Dude awesome vid The best easy to comprehend demo On the tube ,love the slip demo never seen that before makes good sense. Love the step chart Kept the video coming Big Fan
For the last year, I've been trying to learn bonsai from reading and watching videos. This is hands down really good beginner knowledge. Everyone else was potting their tree and I kind of thought that wasn't a great idea at first so I left them in their nursery containers. Glad I did and that this affirmed that and I learned about slip potting!
That was THE best lesson for starting Bonsai’s!!! I have been looking for this so much. I would absolutely LOVE videos on each point, but thank you SO MUCH!!!
Would be good if you could do a long term development series of a juniper, its such a common tree for beginners and you hear a lot of conflicting advice. Like for example at what thickness would you trunk chop? I have a few trees and they are in the trunk growth/ root growth phase atm, however they've really already grown soo tall. My cashmeriana is taller than myself. So when do I trunk chop? Because I've heard you should let it grow unfettered for a few years to grow the trunk to thicken then you can start developing the taper/ trunk line. But yeah its quite confusing
Thank you for the great video. I'm new to bonsai and have a few amur maples and eastern larch saplings growing in pots I planted this spring. Can you make a video on creating taper? The drawings are super helpful, but some real examples would help me wrap my head around it. Thanks again!
Great road map Josh, i now undersrand how important development is for creating a nice tree. Inspiration to dedicate next few years developing better trees. Thanks again.😉
Guilty of the stick in a Bonsai pot. I'm definitely going to repot to a larger nursery pot this spring. That's probably also the time to comb through the roots and lay them out the in an Aesthetic way for an Ulmus Parvifolia?
Another amazing video! Your whiteboard talks are great. Thank you again, Sensei Josh 🙏🏻 Do you have a lesson on how to convince the missus that purchasing Bonsai-En courses are absolutely necessary for one’s well-being? 😆
That's another really great video, Josh! Thanks! Doing a roadmap is a fantastic idea, and super helpful for a beginner for understanding the Big Picture, and the 'Why' and the 'How' of bonsai growing. You are a great teacher, and that is not a given, for people to be able to explain properly what they do, to other. Your drawings are fine; they do the job!!! ;-)
It really does help to know what the road ahead looks like and helps people plan their work better and not have to fix mistakes along the which in bonsai can cost you years.
The video we all needed!! Josh, if you could focus some videos on Development, particularly root base/Trunk/first branch and initial.movement that would be great. We keep getting told by others "put it in a pot and let it grow!!" But there is so much more to it.
As the channel continues to grow i will try to cover most topics related too Bonsai over wide spread levels of practise. My main goal is to clear the fog of Bonsai teaching and try and make it a little more simple as it doesn't need to be over complicated, just presented correctly.
How come we don't just bring it home and the one gallon container and slip pot it right into a really big container and just let it grow in that for years? I love the knowledge I learned from you and appreciate it
Its harder to control moisture content and nutrient supply in a pot that is 90% empty soil, you also want to keep that root ball nice and tight the whole journey, when it comes time to pot it up into a Bonsai pot you will appreciate that nice tight root system from years of going up 1 size at a time.
Nice lesson i have lost a nice strawberrie tree with Nice tickness because i didnt follow the right steps during the season, now i now how to do it! Regards
Don't feel bad, we have all lost trees at some point or another. We just lost a what was going to be a nice juniper when we moved the nursery due to it being bumped in transport and it tore the roots.
Good day Josh from Houston Texas, I have a question when you say “heavy feeding” of nitrogen. What do you mean by “heavy”? Is that saying use more quantity of the feed or use it more frequently than like once a month. What’s your difference between heavy and normal? Thanks for the help!
Great work, Also I don't know what it was exactly, but you seemed more comfortable and relaxed in this video Josh. I was good to see. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Josh, your road map idea is great! What's implicit in your presentation is that growing and forming bonsai is a long process, longer than most people believe, especially beginners. I have two suggestions. Give us an estimate of how much time it takes to get from one point in the road to the next one. I realize that depends a lot on type of tree and the environment. Nevertheless, an example would be helpful. Also, your outline is written in small letters, making them a little bigger would be helpful. Keep up the good work. I enjoy your presentations.
