Twin Start

NightShade

Well here we go... I just started in the bonsai art and have come across many interesting things within the past couple days... I was going to start with seedlings but my wife bought me a couple saplings from a big name hardware store yesterday...
Now I was just reading all the information about mallsai's and am quite worried now... don't want to kill them due to the fact that they are the typical mallsai as to what is explained in the "Beware the Mallsai" section or what is depicted in this image.
[img:85032cb90d]http://www.treebay.emerchantpro.com/vendorimages/treebay//photos/mallsai/P7231300_mallsai.jpg[/img:85032cb90d]

Now I know I am going to have to go home and chip off the glued rock from the surface but what I am conserned with is the growth spurt... at this point they are about 2-3 inches tall, which I would seriously like to have them grow a couple more inches before doing any pruning... I know I can probably repot it at this time of year with little reprocusions and more then likely I should be doing it anyway to get an idea of the root structure but my problem is pot size... I live in an apartment so placing them in a garden is not an option... but I want to enduce the growth as much as possible so that I might have a chance at pruning next year... any Ideas...

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Carl_Bergstrom

Nightshade,

Do you have somewhere outside that the trees can live? If so, I'd just plant them, with minimal disturbance of the roots, in well-draining soil in a relatively large shallow pot. Place them outside, and let them go to town!

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In love with trees

NightShade

See that is just the thing... I have a patio/deck but it is small and on the third floor... the winds are usualy worse then down below and due to my local I am not sure if the conditions are acceptable for the juniper to grow...
I live in Edmonton Alberta, Canada where summers get to no higher then 30 degree C but avearage around 15-20 Celcius and winters are the flip side with an average of -20 to -25 C... Is it safe for the juniper to be outside during such weather...this year has been alittle colder then most in terms of summer weather... they are still talking about about snow 3 hr drive south from here and average temp so far has not reached over 11C... this is why I am curious if it is still perissable to grow my two junipers outside...

Carl_Bergstrom

I've never lived anywhere quite so cold, so I should probably defer to others on the wintertime care issue.

For now, though, the trees will be completely fine outside.
Once it starts to get down below freezing, you probably need to figure out something to do - but even then, the best thing is most likely to mulch them and leave them outside, rather than to bring them in. It's just too dry inside, and trees are unlikely to survive there for long, any time of year.

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In love with trees

Earl

Can you build a small windbreak of some kind on the patio? Framing a piece of lattice, for instance. It doesn't need to be solid, just something that would cut the hard cold winds. We get alot of those, too (but certainly not as cold here), and those cold winds don't help a tree any.

As far as winter, you might think about building a small cold frame on the patio, get some heat tape and a thermostat, set the thermostat on 0c and set the pots right on top the heat tape. A friend of mine does this and it has worked very well.

The junipers definitely have to stay outside or at least in an unheated garage or cold frame...

Earl

I might add, as I'm sure you have already read many times on these lists, if you get bored with the litte trees (you really aren't going to be able to do much with them for a while but let them grow) go buy some 1-3 gal junipers. They are cheap and will give you much fun in clipping, wiring, and training.

NightShade

I am actualy going to be moving within the next month here so I am trying to hold off any repotting untill then but hopefully once I have moved I will have alittle room on another apartment deck in which to build a box to place both the junipers in... at that point I will look into making a lattice or a mini-greenhouse for them and also a small heater... but for the time being I am stuck leaving them on my present balcony blocked only by the railing...
I was thinking about getting some bigger tree's in which to do some practice on but I guess I do have alot of time to do so.... there are several things that I have seen in which I would like to do but it all takes time in which I am one of the many with more patence then bill gates has money...