The most valuable tree that you know died...

[chicago1980]

Like this?

View attachment 142358

Lord no!

 

[jeanluc83]

So very sad!
They seem collected trees and this photo makes anyone wonder : Was it worth it removing them -unique individual long-lived trees- from their environment?

I don't want to make this into an ethics debate but, I have thought quite a bit about this and decided that it is worth it. Most of the most compelling trees are always living on the very edge of survival. One year with too little rain and they are gone. If there is a rock or mud slide they are gone. There is no guarantee that the tree will make it any longer in the wild than after it was collected.

 

[jeanluc83]

Not a bonsai but the story of the Prometheus is probably one of the most senseless loss of a tree.

 

[Velodog2]

Stories available about the gold rush-like years of shimpaku collection from the mountains in Japan paint the picture of it always being about the money. My recollection is that as trees were usually chiseled from rock they typically had very few and sometimes no roots, so they were treated almost as huge old cuttings. Survival rates were accordingly low. So imagine how many spectacular trees died just from the collection. The booty from the survivors made it economically profitable regardless. But there didn't seem to be much outcry against removing trees from nature even when there was a high probability they wouldn't survive.

 

[my nellie]

Thanks for your attention.

I don't want to make this into an ethics debate
Neither do I, but some question has arisen in my mind and I would like to bring it up for discussion and get your input. No arguing intended!
Most of the most compelling trees are always living on the very edge of survival. One year with too little rain and they are gone. If there is a rock or mud slide they are gone.
Those were trees of very old age. Do you believe that during all those aeons of their existence they didn't have years with little or no rain, they were not hit by rocks, mud slide, snowdrifts, hurricanes, they didn't encounter whichever natural disasters? Nevertheless they did survive!
There is no guarantee that the tree will make it any longer in the wild than after it was collected.
But I think it is much more likely those trees would have survived a lot more years if not collected?

 

[Anthony]

Go Alexandra go,

imagine how much more there is in the soil of a Bonsai pot, even if you are using totally inorganic
and oil meal feeds ?
Good Day
Anthony

 

[reddog]

There have been trees killed in Japan during the bonsai bubble by rival nurseries via water balloons filled with herbicide. People act in a different manner when zeros are added to the end of prices .

Lost a 5K tree while in Japan. A former friend in the US was supposed to water my collection for that three month timeframe and never came over (I set up a trail cam). Also lost about 40-50 rare plants. A valuable learning experience.

While I feel for your tremendous loss but did you check in with him? If you had a trail camera didn't you notice he wasn't coming to your place? Painful lesson to learn on your part...

 

[Waltron]

have you heard the one about the Bama fan who herbicided the ancient Auburn campus oak trees? that was terrible. he called into a radio show to brag about it, and they traced the call and the dude ended up getting locked up for it.

 

[Tentakelaertje]

OK. I am done giving you trees. You made a solid argument.

Good, cuz I can't handle any more of them!

(I do, but don't tell mom, she's gonna put me in rehab)

LOL



Possibly but I'd probably have to sell off most of them. Right now the arrangement works out because I can stop by on weekends to give necessary care, fert, fungicide and my water system does the rest when I'm gone.

I'd never buy a super expensive tree until I have more established income and housing. I can't imagine losing a $500, 1k, 5k+ tree. It probably make take a (short, how could I stop ) break from bonsai.

Hmm that sucks. You say you can stop by for now, but what is gonna change that you can't anymore? You already are in uni, right?

 

[Owen Reich]

While I feel for your tremendous loss but did you check in with him? If you had a trail camera didn't you notice he wasn't coming to your place? Painful lesson to learn on your part...

The trail cam has a micro SD card. I was in Japan and checked in. He said all was well. Last year, I dropped my trees off at different collections. Much better results.

 

[justBonsai]

Good, cuz I can't handle any more of them!

(I do, but don't tell mom, she's gonna put me in rehab)




Hmm that sucks. You say you can stop by for now, but what is gonna change that you can't anymore? You already are in uni, right?

