My Adventures With Bonsai
This past Christmas season, a local Canadian retail store was selling miniature upright columnar Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Elwoodii’, or Lawson false cypress. They were so dry and pathetic looking after Christmas that I bought as many of the leftovers that I thought I could save.
Four of the Elwoodii remain in their original 4½ inch plastic pots. These are “pot-bound” meaning that the roots have reached the edge of the inner sides of the pot and are slowly growing in circular swathes around the inner circumference of the pots. While this is definitely not the healthiest of conditions for the trees, until it is figured out exactly what to do with them, or until the weather warms up a bit more, this will have to suffice.
The soil, I suspect, is original from the nursery where they were purchased by the retail store, and seems to be a peat based composite. When I first purchased the trees there was some slow release green granulated fertilizer inside the pots, but the effectiveness was redundant because the trees did not receive enough water to cause the granules to break down.
The other two trees have been transplanted into an indoor soil-less potting mix of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite (ratio is 3:3:3) within a circular 2 inch deep by 12 inch diameter ceramic dish. The dish has no drainage holes. The ceramic is not glazed inside which allows for some greater water retention, thus, I am careful when applying water.
The Elwoodii are all approximately 14 inches tall (from soil line to tips) and about 2 inches in diameter (of the foliage). They are relatively young trees. I have guessed perhaps yearlings or perhaps two years old, but this is difficult to assess, as they are grown for their slow growth properties.
Depending upon where you retrieve your information, C. lawsoniana ‘Elwoodii’ is claimed to be from the US or Europe. Having searched well over 200 sites on the web, I have chosen to use information from England. If you use the web for your search you will note that many bonsai forums list this tree, as well as, Germanic websites!
This reminds me - if considering joining a particular horticultural web-group, I suggest that you directly contact the administrator of the group. While I was a student of Algonquin College’s Horticultural Technician Program, one second year class (Greenhouse Applied) required that we research and fully document, in log book format, industry practices for certain plants. One of my “crops” was Pelargonium. I eagerly joined a web-group, sent them all sorts of probing questions, and to my terrible dismay received all my replies in Norwegian!
My email inbox is still occasionally bombarded with (I am sure) perfectly pertinent information, but nonetheless it is completely untranslatable…the “free” web-based translation sites are not adequate…believe me, I know.
According to www.angliangardener.co.uk, the Elwoodii is a good substitute for the Lleylandii (which, having had one of these a few years ago, I hope is very true, as it also had very nice bluish-grey foliage). This site lists the height x spread as 10ft x 6ft. The tree prefers “…full sun or partial shade…moist well-drained neutral to slightly acid soil…removes any competing leaders that appear in spring, cutting out the weaker or crooked shoot cleanly at its base…”
For my purposes, I am using it as a bonsai and trying to imitate a “forest” look. This morning I checked the dryness of the four plastic potted trees. Just like a cake that is baked in your oven, you are sometimes instructed to poke the cake with a fork, and if it comes out smooth and clean, then the center is considered cooked. Well, the same can be said for planting soil.
If you were to push your finger into the soil (at least up until the second knuckle, but I like to go as deep as possible), and felt very little moisture or none at all, then you know that it is time to water your plants. The other method of checking for watering time seems very basic, which is to simply pick up the individual pots and if they feel quite light (almost weightless), then certainly it is time to water.
But for the trees placed in the ceramic dish, I had to go poking about in the soil. Peat moss based soil-less mixtures can be deceiving. Naturally, the soil on the surface will look dry, but remember all that vermiculite and perlite? The water retention capability of these ingredients, plus the ceramic wicking defeats the eye. Besides, if you are worried about getting your fingers dirtied, then you should not be planting, or cooking for that matter.
