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Ficus Retusa Cutting at Four Months

Here's the surviving cutting from my ficus tree after four months. It'll still be a long time before I'll be able to try developing it into a bonsai but I'm glad to see that it still survives. (more)

31 01 08 - 14:43 - - Bonsai| two comments - § ¶

Bonsai Ligustrum

My landlord brought the above tree round to my flat last night. He'd noticed the trees one time he was in and so he brought this around to me in the hope that I'd have more luck with it than he had. He bought the tree from Aldi or Lidel just before Christmas. He is a keen gardener but this was his first bonsai tree. As you can see he hasn't had very much luck with his first bonsai.

The main problem was simply that it hadn't been watered properly. Seemingly his wife used to water it but the water ran out through the bottom of the pot and soaked the table it was being kept on. This led to it being underwatered. (more)

26 01 08 - 17:55 - - Bonsai| Leave a comment - § ¶

MyTube: Growing Oranges from Pips

I'm getting really fancy now and broadcasting my own video! Here's a look at my three orange tree seedlings that are growing from pips.

Since my last update on my orange seedling at two months old, I have gotten two more seedlings. The first one broke through the soil on January 22 and the second one came through yesterday. The two shoots are very close to each other so it is possible that they are both from the same pip, as happened with my first seedling which has since died.

Getting these seedlings coming through now, three months after the pips were planted, has been a complete surprise to me. When I read about growing oranges from pips I learned that germination usually occurs around two weeks. I knew that nature wasn't as punctual as that and that it could be 10 or 20 days either but I had thought it would be somewhere around 14 days. What this has taught me is that you can never be sure when seeds will germinate.

26 01 08 - 14:06 - - Bonsai| Leave a comment - § ¶

Setting up a Humidity Tray

Before I set up a humidity tray for my bonsai I hadn't realised how quickly water could evaporate in my flat. The idea of the tray is to increase the moisture in the air around indoor bonsai which are used to growing in a warm, humid environment.

A modern apartment may provide the heat that the tree requires but it is a dry heat which leaves the bonsai drying up because of lack of moisture. Daily misting helps but it is a temporary thing whereas the humidity tray is there to help raise the moisture levels in the air throughout the day.

It's easy to set up a humidity tray. You just need a tray with raised edges and a water-tight bottom. Position your bonsai on the tray. Then get some pebbles or gravel and line the tray. Once you've this done you just add water and there you go! Pour water over the gravel just being careful not to overflow the tray. (more)

22 01 08 - 14:57 - - Bonsai| Leave a comment - § ¶

Orange seedling at two months

My orange tree seedling, which I've been growing from a pip, is now two months old. It still seems in good health and has developed another pair of leaves and grown another centimetre since my post last month. It now stands at five centimetres (two inches). So far all continues to go well with it.

Meanwhile, pips from a clementine mandarin orange, which I planted on January 9 have still to show any signs of growth. Clementines are almost seedless but one out of a bag that I bought from the supermarket was packed with pips so I soaked them in warm water for a while and planted them. I planted about ten of them but so far there's no shoots.

19 01 08 - 20:37 - - Bonsai| Leave a comment - § ¶

Is my Serissa Foetida dying?

If anyone ever tells you that Serissa Foetida is a good indoor bonsai tree for a beginner just keep these pictures in mind!

The first one is my six-year-old Serissa (Tree of a Thousand Stars) as it was when I bought it on November 3 last:

Now this is how it looks today:

I bear a slight grudge against the bonsai shop because I explained to the assistant that I was a beginner. I had bought a Ficus Retusa tree the previous month and it was doing fine so I felt it was safe to risk another one but I still wasn't confident enough to try taking care of anything that was really tricky. The assistant assured me that caring for a Serissa was 'the same' as for a Ficus. It turns out that this is not the case. (more)

16 01 08 - 17:32 - - Bonsai| Leave a comment - § ¶