Hi mate, when it comes to time between each step there is too many variable to say how long, this comes down to environments as some places have 9 months of growing season ( like us in Australia ) and some places only have 3 months of growing season. Also some species grow a lot quicker then others, things like shimpaku juniper and azalea grow at a snails pace but fig and aussie natives you cant stop them from growing. then it comes down to how big you actually want the tree. thanks for the feedback as well! the stuff i write on the side of the board isnt necessarily for the viewers but more for me so i don't go off track, but maybe i can put what's written there in the video description.
Awesome video for this newbie, I learned a lot already by watching this and can see mistakes I already made but can be fixed, liked and subscribed will be checking your other videos mate , thumbs up . 👍
Thank you! If you liked this we have a beginners course available at www.TheBonsaiDojo.com , Combine that with this video and you will be ready to rock and roll!
Hi Josh, that was outstanding! I'm completely new to this and often see short "how to" lessons for what would be - in the grand scheme of things - a minuscule portion of a bonsai's life e.g. wiring, putting the tree into a pot. This really answers a lot of questions I've had about the timeline of a bonsai tree. Question: when you start of with bare bones raw material (tubestock / garden nursery plant) with the intent of starting development, do you already have a singular vision/design in mind for the final outcome? Is it one that you adhere to through, say, the 10-20 years before you actually see the final product or is it often the case of seeing where the tree goes and making adjustments along the way? I've seen some pictures of very old trees with massive chunks of deadwood and very exaggerated twists/curls. In my mind, I'm thinking surely that could only have been achieved by bending a tree very early on in its life and perhaps only seeing the result almost a century later! Thanks again for your lessons. Siang
When you are developing a tree like a Maple, to you keep cutting back the top of the trunk (while trying to thicken the bottom of the trunk) so that the height of the tree doesn't get away from you and grow 20 feet high or something?
hi shane, what ever you can get with a nitrogen content over 10. If its organic fertiliser it will need to be replaced every 4 weeks. jump on over to the blog and hit up the free trial and check out the article that goes along with this video for all the extra tips including feeding. you can always cancel the trial if there is nothing else that interests you. cheers.
Hey Josh, love all your content on your channel. I have recently bought a decent sized green mound juniper from a local nursery, but it was just grown as ground cover and doesn't have the movement of standard bonsai stock. Most of the branches were growing horizontally as a result. I have identified and wired a healthy branch vertically to create an apex and really the main trunk line, I was wondering if this is counter intuitive and if I can achieve decent growth from this in the long run. Most of the movement I am creating is now really in the middle of the tree. Just wanted your thoughts on this method. Also, do you have a recommended fertilizer for this species of juniper during the summer time? I recall you saying a 10-10-10 would be best during development. Thanks for all the great info!
Hi Brent, One thing you can do is plan to change the planting angle of the tree to see if there is any good lines already available, i have literally bought nursery stock and turned it 90 degrees to get a nice line from it. But what you have done is ok, if you choose 1 branch and wire it as a new leader then what you can do is let that branch grow un touched, allow it to thicken just enough that you get nice taper from the base to that branch. eventually some of the smaller shoots on that tree will start elongating and becoming branches you can later use. As for the fertiliser the reason i recommended 10-10-10 was because its pretty common and easy to get, if you can get something with a higher nitrogen content which is the first number in that ratio then go for that. The higher the nitrogen the more growth you will get. i would suggest checking out the article though as there is some other great tips there.
Hey mate, just had 1 question in regards to the slip potting method. Once you've reached the trunk thickness you want, and you've chopped back (e.g. down to the first branch), and now you're growing the new leader, do you continue to slip pot as required? Or is slip potting only really necessary till you reach your desired trunk base thickness?
Hey mate, when it comes to slip potting the only goal is really giving the roots space to grow because we know that if the roots become root bound and slow down then the tree slows down. So if you reach the desired thickness and you do your chop and continue on developing a new leader you have to check and see at that point if there is still room in the container for the roots to grow, if there is you can keep the tree in that size until it fills out, if the pot is full then you can move up a size to allow the roots to keep growing so your growth doesn't slow down on you.