Watering methods vary. As I do not have a propagation table or a separate sink used solely for plants, I have to use my kitchen sink. What I do for the individual pots is to fill a larger ceramic pot with lukewarm water, plus a few drops of high nitrogen liquid fertilizer (for acidity), and then insert the potted trees (pot and all) into the water, pressing down gently on the rims of the pots until the pot is completely submerged. When you see that there are no more air bubbles rising to the surface, remove the pot from the water, and let drain. Repeat this process as necessary until thoroughly watered.
Some people and I have done this before, especially with older bonsai, and leave the pots soaking in the fertilizer-diluted water for up to a half hour, and then set them aside to drain.
As for the ceramic dish, because I do not want my drain pipes to become clogged with soil debris, I have discovered that if I place two sheets of paper towel over the drain, and then use a smaller plate upside down over the sink’s drain, I can place the ceramic dish on top of this, to form a bit of a pedestal. This process keeps the bottom of the ceramic dish dry, and the paper towel effectively acts like a sieve for your soil debris.
I use the residual water from the plastic pots to water the trees in the ceramic dish. I water the trees until (checking with my fingers) I feel enough moisture in various areas around the roots.
Today, I transplanted a rooted herbaceous cutting of Coleus into the ceramic dish (after I had finished watering the trees). I noted, as well, that one of the trees was developing a secondary leader, and instead of tossing it out, I also used it in the ceramic dish.
I removed about one inch of foliage from the bottom of the cutting, dipped it into water, dipped it into a powdered rooting hormone, and then planted the cutting in the dish. I am hopeful that this secondary leader cutting will form my third Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Elwoodii’, thereby satisfying my own peculiar desire for the asymmetrical.
You might have noticed that I have not mentioned anything about anchoring my trees with wire. I know that proper bonsai techniques call for this; however, if my trees tend to tip a little, then I consider it more natural looking. As long as the surrounding soil is kept moist, the trees should remain in the ceramic dish. And when it comes time to prune and tease the roots, then I will splay the roots outward beneath the soil, creating a naturally-occurring anchor system.
I am supposed to be nipping back the new growth at the top of the trees but I am opting to let them grow for a little while longer. They have only recently been transplanted from their plastic pots, and I am reluctant to create greater stress. I will keep you posted on their progress!
Four of the Elwoodii remain in their original 4½ inch plastic pots. These are “pot-bound” meaning that the roots have reached the edge of the inner sides of the pot and are slowly growing in circular swathes around the inner circumference of the pots. While this is definitely not the healthiest of conditions for the trees, until it is figured out exactly what to do with them, or until the weather warms up a bit more, this will have to suffice.
The soil, I suspect, is original from the nursery where they were purchased by the retail store, and seems to be a peat based composite. When I first purchased the trees there was some slow release green granulated fertilizer inside the pots, but the effectiveness was redundant because the trees did not receive enough water to cause the granules to break down.
The other two trees have been transplanted into an indoor soil-less potting mix of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite (ratio is 3:3:3) within a circular 2 inch deep by 12 inch diameter ceramic dish. The dish has no drainage holes. The ceramic is not glazed inside which allows for some greater water retention, thus, I am careful when applying water.
The Elwoodii are all approximately 14 inches tall (from soil line to tips) and about 2 inches in diameter (of the foliage). They are relatively young trees. I have guessed perhaps yearlings or perhaps two years old, but this is difficult to assess, as they are grown for their slow growth properties.
Depending upon where you retrieve your information, C. lawsoniana ‘Elwoodii’ is claimed to be from the US or Europe. Having searched well over 200 sites on the web, I have chosen to use information from England. If you use the web for your search you will note that many bonsai forums list this tree, as well as, Germanic websites!
This reminds me - if considering joining a particular horticultural web-group, I suggest that you directly contact the administrator of the group. While I was a student of Algonquin College’s Horticultural Technician Program, one second year class (Greenhouse Applied) required that we research and fully document, in log book format, industry practices for certain plants. One of my “crops” was Pelargonium. I eagerly joined a web-group, sent them all sorts of probing questions, and to my terrible dismay received all my replies in Norwegian!
