I'm in about year 3 or 4 of my bonsai experience, and I'm curious about how
many plants are lost each year. At this point I have a few trees that I feel
are actually starting to look like something. But, I'm still losing trees to
assorted reasons, most of which are out of my control... things like
squirrels in the night, or cats. Mostly they're seedlings or cuttings or
trees in thier first year of training, so I'm frustrated but not devastated.
More to the point...

I'm curious to a solid cross-section of growers, I'm sure even the sages
lose a tree here or there (or maybe not?), and I'm finally down to about 3
or 4 a year that are lost for good. At this stage I feel that's not a bad
rate, or should I be imprisoned as a mass murderer?

Maybe a percentage lost, and an estimate of collection size would be a good
indicator. I'm at about 5 trees that actually look like something, and about
15 others in assorted stages of development, not including cuttings,
seedlings, layers, etc.
Let's go high and say 4 a year, out of 20... 20%. 20% mortality is high
unless we're talking about spider young or fish eggs or something...

Overwatering tends to be the most likely cause of death early on is what
I've generally found, but what tends to be the cause 10 or 15 years down the
road?

Just curious.

Regards and low mortality rates to all.


Justin

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