Mallsai Vs. Real Bonsai

BadAssSniper

I'm new to this and I whant to know how to know the defferent between mallsai and a real Bonsai? pplease help.

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BadAssSniper

In case you don't know what is mallsai here is a link

http://wiki.bonsaitalk.com/index.php/Beware_the_mallsai

Vance Wood

Technically there is little difference, both are trees in pots that are portrayed as miniature or dwarf trees. However; the ubiquitous mallsai is a commercial endeavour that, for the most part, forces small shrubs, trees or woody plants into pots, that look like the kind of thing a bonsai would be planted in, for the soul purpose of retail commerce. Little concern is taken for style, form, shape or even survival with these concoctions. That basically is what a mallsai is. It can be said that these trees are a rip-off and most of them will not survive the first year.

A real bonsai is a bit more difficult to define. There are so many people growing bonsai, and many of them are just starting out and have no idea what they are doing. The trees they may produce at this point may very well look like the mallsai. So putting a parameter of style and shape to draw the line between the two is somewhat difficult. Are these trees real bonsai? That in itself is a cause for debate, but yes they are, they may not be real good ones but they are bonsai.

I guess a good short answer would be to define a mallsai as those commercially produced little trees that are sold in department stores as bonsai trees. The buyer is generally told the tree can be grown indoors like a house plant, a sure formula for failure.

Those trees grown, cared for, and artistically developed for a number of years by the same person or group of persons for the sake of an artistic expression of how a tree should look are true bonsai. They are not necessarily grown for resale, though that may happen at one point or another, they are grown with a particular design in mind. They are cared for and developed over the years with that one goal in mind. A mallsai is grown for one reason; the quickest way to turn a profit.

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The only finished bonsai is a dead one; me 1992 MABA Des Moines Iowa

Mcspeed

Excellant reply Vance.

BrianBay9

I agree with everything Vance said, with one minor modification. Trees with little artistic work, in cheap pots (mallsai), may be enough to get someone started in bonsai, IF:

1. They are alive when sold.
2. The buyer is given instructions that can keep them alive.
3. They are not sold as something they are not (they are not great bonsai)
4. They are cheap enough to indeed be disposable if (when) the first time buyer kills them, or gives them as a gift to someone who kills them.

"Mallsai" are bad when they are misrepresented.

Brian

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There's a difference between taking your art seriously, and taking yourself too seriously.