What is a Pre-Bonsai

What is a pre-bonsai? (or prebonsai or pre bonsai. However you want to spell it.)

A pre-bonsai is a tree that you are working on and trying to turn into a bonsai. They can be the ugliest of ugly duckling of trees or almost a bonsai but not quite. It is a stage that most tree's are in when you are working on them. This stage can and does take years.

But! It is very different then the growing stage. Potential bonsai (potensai) are found/bought and then grown for god knows how long to get a good trunk going. When the trunk is as big as they are looking for it is chopped down to a certian point and then left to grow again. This is repeated a few times to form taper. (Kinda like making a pyrimad) and this step can take very long. When you feel that you have gotten the taper & main branches your are looking for then you have entered the pre-bonsai phase.

Determining when your bonsai is no longer a pre-bonsai is very hard to know for a beginner. Bonsai are usually the 'finished product'. Since the goal is to keep them alive and growing this stage generally consists of upkeep more then training and styling. Comparatively. So if you are just doing minor touch ups then you have a bonsai!

If you are stuck your best bet would be to head over to a bonsai forum and get some advice. Take a picture of the front, back, looking down on it, trunk & how the tree is growing into the soil (aka nabari). Then figure out what you are trying to ask. If you also have progression shots of your tree add 1-3 to your post for reference. Either make your post in the newbi section or a section dedicated to bonsai progression.

I recomend going to The BonsaiSite Forums because they have a lot of knowlege to share. Be warrned that they can be a little snooty if you ask the wrong thing.

Bonsai Soil Substitute

So i found out about a bonsai soil substitute that can be used that I never thought about.

With all the hype about using 'non-organic' soil's you would think that anything could be used. Especially when some sites recommend a very specific kind of kitty little that is not found in the USA. However, once you really get into reading posts on forums & message boards you find that there is a little organin stuff mixed in.

I will tell you that the people on the forums & message boards think top soil is one of the bigger sins you can commit when getting into the art of bonsai. Just making sure you know this little tidbit.

So! The substitute that I found out about is none other then cactus soil. There are organic and inorganic variaties avalable. Personaly Unlees you want your bonsai to get all scraggly I would not recomend the Mirical-Grow cactus soil. But tomato tamato.














Considering I have only one place locally that I can get real bonsai soil at and it is $7 for a tinny little bag, I am totally going to be using cactus soil. Especially with the 'pre-bonsai' that I am starting. I have no intention of blowing a ton of cash on this hobby.

Spiky Palm Type Plant & Suff

"I really do not know what it is called. so far it is doing ok here in the office... the one of the pair started doing very bad. most of it's frond/leafs died so I trimmed it way back. Then I found the top had mold growing on the new bits so I cut that out.

Today I found that the middle was squishy and looked rotted so I chopped it. With luck it's will grow back new tips. I also put the top part in water to grow roots. then I can stick it in the pot with the living one.

Also my vine-thing might have died... and my spider plant is doing good. So far... "

I wrote that back in January. Let's just say that the palm-thingy I chopped was not the same kind as what my parent have and I think it's dead. Also the larger of the little vine things definatly looks dead.

on the plus side, the spider plant is fine and the other little vine thing seems to be growing buds. which makes me happy.

I have added a few more plants, 2 poinsettias and some leafy things. they are so far still doing good. I need to water everything before I leave for the weekend.

Bonsai Tools

So, I am starting to realise that I need to get the right tools to take care of my bonsai. And while I would love something like these:

















Because right now I am just really needing the concave and knob cutters. I do dream of getting the larger sets but right now my kill/live ratio is telling me not to spend too much before I can keep the trees alive for a few years. I can't wait to see what survived this winter.

New Ficus Bonsai

This one is not dinky in the least. And that alone makes me very happy. It was also a very good deal so i think it might have been miss marked. But once I have more space I'll pick up some more to make up for it.

So! The enw one is pretty big. But the roots are so pot bound it's sad. there is one huge root that is wrapped around the whole inner edge of the pot. So when it finally warms up around here I'll have to either re-pot it or seriously trim back the roots. I hope the smaller tree isn't as bad.

Other then that It is loosely styled as a broom. While it looks nice right now, it has a lot of flaws. So I'm going to have to see how fast it grows to figure out how long to leave training wires on it. I might skip wire wrapping the branches for now and just start out with guy-wires. I think it's current training put has enugh of an edge that I can hook the wires to it.