Is anyone here interested in starting with bonsai, already has some knowledge or are you curious about it and just want to lurk?

    • ghost_laptopOPM
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      4 years ago

      What I always hear from experts is that you should start by making, I’m not saying you shouldn’t let some seeds grow, but if you only do that you are going to start practicing bonsai technics in 6-7 years, you are probably going to fail and the tree is going to die (get used to killing a couple trees in the process) and you are going to learn very little in a lot of time. You should buy some sort of pine tree and start practicing a specific style (for a pine tree I would recommend you a moyogi or chokkan, they are also easy for beginners in contrast with something like takozukuri or fukinigashi).

      Also buying a tree that is already a bonsai with a few years is a nice experience since you can watch it and learn from it, you also get to do some annual trimming and so on, and it might give you the impulse to start practising. Just be aware that you probably are going to kill it.

        • ghost_laptopOPM
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          4 years ago

          Yeah, that’s exactly what most people recommend, go to a nursery and buy a tree which a bit big but not too much and try and find one that has a nice shape for the style you are going to doing. All trees can be transformed into a bonsai, so yeah, nuresry trees are bonsai trees most of the time!

          I’ll try and search a good pine for beginners and also a website that goes through the very basics of style in general so you know more or less what to do. Please update if you do some progress!

          • ghost_laptopOPM
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            4 years ago

            Here is a really nice and little list of the very basics to keep in mind when doing bonsai: https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/rules.htm

            Also, indoor bonsai most of time is totally totally not a good idea and anyway they will never grow as faster, bigger and more beautiful as outdoor ones.

              • ghost_laptopOPM
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                4 years ago

                Great! I heard that cold helps at some point, too, although I’m not sure when or what it does.

  • k_o_t
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    4 years ago

    sudden curiosity, is bonsai cultivation basically extended exposure to the blue spectrum and training, or is it something else completely different?

    • ghost_laptopOPM
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      4 years ago

      Is blue spectrum a specific kind of light? But anyway, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when considering what a bonsai is. First of all you prune the roots in a way that favours the reduction of the size, you prune the leaves to make them smaller, and then there’s the aesthetic part of it. So yeah, it is not so much the exposure to the light.

      • k_o_t
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        4 years ago

        yeah, i was referring to elector-magnetic radiation with the wavelength of ~400-500 nm, typically referred to as blue light, extended exposure to which of plants will produce short and and compact plants, which is the reason why i thought that it might be used when growing bonsai

        do you have any beginner resources in mind that you could link to start growing bonsai?

        • ghost_laptopOPM
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          4 years ago

          The reduced size is mainly achieved by removing roots and pruning, and also the fact that you limit the growth’s size by having it in a small pot. Maybe light affects, too, and, I am unaware.

          I am going to look for some tomorrow, I watched a youtuber when I began but he speaks Spanish, so I will try to find something in English.

  • Ajsra
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    4 years ago

    I am! Actually, I am planning on doing it on a chili plant. We’ll see how it will turn out!

    • ghost_laptopOPM
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      4 years ago

      Be aware that even though you can make bonsai with non-trees, they need to be perennial, otherwise you don’t have enough time for them to grow and become a bonsai. This is why you can’t make a cannabis bonsai, lol.

      • Ajsra
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        4 years ago

        Oh yes. Chilies are perennial even though the most common species is called Annuum. But we’ll see how it turns out!

        • ghost_laptopOPM
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          4 years ago

          Great! Please update a photo once you have some progress, I would love to see it!