----- Original Message -----
From: "Anil Kaushik"
To:
Sent: Friday, October 08, 2004 11:12 PM
Subject: [IBC] Help! with Carmona Macrophylla


Hi Jim

How many walking encyclopedia like you are there in our IBC! I wish we
knew
a fraction of what you people know about Bonsai!

Best Wishes

Anil Kaushik
Bonsai Club (India)
Chandigarh "The City Beautiful"



We're a pretty gentle group, here, so you don't need to worry on
that account.

You have what is commonly known as a "Mallsai" -- a plant called
a "bonsai" that is mass produced. Depending on how reputable
the maker of the mallsai is, and depending upon the care it got
in the retail establishment you found it in, these can be
problems for the first-time grower.

First: If there is a layer of rocks on the top of the soil
(probably glued together), remove them and replace the resulting
void with a good potting soil.

Carmona is an "indoor tree" but it is going to like as much
light as you can give it. In summer it will prefer being
outdoors. It is also known as Erethia buxifolia. Do a web
search on either (or both) names and you should come up with
some help.

If you have a public library near you (I don't know how
libraries work in England), it may have some books on bonsai.
Anything by Colin Lewis or Harry Tomlinson will give you a good
English perspective on rearing bonsai. The IBC FAQ and
"Knowledge Base" at the URL below also will have some useful
information. There is less info available on "indoor bonsai"
but if you can find a book by Paul Lesniewicz it will do. I
think there's an indoor book by Werner Busch, too.

I seem to recall that we have a member of the IBC in the Kent
area (my English geography is as shaky as my knowledge of your
library system). Maybe he will reply. We do have several
members from the UK who, I am sure, will help. If you can find
a bonsai club near you, its members will be your best source of
reliable info on bonsai care in Kent, England.

Your instructions probably said to water by immersing the tree,
pot and all, in water. Don't. Use a small watering can and
sprinkle water over the tree and soil until it runs out of the
drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. (You might want to
check to see if there IS a drainage hole, Mallsai have been
known to come in hole-less pots. If there is no hole (or
holes), IMMEDIATELY put the tree in a pot that has drainage --
even if it is a common garden pot you might put geraniums in ;-
). Carmona like water, but will not want to be soggy

You needn't be in any hurry to trim it, but Paul L says you can
trim at any time.

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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