A Well Draining Organic Mix. You can get regular garden soil from your local garden shop and add something to it such as perlite. its also best to have a sieve and sieve out the finer 1mm particles as they clog up the mix.
we all are mate, its how we start. I'm actually thankful for mallsai because it is usually what exposes most people to Bonsai then they learn the proper ways. but the sooner they can move away from the mallsai ways the better.
You're looking in the wrong places then. Bonsai Pots don't need to be ridiculously priced to be good. i have seen some people selling pots for stupid money ripping people off which is not called for but there are some pot makers and even some bonsai shops out there that sell at a reasonable price. A good pot will make the world of difference to a tree.
@@BonsaiEn The only place I can look is online. And you're probably looking in Australia. I'm in the U.S. I'd be happy with the appropriate shaped mica, assuming they were cheaper, but I don't see it. Also, ALL of what I'm seeing in mica is training pots.
is there any reason you want to use mica pots over clay pots? unless you have super freezing conditions and you keep your trees out in those conditions i would just get clay pots.
@@BonsaiEn Just thought they were a cheaper alternative. bonsaioutlet.com has about the best prices I've found, some really cheap, but the proportions don't look right. They all look really deep.
Best teacher on here
This is it. This is the best video for bonsai beginners.
Most informative beginner video on TH-cam. Thanks heaps, Josh. I’ll make sure to drop by when I’m close by.
Dude awesome vid
The best easy to comprehend demo
On the tube ,love the slip demo never seen that before makes good sense.
Love the step chart
Kept the video coming
Big Fan
For the last year, I've been trying to learn bonsai from reading and watching videos. This is hands down really good beginner knowledge. Everyone else was potting their tree and I kind of thought that wasn't a great idea at first so I left them in their nursery containers. Glad I did and that this affirmed that and I learned about slip potting!
Great video Josh
That was THE best lesson for starting Bonsai’s!!! I have been looking for this so much.
I would absolutely LOVE videos on each point, but thank you SO MUCH!!!
Im glad you enjoyed it Sarah, im hoping we can get people on the right track to creating nicer trees with just a little extra clarity in their work.
The Best Josh . Been watching tons of videos and getting bits and pieces but wasn't adding up . Nice layout. I see it now .
You feed so systematic bonsai information.. will benefit us in future greatly..
im glad you find it useful.
Would be good if you could do a long term development series of a juniper, its such a common tree for beginners and you hear a lot of conflicting advice. Like for example at what thickness would you trunk chop? I have a few trees and they are in the trunk growth/ root growth phase atm, however they've really already grown soo tall. My cashmeriana is taller than myself. So when do I trunk chop? Because I've heard you should let it grow unfettered for a few years to grow the trunk to thicken then you can start developing the taper/ trunk line. But yeah its quite confusing
Super clear!
Thank you for the great video. I'm new to bonsai and have a few amur maples and eastern larch saplings growing in pots I planted this spring. Can you make a video on creating taper? The drawings are super helpful, but some real examples would help me wrap my head around it. Thanks again!
A really informative video! Especially for a newbie to the process like myself. Thanks so much!!
hi billy, I'm glad you found some useful information here.
Great road map Josh, i now undersrand how important development is for creating a nice tree. Inspiration to dedicate next few years developing better trees. Thanks again.😉
Cheers Mate. I look forward to seeing your trees refine
I had all this information but didn't knew the order so ended up skipping the development stage for years. Thanks a lot, this video really helped me.
Guilty of the stick in a Bonsai pot. I'm definitely going to repot to a larger nursery pot this spring. That's probably also the time to comb through the roots and lay them out the in an Aesthetic way for an Ulmus Parvifolia?
Another amazing video!
Your whiteboard talks are great.
Thank you again, Sensei Josh 🙏🏻
Do you have a lesson on how to convince the missus that purchasing Bonsai-En courses are absolutely necessary for one’s well-being? 😆
That's another really great video, Josh! Thanks!
Doing a roadmap is a fantastic idea, and super helpful for a beginner for understanding the Big Picture, and the 'Why' and the 'How' of bonsai growing.
You are a great teacher, and that is not a given, for people to be able to explain properly what they do, to other.
Your drawings are fine; they do the job!!!
;-)
It really does help to know what the road ahead looks like and helps people plan their work better and not have to fix mistakes along the which in bonsai can cost you years.
