bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - fertilizer and soil for growing out

lopez_jamie,

Alot depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are growing them out in order to thicken the trunk then wiring is not feasible in my opinon since you want maximum growth in the shortest amount of time. The best way to accomplish this is simply by planting them into the ground, feed heavy, and let all the branches grow. I personally plant in the ground ontop of a tile, feed like crazy and cut back once or twice a year simply to control height. If the ground is not an option for you then use the biggest pot you can. Grow boxes work nice as they also cotrol the root spread as they are shallow. Use high nitrogen feed up until fall then switch to a low nitrogen product.

Soil is another thing and every person here will have different advice for you based on their own experiance and local growing conditions. I suggest you read though the soil threads.

However if you are just growing them out to get some branches and foliage growing while your tree becomes use to a pot culture, then by all means start doing some training, branch selection, wiring, etc.

21-Sep-2004	#3
Will_Heath BANNED Join Date: Apr-2004 Location: Clinton Township, MI Country: USA USDA Zone: 6 MI AHS Heat Zone: 4 Posts: 4,227	lopez_jamie, Alot depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are growing them out in order to thicken the trunk then wiring is not feasible in my opinon since you want maximum growth in the shortest amount of time. The best way to accomplish this is simply by planting them into the ground, feed heavy, and let all the branches grow. I personally plant in the ground ontop of a tile, feed like crazy and cut back once or twice a year simply to control height. If the ground is not an option for you then use the biggest pot you can. Grow boxes work nice as they also cotrol the root spread as they are shallow. Use high nitrogen feed up until fall then switch to a low nitrogen product. Soil is another thing and every person here will have different advice for you based on their own experiance and local growing conditions. I suggest you read though the soil threads. However if you are just growing them out to get some branches and foliage growing while your tree becomes use to a pot culture, then by all means start doing some training, branch selection, wiring, etc.