Mats: Bougainvillea - 21J

Planted in a pot since time immemorial as per owner when he said, "My granny used to water that when I was still a kid". There used to be a "bunga" at its left side, now dead, and served as fertilizer for the tree.

My first thought was to make it an imperial/garden bonsai (1.2 meters above, correct me if I'm wrong, please) but it seems that 5 years will not be enough to have a proportionate secondary branches. The girth of this tree is 12 inches in diameter! I can fit it in my garden but will take at least 3 sqm which I do not want to spare for just one tree.

This tree did not come free, yet VERY CHEAP, and big thanks to my eldest sister for this gift.

Please check the captions per photo for further details. 

A palm tree used to be where the arrow is at. 

It's a big W. 

The chair is 1.1 mtrs tall, definitely this is an imperial bonsai, but the branches are too long and I don't want to wait 5 years for the soon-to-grow secondaries to grow big before styling it as bonsai.

Option 1. Tilt the tree to the right. 1st/right branch is thick, back/2nd branch is a given. 3rd/left branch is missing. There however is a branch behind where the red arrow points, where I can get a left branch.

That branch where the yellow arrow points kinda made me think. 1-2-3 sequence says CUT, but imagining a rather artistic approach if kept made me take a 2nd look.

Option 2. Slant the tree to the left and grow a branch where the apex will be taken from. It shall be faster than growing a thick left branch but then again, how long?

I used cow poop. 

Plus vermi-compost, worms included and more to be added.

So it's obvious, I went for the 1st option. The left branch shall be taken somewhere behind the trunk if none grows from the left. Just the basic 1-2-3 for this tree, hopefully I turn it into a beautiful bonsai someday. Estimated finished height is between 100-115cms.

No pot is available yet no problem for drainage. The tree behind it shall provide the shade and after 6-8 months, it can be transplanted to a better training pot. I measured 80x60x25cms for its final pot. I did not put anything under the cow poop, the Earth is my drainage.

And oh, those are cuttings. Some were already planted a day before where the tree was taken as a "Thank you, forget me not" token to the owner. I shall give him a bonsai out of these cuttings a year from now.

Cn: 21 Jewel, 21J, featherduster, popcorn, pink pixie bougie

Sn: Bougainvillea (glabra? spectabilis?)

#MangyanBonsai 

#hagodniDandoy 

#21j

Mats: Guava

    June 13, 2019, this tree was uprooted and planted using only pebbles. I had to leave the province to go back to work so I used whatever was available. 5 months ago when I came back I added cow dung on top of the pot to somehow add nutrients as the tree does not show improvements as expected though the roots came out already in search of better medium. 

   Fast forward to today, when I had the chance to remove almost half of the pebbles and I am not surprised to see that hair roots grew upwards to where the dung is and only the bigger ones were left below. Solution? Replace the removed pebbles with compost and vermicast and more dung.

   Note: about 3 inches of pebbles are still intact as bedding at the bottom of the pot.

     Please read the captions for more details.

Hunted June 13,2019 before the rainy season began Trunk is about 6 inches in diameter. This eventually was decided to be the back side of the tree.

Cow/carabao dung added on top of the pot around September 2019.

Pebbles used as potting medium.

This type of medium is NOT RECOMMENDED as it barely retains water, has very little to zero nutrients and is considered good only for beddings inside the pot. Would be better if mixed with riversand, compost, or vermicast. There is no pumice where it's at.

Root hairs grew in the manure because it has more nutrients. Bigger roots grew to about a foot outwards through the drain hole in search of better food supply.

Cn: Guava, Bayabas

Sn: Psidium guajava

Bonsai Learning: Marcotting

Neglected air-layered/marcotted material for almost 8 months. See how the roots got stunted where the tie was creating deformed base (left image). Rocks were inserted inside to keep the wide base as the roots grow and thicken. Materials are now planted on top of a broken tile to force the roots to grow outward.

Note:

The marcotted branch is almost 2 years old. The mother plant came from another marcotted branch about 1cm thick.

Tip:

- Choose the branches near a secondary branch to marcot so that you'll be assured of a thick 1st branch

- Powder puff grows fast and if you let the pot sit on top of the soil, roots will be growing outwards in a couple of months only

- There are 2 types of Powder puff. 1 has leaves similar to a tamarind (Tamarindus indica) and the other looks like a kamatchile (Pithecellobium dulce). The one featured is the 1st type.

Common name: Powder puff (red)

Scientific name: Calliandra schultzei

#MangyanBonsai

#hagodniDandoy

#araltayo

Mats: Creeping juniper

A gift from a new friend and enthusiast.

Next workshop is set after 1 year when new branches are expected to have grown longer to fill-up the void.

Cn: Creeping juniper

Sn: Juniperus procumbens nana

Before: 

After: 

#MangyanBonsai 

#hagodniDandoy

Bonsai Learning: Yamadori

What is yamadori? 

(1) Yamadori is a term used by the Japanese to describe trees collected from the wild. (From http://www.nibonsai.co.uk) 

(2) One of many ways to begin creating bonsai tree. (From https://www.bonsaimary.com)

Let's all learn about yamadori, but please pardon the drawing. 

The yamadori material is a curved hotdog but is not ideal for cascade, and only either formal upright, informal upright, or slanting styles are the most feasible. The trunk however lacks the taper that is ideal for a bonsai. How then, will we be able to make something out of it?

Read on.

Bonsai Tips: Unwanted Branch

Tips on taking out an unwanted branch and making it useful in the future as another material.

- use a knife or box cutter to make a circular wound around the branch taking out the bark

- using a shear, cut the wooden part inside 

- remove unwanted branches, and plant - In this case, the lowest branch have been removed and was planted up to the wound and roots are expected there too.

- best results if planted at least 1 inch on top of a tile to force the roots to grow outwards

Remember:

- roots grow from between the bark and the wooden part of the branch. With this technique, you are ensured that you will have a wider nebari than the trunk even at the early stage.

- to choose a branch like this with several secondaries.  This cutting is already given with the 1-2-3 branches. Remember though to prune the 2nd branch and up regularly to keep the 1st as the thickest branch.

Material used is a Ficus microcarpa. 

*** I do not worry about the wound left on the mother tree as it will heal and/or will leave a scar that will add character to it.

#MangyanBonsai 

#hagodniDandoy

Mats: Kapok

Back scratcher, anyone?

This will become a bonsai someday. It has been with me for the past two years. Have been wired, neglected and lost all the branches. Back to a shapeless, two-meter long with three-inches driameter stick again after six months of being unattended. Originally, it was pen-sized less than two years ago. 


Observations:

• easy to grow, as trunk gets fat very fast 

  

  from Google

• branches needs to be unwired after about two months
• lower branches dies back as soon as the apex gets too strong and foliage covers them
• somewhat brittle but wounds heal

No fertilizers were applied, watered very seldom and have been covered from sunlight most of the day. 

Common name: Kapok, Buybuy, Bulak

Scientific name: Ceiba pentandra; most likely a relative of Ceiba speciosa.

#MangyanBonsai

#hagodniDandoy

Mats: Red Balete

Thrice wired in the last 20 months or so. Potbound and wild kaya isinabay na ang repotting. Removed 5-10% of the roots only dahil maluwag naman sa loob ng pot. Added manure and vermicast for faster development.

Thanks for the cold Typhoon Tisoy, I did this in 3 hours.

Cn: RedBal, Red balete, balete

Sn: Ficus concinna

Originally, may dalawang maliit na butas. Pinalaki ko ng about 1 1/4 ang size.

Kinailangan ng katulong sa pagbubuhat.

#MangyanBonsai
#hagodniDandoy