The video we all needed!! Josh, if you could focus some videos on Development, particularly root base/Trunk/first branch
and initial.movement that would be great.
We keep getting told by others "put it in a pot and let it grow!!" But there is so much more to it.
As the channel continues to grow i will try to cover most topics related too Bonsai over wide spread levels of practise. My main goal is to clear the fog of Bonsai teaching and try and make it a little more simple as it doesn't need to be over complicated, just presented correctly.
@@BonsaiEn you do an awesome job mate. Keep it up.
How come we don't just bring it home and the one gallon container and slip pot it right into a really big container and just let it grow in that for years? I love the knowledge I learned from you and appreciate it
Its harder to control moisture content and nutrient supply in a pot that is 90% empty soil, you also want to keep that root ball nice and tight the whole journey, when it comes time to pot it up into a Bonsai pot you will appreciate that nice tight root system from years of going up 1 size at a time.
Nice lesson i have lost a nice strawberrie tree with Nice tickness because i didnt follow the right steps during the season, now i now how to do it!
Regards
Don't feel bad, we have all lost trees at some point or another. We just lost a what was going to be a nice juniper when we moved the nursery due to it being bumped in transport and it tore the roots.
Good day Josh from Houston Texas, I have a question when you say “heavy feeding” of nitrogen. What do you mean by “heavy”? Is that saying use more quantity of the feed or use it more frequently than like once a month. What’s your difference between heavy and normal? Thanks for the help!
Great work, Also I don't know what it was exactly, but you seemed more comfortable and relaxed in this video Josh. I was good to see. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Duncan, im starting to get this TH-cam thing figured out.
Thanks Josh, your road map idea is great! What's implicit in your presentation is that growing and forming bonsai is a long process, longer than most people believe, especially beginners. I have two suggestions. Give us an estimate of how much time it takes to get from one point in the road to the next one. I realize that depends a lot on type of tree and the environment. Nevertheless, an example would be helpful. Also, your outline is written in small letters, making them a little bigger would be helpful. Keep up the good work. I enjoy your presentations.
Hi mate, when it comes to time between each step there is too many variable to say how long, this comes down to environments as some places have 9 months of growing season ( like us in Australia ) and some places only have 3 months of growing season. Also some species grow a lot quicker then others, things like shimpaku juniper and azalea grow at a snails pace but fig and aussie natives you cant stop them from growing. then it comes down to how big you actually want the tree. thanks for the feedback as well! the stuff i write on the side of the board isnt necessarily for the viewers but more for me so i don't go off track, but maybe i can put what's written there in the video description.
Awesome video for this newbie, I learned a lot already by watching this and can see mistakes I already made but can be fixed, liked and subscribed will be checking your other videos mate , thumbs up . 👍
Thank you! If you liked this we have a beginners course available at www.TheBonsaiDojo.com , Combine that with this video and you will be ready to rock and roll!
Thank you. 🌲
Not A Problem, Thanks For Visiting Our channel!
Hi Josh, that was outstanding! I'm completely new to this and often see short "how to" lessons for what would be - in the grand scheme of things - a minuscule portion of a bonsai's life e.g. wiring, putting the tree into a pot. This really answers a lot of questions I've had about the timeline of a bonsai tree. Question: when you start of with bare bones raw material (tubestock / garden nursery plant) with the intent of starting development, do you already have a singular vision/design in mind for the final outcome? Is it one that you adhere to through, say, the 10-20 years before you actually see the final product or is it often the case of seeing where the tree goes and making adjustments along the way? I've seen some pictures of very old trees with massive chunks of deadwood and very exaggerated twists/curls. In my mind, I'm thinking surely that could only have been achieved by bending a tree very early on in its life and perhaps only seeing the result almost a century later! Thanks again for your lessons. Siang
Good video!
Thanks!
It makes all the sense. thanks :D
Thats great to hear!
What are the best books that detail this end to end bonsai process?
When you are developing a tree like a Maple, to you keep cutting back the top of the trunk (while trying to thicken the bottom of the trunk) so that the height of the tree doesn't get away from you and grow 20 feet high or something?
Can maples be completely trunk chopped?
