Bonsai Victor: Weekend Update 08/24/19

A good portion of my outside growing area was taken over by Aaron's growing projects. Earlier in the season, I picked up a raspberry plant and I potted up a blackberry cutting for Aaron. Some time after that, I picked up three or four tiny strawberry cuttings at the Flea Market for Aaron. Aaron was busy being Aaron, so I just placed the berries in my growing area and fed/watered them. Fast forward a month and the berries are growing pretty good. So good that he decided to relocate his bucket of strawberries to my growing area. This quickly became a whole bunch of little strawberry plants. The strawberry bucket was constantly throwing runners out as well as some tasty strawberries. A few weeks ago, he decided to relocate his strawberries to a black shelf in the yard. Not too far frowm my growing area; close enough that I can still feed/water them. He still has his growing area in the back of the house.

Maybe because I was taking care of his berries, Aaron decided to turn over his oaks we grew from acorns. English and some other type of oak. While he was at it, he also turned over some juniper cuttings that had been sitting on his growing bench for the past couple years. Some of his donations don't look so good. Others have some interesting trunks. Regardless, I'll feed and water them. With luck I might have some good bonsai material come spring. I posted some pictures on my last weekend update.

BEWARE AUGUST HEAT! August heat has been my bane over the years. The cool weather here lulls me into a false sense of security and every year I think it won't get too hot for my trees. Not this time! I prepared myself. I bought a 10x10 pop up canopy. My thinking was that if weather got too bad, I'd deploy the canopy for some shade. Weather hasn't been too bad. We've had a bit of rain this week, keeping temps around 69. If this keeps up, I think I'll manage the August heat without deploying the canopy, knock on wood.

Scheffleras -

They're growing well. I don't them half the credit they deserve. Looking back at my blog, it's these guys that are responsible for re-sparking my interest in bonsai. Responding exceedingly well to the severe pruning/ clip and grow method. Feeding full strength Miracle Grow once a week and lots of light with little/no direct sunlight. This is what I'm feeding everything, actually.

F. retusa cutting -

Did I mention I have a SINGLE F. retusa cutting? This is a cutting of a cutting. Last of the Mohicans. Short story about this guy - I had a donor F. retusa tree in Arizona from which I took a LOT of cuttings from. This was just a random tree I bought at Home Depot. Maybe about 6-7 feet tall. If you go back and look at all my ficus tree cuttings I had on my Etsy account or anywhere else where I ficus trees, all these trees were from the one mother tree. I took HUNDREDS of cuttings each season. When I relocated, I knew the pacific northwest was no place for a tropical tree of that size, so I left it behind. I might have found a home for it, I don't remember. But I brought along about 5 little ficus cuttings, including a shohin size bonsai that I wired. The other cuttings never made it, but the one wired bonsai did for a while. I took a cutting from it last year, and then shortly afterwards, I lost it. Let all my bonsai go. That one cutting was tiny. Barely two leaves. I said FUCK IT earlier this year, threw it in some soil and threw it outside along with the scheffleras. 'This little fucker is either gonna grow, or it's gonna shrivel up and die like the rest of them!' I thought to myself. It's growing now. We'll see what it does by the time it comes back inside at end of season. Anyways, heavy feeding and lots of light. Little/no direct sunlight. Leaves are so fat on this little guy now, it can barely stay up.

F. religiosa seedlings -

I've been feeding with Bernie's spray on orchid fertilizer. Reason: they're in pellets without any drainage. I've been keeping them moist, with the lid on. As they outgrow their little seed starting tray, I repot them to 4 inch pots. The ones I moved to 4 inch pots appear to be doing well. No sign of discoloration and no wilting. Will continue to build on my success and will continue to do what I'm doing.

Neagari azalea and hard pruned dwarf rhododendron -

Following the severe pruning, clip and grow method. Heavy feeding and full sun. Growing good. Nothing more to see here, these are not the droids you're looking for, move along.

Azalea cuttings -

The kings of 'not doing shit'. Meh, whatev's. I'll bide my time.

Air layer project -

One didn't do shit; I think that branch died. One actually took root! It worked! I mentioned this already, but I'm gonna mention it again, cause I'm impressed. I cut the air layer off and planted it up. Afterwards, I completely leaf pruned it. Yes, this was risky to do. I probably shouldn't have leaf pruned it, as it was already stressed from the air layering. Decided I'd take a risk though. Didn't take any pictures. I did not want to delay the process. I'll include pictures in the update.

Apple seedlings -

I now have four seedlings in the same 4 inch pot. Gonna get a bit crowded; so what? I'll worry about growing them out after winter. Heavy fertilizer, full sun. Growing strong.

Crabapple cuttings -

Strong growth. Seem to be responding very well to heavy feeding and full sun schedule. Gotta love those crabapples. No deer in my yard. YET. I had a friend with a couple cherry trees. Every year, a trio of deer would settle in and eat a bunch of his cherries and nibble on his tree. He called the one deer Jeffrey. Like the Toys R Us giraffe. Know what? Fuck off, Jeffrey! Don't come near my crabs. Piece of crap.

Trident maple cutting -

Yep, this is a cutting. Poor lil shit of a cutting. Hanging in there, getting a bit stronger. Continue to feed and water it, full sun. I think Aaron pissed on it over the winter; it seems full of piss and vinegar.

Acer palamatum 'fuck you' -

I'm calling this guy a Fuck You! Maple. Nobody invited this sour puss to the dance. Doesn't want to be at the dance. Yet it shows up, in all its skinny ass glory. GIVE A FUUU....

Horse traded items-

As a group, they could a soil change. They're okay for now. I'll change the soil late winter or early spring.

Spruce -

Not sure what to do with this guy. I've never worked with Spruce before. He's got branches going in all sorts of direction. The trunk is decent size. I haven't dug down to see if there's good nebari. For now, just leave it be. I'll give it more thought later. Later later. Heavy feeding, full sun.

Maples -

Stick figure Japanese maple and twin trident maples. Description says it all: they're matchsticks. Nothing impressive there. I'll wire them up once I repot them over the winter to give them some movement. I will keep the pruning to a minimum, focusing on getting good trunk movement and thickening of the trunk. Accomplished by heavy feeding, full sun.

Chinese elm -

Same as the stick figures. Skinny, lanky, not very impressive. Heavy feeding, full sun. Will start the clip and grow method once it gets some more girth.

I continue to make pottery! -

Okay, not that much. I could be making a bit more. Instead, I make excuses: too tired to do clay, inspiration is hard, too busy, etc. You either get results or make excuses. Can't do both! Despite myself, this week I made a few plain round pots and a couple of small skull pots. A bit of a departure from my normal 'tentacles and spikes' kind of thing. Bernadette thought my plain round pots were too plain. I thanked her for her incidental compliment. I'm not sure if I'll do more of my old 'mogs'. I really should. While I'm at it, I might go back to the ole drawing board (my pen and ink bonsai and pottery log, which holds my deepest, darkest secrets, incantations, spells and favorite cookie recipes, yum!) Don't know if I mentioned it already: kiln was fired up at the studio, which means I had pottery that needed glazing. I don't have a single zoidberg in this batch. The one fish I have has already been claimed by Bernie, pending its survival. I have a bunch of octopots and leggy pots of all shapes and sizes. By 'all shapes and sizes' I mean all are shohin size, all are pinch pot shapes.