Well my parents have always enjoyed growing plants. It's funny actually. When my mom was the same age as me she was going to the same nursery I go to buy bonsai but for roses. Place has been in business for a long time. They definitely could keep some trees alive for me when I move around but it would be unreasonable to expect them to care for a whole collection while I invest my time doing something else.

I think I have 20-30 trees right now varying from seedling stuff, tons of prebonsai, and a few decent projects. I may reduce that number to the best 5 trees and give/sell the rest away. Just depends on where I live.

In all honesty I have no idea what I'll do after I graduate. Sure I can continue to work and get a full time position but the past year I have been considering bonsai as a profession. I need to see if its viable for me and if I can create a sustainable path I'm willing to commit to. Either way I need money lol so I will probably still work right after graduation.

 

[Tentakelaertje]

I hope you can find a place with some space. That would be ace!
You could always stack pots. Like smaller onto bigger stuff.


Maybe put hundreds of seedlings/cuttings into the ground now, work a couple of years in a 9-5 job, save some money and then start to sell stuff? It should yield some nice material, when you do it properly and then you would have some money to invest in a larger place/nursery.

I know of a couple of guys that built a nursery in one of their backyards and they run the nursery with 3 or 4 or maybe even more people now. Something to consider for you?
Or maybe take over the nursery of an oldtimer?

 

[drew33998]

The Senator

 

[Bonsailane]

I was thinking about this yeserday. This is really the only thing that prevents me from spending a large amount of money on a tree. Seriously, one missed watering and bam- you're out $200-$10,000+!!

I lost out on a real nice imported satsuki (something that I've been wanting for a longgg time) simply because I was thinking about how busy I've been lately, and what if I get caught up in something and missed a watering... scared me out of it. But I'll have my highschool diploma and my Associates in Science all finished this fall, so maybe I'll have more time then and can finally get that imported satsuki... or I'll end up at a UNCW and have to sell all my trees. Who knows.

This kinda ties into that "why aren't young people into bonsai" thread- and it's not the crap that people here have been spewing about how youngsters are all "instant gratification", or lazy, or whatever they think. Complete bull; some people need to get over themselves. Let's be honest- this is an old mans (or woman's )hobby, and will continue to be so until prices go down significantly. No one my age can risk $600 (which is a lot to people under 25ish) on a tree, especially when they have other priorities. That, combined with time constraints and not staying at the same residence. Also a lot of millennial are now attending four-year universities and can't have trees at their dorms.


Sorry for getting a little off topic, but I feel the risk of losing an expensive or otherwise prized tree is definitely related and something to take into consideration.

I have to say I really don't think that it's a old man /old woman hobby.
You really don't need hardly any money to even begin the art.
The fact that there are hardly any younger generation in the art is as simple as they are not informed on the subject .
I personally am not the type to spend more than 50 bucks on a tree And if I do that it will be nursery material .
I get more enjoyment out of turning a $20 tree into a $2000-$10,000 tree .
But that's just me .

 

[Djtommy]

I have to say I really don't think that it's a old man /old woman hobby.
.

unfortunately 127million Japanese disagree with you...

 

[leatherback]

I get more enjoyment out of turning a $20 tree into a $2000-$10,000 tree .

hm.. That would be quite the trick. You have an example of a tree where you managed that?

 

[Bonsailane]

hm.. That would be quite the trick. You have an example of a tree where you managed that?

Still working on it ,,,but where do you think these $10,000 trees come from ?
They don't start off as a $10,000 seed .

 

[Bonsailane]

unfortunately 127million Japanese disagree with you...

How sweet of them .

 

[leatherback]

Still working on it ,,,but where do you think these $10,000 trees come from ?

3 generations of japanese taking care of them? 200 yrs of mother nature?

 

[JudyB]

3 generations of japanese taking care of them? 200 yrs of mother nature?

words right out of my mouth...