tub of water to make sure it uptakes enough.
 
ConorDash said:
Currently off work from surgery last week. My typing is great! Lol.

From that video, @M. Frary , what do you think of the tree?
Click to expand...

Hope you're ok in that case... Good spelling is a sign of good health in anycase :).
@M. Frary: thanks for taking the time... Owe you one.
@JudyB , if that's the case, you are my hero for having that great snippit of information... Spent the afternoon mourning the tree's imminent death. Was feeling a little out of my depth here...
 
You should use the search function on the forum. There are several good threads about ume, and mentions of this leaf curling (non) issue. It's your first tree, you will probably feel nervous for some time. Worst thing you can do is to kill it by trying to do too much to it. Obviously the tree is pot bound, but think about it, it hasn't killed the tree yet, and unless you over or under water it, it will live until the next good window for potting. Stick a wooden skewer into the soil and leave it there. Pull it out every day, and check it for dryness. When it's beginning to dry a bit, time to water. Since it's so root bound, you'll likely have to soak it in a tub at least once a week to be sure it gets plenty of uptake. Be careful about direct sun on the pot, since the roots are pressing so hard on the pot insides, you'll not want the pot to get super hot and fry the feeder roots that are there. Some will wrap their pots in wet white t-shirts or towels during the day if they live in a hot sunny climate. Don't know what it's like there...
 
JudyB said:
You should use the search function on the forum. There are several good threads about ume, and mentions of this leaf curling (non) issue. It's your first tree, you will probably feel nervous for some time. Worst thing you can do is to kill it by trying to do too much to it. Obviously the tree is pot bound, but think about it, it hasn't killed the tree yet, and unless you over or under water it, it will live until the next good window for potting. Stick a wooden skewer into the soil and leave it there. Pull it out every day, and check it for dryness. When it's beginning to dry a bit, time to water. Since it's so root bound, you'll likely have to soak it in a tub at least once a week to be sure it gets plenty of uptake. Be careful about direct sun on the pot, since the roots are pressing so hard on the pot insides, you'll not want the pot to get super hot and fry the feeder roots that are there. Some will wrap their pots in wet white t-shirts or towels during the day if they live in a hot sunny climate. Don't know what it's like there...
Click to expand...

Good info. Had no idea soil in that condition is still workable. Looks terrible to me, but the submerging should do the job although I've heard that technique should only be used in a more extreme case... And at the same time there's a guy on here who has his pot swimming in a pond 24/7, he has shown pics of it but I can't remember his name...! Ah that's embarrassing.
Just goes to show the differing in opinions, it doesn't get any easier till you can form your own from experience :)
 
Mihai, I like your ume very much for a "first real bonsai". However, as a species, they have some peculiarities and can be a little more difficult than other varieties. Here are some things to keep in mind.

The leaf curl is perfectly normal in this variety. Your leaves are green and erect and look healthy. The first sign of stress in most all broadleaf plants appears in the youngest leaves, the ones on the end of the branches. If the plant is dry, these leave will droop, and watering will fix this in an hour. If the plant is too wet, all of the leaves will droop, and watering will not fix.

Your root ball looks healthy but very compact. This is not a problem, you just have to be more careful/diligent with your watering. Submerging the root ball in water every other week while it is hot outside will help to ensure that the entire root ball is getting watered. Leave it in the water for 5-10 minutes. After soaking like this, the plant may not need to be watered for 2 or 3 days. Use a skewer or chop stick as Judy suggested.

Good luck with your new plant, and have fun.
 
Hello Judy, Stan, and thank you for the great advice. I'll be extra carefull with the watering and maybe slip it into a slightly bigger pot just to have a buffer on that compact root ball. We're having a really hot week over here with over 35 celsius.
I'll have to study up on the species... Thanks agsin guys. I'll update if anything spectacular happens... Good or bad.
 
I would do just as Judy and Stan have posted. It really isn't an ideal time to be screwing around with roots too much.
Get it through this year and address the problem in the soring. It has made it this far like it is so a couple more months will be OK.
 
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