My email inbox is still occasionally bombarded with (I am sure) perfectly pertinent information, but nonetheless it is completely untranslatable…the “free” web-based translation sites are not adequate…believe me, I know.
According to www.angliangardener.co.uk, the Elwoodii is a good substitute for the Lleylandii (which, having had one of these a few years ago, I hope is very true, as it also had very nice bluish-grey foliage). This site lists the height x spread as 10ft x 6ft. The tree prefers “…full sun or partial shade…moist well-drained neutral to slightly acid soil…removes any competing leaders that appear in spring, cutting out the weaker or crooked shoot cleanly at its base…”
For my purposes, I am using it as a bonsai and trying to imitate a “forest” look. This morning I checked the dryness of the four plastic potted trees. Just like a cake that is baked in your oven, you are sometimes instructed to poke the cake with a fork, and if it comes out smooth and clean, then the center is considered cooked. Well, the same can be said for planting soil.
If you were to push your finger into the soil (at least up until the second knuckle, but I like to go as deep as possible), and felt very little moisture or none at all, then you know that it is time to water your plants. The other method of checking for watering time seems very basic, which is to simply pick up the individual pots and if they feel quite light (almost weightless), then certainly it is time to water.
But for the trees placed in the ceramic dish, I had to go poking about in the soil. Peat moss based soil-less mixtures can be deceiving. Naturally, the soil on the surface will look dry, but remember all that vermiculite and perlite? The water retention capability of these ingredients, plus the ceramic wicking defeats the eye. Besides, if you are worried about getting your fingers dirtied, then you should not be planting, or cooking for that matter.
Watering methods vary. As I do not have a propagation table or a separate sink used solely for plants, I have to use my kitchen sink. What I do for the individual pots is to fill a larger ceramic pot with lukewarm water, plus a few drops of high nitrogen liquid fertilizer (for acidity), and then insert the potted trees (pot and all) into the water, pressing down gently on the rims of the pots until the pot is completely submerged. When you see that there are no more air bubbles rising to the surface, remove the pot from the water, and let drain. Repeat this process as necessary until thoroughly watered.
Some people and I have done this before, especially with older bonsai, and leave the pots soaking in the fertilizer-diluted water for up to a half hour, and then set them aside to drain.
As for the ceramic dish, because I do not want my drain pipes to become clogged with soil debris, I have discovered that if I place two sheets of paper towel over the drain, and then use a smaller plate upside down over the sink’s drain, I can place the ceramic dish on top of this, to form a bit of a pedestal. This process keeps the bottom of the ceramic dish dry, and the paper towel effectively acts like a sieve for your soil debris.
I use the residual water from the plastic pots to water the trees in the ceramic dish. I water the trees until (checking with my fingers) I feel enough moisture in various areas around the roots.
Today, I transplanted a rooted herbaceous cutting of Coleus into the ceramic dish (after I had finished watering the trees). I noted, as well, that one of the trees was developing a secondary leader, and instead of tossing it out, I also used it in the ceramic dish.
I removed about one inch of foliage from the bottom of the cutting, dipped it into water, dipped it into a powdered rooting hormone, and then planted the cutting in the dish. I am hopeful that this secondary leader cutting will form my third Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Elwoodii’, thereby satisfying my own peculiar desire for the asymmetrical.
You might have noticed that I have not mentioned anything about anchoring my trees with wire. I know that proper bonsai techniques call for this; however, if my trees tend to tip a little, then I consider it more natural looking. As long as the surrounding soil is kept moist, the trees should remain in the ceramic dish. And when it comes time to prune and tease the roots, then I will splay the roots outward beneath the soil, creating a naturally-occurring anchor system.
I am supposed to be nipping back the new growth at the top of the trees but I am opting to let them grow for a little while longer. They have only recently been transplanted from their plastic pots, and I am reluctant to create greater stress. I will keep you posted on their progress!
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posted by Davor Novakovic @ Monday, May 30, 2005
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