New juniper.

[YukiShiro]

look how fresh the soil looks in the pics, and the dieback on that left branch there :? I think that this tree may have been repotted two to three weeks before bonsaiboy bought it, maybe styled before being repotted...fiddling too much now will kill any chance of it surviving...leave it be and water it...place it under a shade net and out of extreme heat...when in the shade you can water every second or third day depending on how quickly the medium dries out. btw good that you drilled draining holes but now you need to leave it be to recover

i wouldnt buy from that place again if i were you, even with someone else's money>>
kat in die sak..

Herman

 

[Vance Wood]

A word of warning: I agree with all of those who took a negative tack on this tree, the situation shows one of two (or maybe both) things: The person who sold this tree as bonsai knew you were a novice and probably didn't know manure from shoe polish and could be fast talked into buying a turd for a bonsai, or; they didn't know the difference themselves. Either one is a good reason not to give them your business or trust anything they may have to tell you about bonsai. With this vender you only have two choices.; Dishonesty, or ignorance.

 

[Paradox]

I also can't believe someone sold this to you. That poor thing is worse than pretty much any mallsai I've ever seen. I wouldn't even consider that to be good learning material. Sorry to be so harsh but I have to be honest with you. I am trying to help.

Do yourself a favor and don't patronize that store again. Do some reading here and in books if you can get them. Join a club. Learn what makes good potential material. You'll get a lot farther and be much happier in the long run.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Don't feel bad about getting this. We all buy crap in the beginning and some of us keep buying crap with dreams of turning into something never even possible.

With that said there is lots of solid advice in this thread.

Read through lots of threads, ask questions(the users brian van fleet, october, vance wood and many others here are a wealth of knowledge), check out a book from your library(good recommendations in the book section here, i recommend koreshoffs book if you can get your hands on it) check out the vendor experiences section and save up some money to get a better starter piece to work with from a quality seller. Enjoy the addiction and try to keep it alive. I have my first tree from nearly a decade ago, it's a crappy mallsai, but I love it and it reminds me how much i have learned.

 

[Bonsaiboy]

Don't feel bad about getting this. We all buy crap in the beginning and some of us keep buying crap with dreams of turning into something never even possible.

With that said there is lots of solid advice in this thread.

Read through lots of threads, ask questions(the users brian van fleet, october, vance wood and many others here are a wealth of knowledge), check out a book from your library(good recommendations in the book section here, i recommend koreshoffs book if you can get your hands on it) check out the vendor experiences section and save up some money to get a better starter piece to work with from a quality seller. Enjoy the addiction and try to keep it alive. I have my first tree from nearly a decade ago, it's a crappy mallsai, but I love it and it reminds me how much i have learned.

Thank you all for your replies, and they won't be getting anymore money from me. You said to get a better starter piece, what kind of tree would you recommend for that? And I will definintley go to the library!

 

[Nybonsai12]

I just meant a better quality tree. Juniper is a fine species to start with.

 

[Bonsaiboy]

I just meant a better quality tree. Juniper is a fine species to start with.

Oh, ok sweet. thanks!

 

[Vance Wood]

Juniper are usually great starter trees however; most of the time the so called start is identified as a process of removing a lot of growth and putting on a lot of wire not waiting for the stupid thing to put on growth while you watch scratching your head.

 

[Paulpash]

Chinese Elms (most Elms in general in fact) are very good beginner trees too.

As a general rule 'good' bonsai soil should allow water to flow freely through it. If after a few seconds watering the pot you don't hear it gushing out the drainage holes then it needs to be better drained.

The best way to learn is to join a club and ask the members there ... you'll learn loads and start to educate your eye as to what a 'good' tree should look like ... you'll soon see what a dodgy purchase you made.

Lastly, Junipers ---- never remove more than 50% of their foliage mass when first styled --- foliage = vigour. I'd Sioux the idiot that scalpled your poor Juniper