Love your videos. When you say heavy feeding, what NPK and how often please?
hi shane, what ever you can get with a nitrogen content over 10. If its organic fertiliser it will need to be replaced every 4 weeks. jump on over to the blog and hit up the free trial and check out the article that goes along with this video for all the extra tips including feeding. you can always cancel the trial if there is nothing else that interests you. cheers.
@@BonsaiEn Thank you, and will do
Hey Josh, love all your content on your channel.
I have recently bought a decent sized green mound juniper from a local nursery, but it was just grown as ground cover and doesn't have the movement of standard bonsai stock. Most of the branches were growing horizontally as a result. I have identified and wired a healthy branch vertically to create an apex and really the main trunk line, I was wondering if this is counter intuitive and if I can achieve decent growth from this in the long run. Most of the movement I am creating is now really in the middle of the tree. Just wanted your thoughts on this method.
Also, do you have a recommended fertilizer for this species of juniper during the summer time? I recall you saying a 10-10-10 would be best during development.
Thanks for all the great info!
Hi Brent, One thing you can do is plan to change the planting angle of the tree to see if there is any good lines already available, i have literally bought nursery stock and turned it 90 degrees to get a nice line from it. But what you have done is ok, if you choose 1 branch and wire it as a new leader then what you can do is let that branch grow un touched, allow it to thicken just enough that you get nice taper from the base to that branch. eventually some of the smaller shoots on that tree will start elongating and becoming branches you can later use. As for the fertiliser the reason i recommended 10-10-10 was because its pretty common and easy to get, if you can get something with a higher nitrogen content which is the first number in that ratio then go for that. The higher the nitrogen the more growth you will get. i would suggest checking out the article though as there is some other great tips there.
Hey thanks so much for the reply, you guys are legends over there at Bonsai-En! Keep the videos flowing 👌🏼
Hey mate, just had 1 question in regards to the slip potting method. Once you've reached the trunk thickness you want, and you've chopped back (e.g. down to the first branch), and now you're growing the new leader, do you continue to slip pot as required? Or is slip potting only really necessary till you reach your desired trunk base thickness?
Hey mate, when it comes to slip potting the only goal is really giving the roots space to grow because we know that if the roots become root bound and slow down then the tree slows down. So if you reach the desired thickness and you do your chop and continue on developing a new leader you have to check and see at that point if there is still room in the container for the roots to grow, if there is you can keep the tree in that size until it fills out, if the pot is full then you can move up a size to allow the roots to keep growing so your growth doesn't slow down on you.
What soil is best for junipers while in development?
A Well Draining Organic Mix. You can get regular garden soil from your local garden shop and add something to it such as perlite. its also best to have a sieve and sieve out the finer 1mm particles as they clog up the mix.
@@BonsaiEn can I use peat moss with sand and perlite as a development mix too?
as long as it drains well that shouldn't be an issue. Peat holds a lot of moisture.
@@BonsaiEn so then I should water less than normal?
Definitely needed this!!
im glad you got something from it.
I'm guilty of putting a stick in a bonsai pot but I think my goal is a little different. Im hoping to get a black pine thats no taller then 5 inches.
we all are mate, its how we start. I'm actually thankful for mallsai because it is usually what exposes most people to Bonsai then they learn the proper ways. but the sooner they can move away from the mallsai ways the better.
👍
Please add subtitles.
Hi, The video has subtitles, Click the CC button along the bottom bar of the video player to turn them on.
@@BonsaiEn Thanks.
I'm at the level where I can't justify the ridiculous price of a bonsai pot. Even the ridiculous price of a mica pot.
You're looking in the wrong places then. Bonsai Pots don't need to be ridiculously priced to be good. i have seen some people selling pots for stupid money ripping people off which is not called for but there are some pot makers and even some bonsai shops out there that sell at a reasonable price. A good pot will make the world of difference to a tree.
@@BonsaiEn The only place I can look is online. And you're probably looking in Australia. I'm in the U.S. I'd be happy with the appropriate shaped mica, assuming they were cheaper, but I don't see it. Also, ALL of what I'm seeing in mica is training pots.
is there any reason you want to use mica pots over clay pots? unless you have super freezing conditions and you keep your trees out in those conditions i would just get clay pots.
@@BonsaiEn Just thought they were a cheaper alternative.
bonsaioutlet.com has about the best prices I've found, some really cheap, but the proportions don't look right. They all look really deep.