Oak

Now that we are through the dead of winter i have begun to work on the plants again. they've had a nice break and are ready to gear up for another good year.

The little oak had its trunk chopped. I took about 60cm off the top and sealed it off.

I left a few centimeters above the next apex bud for it to die back a little. Its probobly going to have this procedure performed a few more times in its life so no need for surgical precision at this time.



















I'l give it a week or two to get over the fright before i move it to its new pot. The oak is the beginning of the chain of the repotting season as i have several plants that want new pots this year and they will all be inheriting pots from their older siblings.


This one is going to go into an akadama / fuji grit mix. It was in a 3 part mix of sharp sand , john innes and horticultural grit - which worked extremely well and may have contributed to its explosive growth. I think i will use that soil mix again in the near future.


The work on oaks will continue with planting of a few more acorns. I got lucky and picked up a few acorns for quercus brantii while walking in a restaurant garden - so il see if i can get them to germinate as well.

Roots

While i was getting rid of the moss and adding fresh top soil to some of my plants i noticed how good the roots were looking.

Both of these plants were repotted at the beginning of this year. One is a acer palmatum and the other is a citrus. The common factor is the batch of soil used and that both were extremely root bound in small pots. They both went into pots 200% larger - and into the same mix of akadama and organic material ( a little bark ).

Both species have managed to fill their pots in 9 months with fine roots. Towards the end of the year both of them have shown very vigorous growth - something i attribute to the well developed root system ( the ability to take in much more water and nutrients ).

Next year i have some more plants going into a similar soil mix. Hopefully the plants will do as well as these have.

So far the akadama shows no signs at all of collapse and seems good for another year at least.

Windybank visit

Ive been looking out for bonsai vendors nearby where i live.

I also needed some supplies for this years round of repotting and maintenance - so it was a chance to stock up and explore a new vendor.

On the weekend i drove my long suffering wife around to windybank bonsai to have a look around and buy some supplies. I found them friendly and relaxed.

They are quite easy to get to - i drove all the way from the north edge of London. Anyone in the greater London area could get there once or twice a year for vital ingredients. They are about 10 minutes off the M25 so easy to access for anyone coming around.


A nice range of trees - from very expensive specimens to some good started material.

Also on hand was a good selection of pots , soil , fertilisers and tools.













I got a couple of nice pots and some akadama. I also bought some fuji grit to experiment with - more about that later.

So far all my attempts to get a soil suitable for bonsai from hydroponic vendors have failed so i will be using akadama for the foreseeable future. Its well priced and the results are excellent.

I like.