JoeH
Omono
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now we are going to get into a debate over a aloe? Personally I like to see people color outside the lines in Bonsai, it can get so monotonous with all the same plants over and over.
Stupid things to reply to a beginner
- Thread starter Cosmos
- Start date
TN_Jim
Omono
agreed..wasn’t taking any stance, I just often lean hard into a botanical/biological perspective.
I watched Nigel’s video when he first posted it, found his reasoning interesting, and admired his creativity.
Reading people’s arguments of what is a bonsai, can be for me personally rough to take on, & not inspiring.
I’m just some botany nerd that will be at the beach and be like..ya know a palm tree really isn’t a tree...and regardless of whatever bonsai is or can be, a palm to me, can never be a tree
bonsaichile
Omono
That makes absolutely no sense
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Technically, aloe can't be a bonsai. It can be kusamono (companion plant), but not really bonsai. Sago palm (Cycads) are much the same--not traditional bonsai, but an attractive distraction and one that requires specific knowledge of how to work with it. Not being a bonsai doesn't make it a lesser plant or challenge. Technically, they're really potted plants...Don't know why that would be considered an insult. It is what it is.
You DO realize that Spock and Kirk are fictional characters, don’t you???
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
Burn it.
brewmeister83
Chumono
I agree! It's sooooo monotonous now that everyone's found dramatically small leaved and heavily-barked cultivars of American Oaks, Maples, Elms, Hornbeam, Ash, Beech, Walnut, and hundreds upon hundreds of other woody plants that rival or surpass Japanese material! Yup, so monotonous now that all that's been done and all their specie-specific pruning techniques are known! No need to look for any other woody material that could pass as classical bonsai, it's all been found! Been there, done that, bring on the aloe!
Yup, yup, yuu...hrrrrmmmm... Sorry, had something in my throat. We were talking about noob questions, right? My best bit of advice for them, be careful interpreting online messages in unintended tones.
For example: learn how to read something as potential sarcasm not as a personal attack. There's a lot of sarcastic personalities on this forum, probably why I feel at home
sparklemotion
Shohin
The real question is: are you too much of a nerd to avoid putting tomatoes in a fruit salad? (salsa need not apply).
I wouldn't exactly hold up Nigel's aloe as proof that aloe can be Bonsai. But, he's provided us a glimpse of his inspiration over the years. For example, here's something (hopefully this video starts at about 0m40s) that definitely seems to be headed on the right path...
And in real life, quiver "trees" are a thing that exist.
Whether Nigel can turn his aloe vera into something that looks like a miniature wild aloe dichotomum remains to be seen. But at least he's trying (and sharing with us).
sparklemotion
Shohin
As to the actual point of this thread, @Cosmos isn't wrong about some of the rote replies that seem to greet a lot of newbies here, not to mention that some users have a tendency to be needlessly dickish. Sure, noobs can grow a thicker skin, but if your sarcasm isn't actually funny, is it really adding anything of value to the world? When I wrote up the "How to ask a question" resource, I was channeling my frustration both with lazy newbies AND with people who give discussion-ending replies of the sort provided as examples here.
Which is all to say that if you find yourself annoyed at having to make the same comment for the 1000th time, that might be a good sign that maybe you don't need to make the comment. Let someone who wants to put some effort into answering the question (with the understanding that yeah, some people are just going to buy pencil trunks b/c it was cheap nursery stock and aren't going to grow in the ground, and are going to try to make houseplants look like bonsai) try to steer the wayward newbie in the right direction.
Which is all to say that if you find yourself annoyed at having to make the same comment for the 1000th time, that might be a good sign that maybe you don't need to make the comment. Let someone who wants to put some effort into answering the question (with the understanding that yeah, some people are just going to buy pencil trunks b/c it was cheap nursery stock and aren't going to grow in the ground, and are going to try to make houseplants look like bonsai) try to steer the wayward newbie in the right direction.
Silentrunning
Chumono
Maybe we should start a new classification. Let’s call it Bonz Eye. Everything that is not conifer or deciduous would go in this new classification. There also would be no rules so you could make it any way you want. 
Note: I am of course just joking so no slings and arrows please!
Note: I am of course just joking so no slings and arrows please!
TN_Jim
Omono
The real question is: are you too much of a nerd to avoid putting tomatoes in a fruit salad? (salsa need not apply).
If them toms are in the fruit bowl, I’ll roll with em.
.....
...tech speaking, any flower from any plant species produce..fruit(s).
Vegetable is some kinda culinary term.. a name used for fruits stems leaves seeds and roots
However, wouldn’t put an acorn in the fruit bowl..this..this would be...no
As for space plants -ride or die?
sparklemotion
Shohin
Maybe we should start a new classification. Let’s call it Bonz Eye. Everything that is not conifer or deciduous would go in this new classification. There also would be no rules so you could make it any way you want.
Note: I am of course just joking so no slings and arrows please!
What about deciduous conifers? ? Larches and Gingkos deserve a category all their own!
sparklemotion
Shohin
defra
Masterpiece
I think newbies are helped the right way around here and the serious newbs that have done their "basic research" will often get even more help.
one can only be helped the right way when asking the right questions and that requires some research and that only happens when one is truely seriously interested in the hobby.
There are also beginners that have been given the right advice but still wont follow it up correctly and then in a couple weeks the tree's shape gets worse and than they give up or start nagging
This might cause the slightly irritated short comments posted in the first thread...
one can only be helped the right way when asking the right questions and that requires some research and that only happens when one is truely seriously interested in the hobby.
There are also beginners that have been given the right advice but still wont follow it up correctly and then in a couple weeks the tree's shape gets worse and than they give up or start nagging
This might cause the slightly irritated short comments posted in the first thread...
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