On 14 Sep 2004 at 19:30, Anthony Toft wrote:

I had posted a message on the IBC site and then read that this was the
place to be

Yes. And it has been for years. ;-)


Here is the message, I would appreciate any and all responses, I'd really
like to take up the art as something to do when I find some spare time

Alas, bonsai isn't a really good "spare time" hobby like
collecting stamps or matchbook covers. Bonsai need daily care
of one kind or another and at certain times of year need
intensive care (not in the medical sense, but in the amount-of-
labor-required sense).


Newbie here, so please forgive my lack of education, but...

Yesterday we bought a bonsai tree from costco here in Orlando, after
reading about it (I was trying to find out how to make cuttings for my
office) it would appear that we got a "Mallsai" complete with stuck on
stones.

Those have to go. Dig (or soak, as Kitsune says) them off and
fill in the resulting void with a decent potting soil -- NOT
that black, powdery stuff that places like Wal-Mart and Home
Depot sell. Get the stuff that nurseries use for the plants
_they_ pot up.

Having discovered this I have axed the 'trees in the office' plan (at
least with this Juniper) and would instead like to make little trees for
outside the house we move into within the next couple of months (I figure
bonsai is less likely to cause damage during a hurricane ).

I dunno. A bonsai flying off a garden table at 120mph could be
deadly. ;-)

In the mean
time I need to keep it alive, can I just put it outside in the existing
pot?

Yes. After the glued-on stones are gone. Water when the soil
feels DRY. Fertilize every 2 weeks - or so.

Should I look into making cuttings at this time? If so can I
put them in regular plant pots for the time being? My mother-in-
law is a ceramics instructor so I will (hopefully) have a fairly
ready supply of pots when I go visit her.

No. Wait on cuttings. There's a 75% chance that your tree is
already dead (that's the approximate DOA ratio of Mallsai),
despite green needles.


Also in furtherence to the 'office trees' project, I think a weeping fig
would survive, does anyone know where in central florida I could get one
at a reasonable price?

Almost any place that sells houseplants will have these.
Jupiter Bonsai (in Jupiter) also would have them. There's an
Orlando Bonsai club (check out www.bonsai-bsf.com). I bet every
club raffle offers at least one Ficus bonsai.

Buy the Sunset book entitled "Bonsai."

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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