Beginner, basic queries

Hello. I am brand spankin new at bonsai and here at this site. I have 7 or 8 seeds in germination now, waiting for them to sprout, but am considering buying a dwarf juniper locally and experimenting. I post this now for a couple elementary questions, though. 1) I like the Black and White pines and will probably pursue one soon, but how do you keep the needles so small in proportion to the tree? What part of the care of bonsai produces this result? 2) in regards to the seedlings...when should i start fertilizing 'em? 3) This may be a dumb question, but...how do you keep the tree from growing taller?! I mean, won't it continually grow? I would like to keep mine mostly pretty small - 6 inches to a foot tall. Any ideas gang? Thanks for helpin along a beginner, I sincerely appreciate it.

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ripsgreentree

Aron: none of your questions are dumb. They do however encompass about 20 years of study and techniques. I would suggest that you pursue some books as well as plants. A good start is the sunset bonsai book which can be found at any hardware store or home store in the how too book section. This will give you a very good Idea of where to start.

I personally start seeds every year and have done so for fifteen years, so I have material to work on. Your seedlings will not need to be fed until they push out their second growth; then feed. Reducing the size of pine needles and candles is a 12-month operation with some aspect of the technique being preformed every month.

A tree that is in a small pot will survive and age, but will not really put on any growth...i.e., trunk size, so grow your tree to the size that you want before you pot it into a bonsai container.

Welcome to the art of Bonsai.........ripsgreentree

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ripsgreentree

It requires an open hand to give and to recieve.

Thank you very much for the info. Could you elaborate on the process of keeping the needles small? Thanks!

That is a topic worthy of pages. Plus pines are generally considered to require the skill of an experienced grower to achieve realistic effect. I'm not saying not to try growing them. But I definately wouldn't buy an old nice one to learn on. Better plants for newbies are ficus, juniper, maples, bouganveillia, chinese elm, zelkovas.

I'm no pro, but I know this much.

Sorry, the point I was trying to get at about pine needle ramification was to buy a book or check on out of the library on the subject. You will need it for reference several times thoughout the year, so buying is best if you are serious and have a few dollars to spare. Also, I know the libraries in my area have videos to check out on learning bonsai. They speak volumes that books cannot in a much shorter time.