# Bonsai



## frozenoak (Jul 30, 2005)

I am just curious as to what other plants the residence of APC keep. 

I have recently gotten into bonsai trees. It is complete different from aquatic plants. I have two trees (live oak (Quercus virginiana)and weeping willow (Salix babylonica)) that I am training now. I should be able to plant them in the bonsai pots in about 3 years. There in lies the difference, aquatic plants are fast growers and progress can be seen daily (sometimes hourly) and with the bonsai progress if very slow. From nursery to bonsai takes something like 3 to 20 years and then you have a tree that pretty much never grows any larger (ablate it will get shaggy if left unattended for an extended period of time).

Any body else have other plant hobbies?


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

I like collecting cacti and terrestrial plants. I also have one bonsai I am taking care of. Don't know what kind, though. It was given to my folks as a gift from their friend. There are some really good sites on-line that give you great info about bonsai and their history/origin. Here is one I found:

http://www.helpfulgardener.com/japanese/2003/garden.html

The funny thing is I actually became interested once again in cactus and terrestrial scaping after I got into planted tanks. So, right now just applying the scaping concepts I learned to cactus and terrestrial plants scaping. Will post pictures soon


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I keep household plants, mainly violets. I also have a Christmas cactus, Rabbits foot and fern. I use to have a lot more but have cut back, which satisfies my husband.


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## ranmasatome (Aug 5, 2005)

cut back? you really mean trimming the plants right?


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## fishmaster#1 (Apr 10, 2005)

I keep vines and airplants. I also grow some awsome looking glass+rex begonias.
I can't keep a cactus to save my life they always turn to mush.


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

Mush cacti mean they have been watered or fed to much. I have one cactus that I water about once a month. Usually with cactus I hold off on watering till I get a feel on how long it takes them to shrivel about a quarter. That gives me a feel on how far apart waterings should be for that specie and potting. Also winter waterings should be really sparse, as they are not growing and don't have the activity to deal with more water.


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## fishmaster#1 (Apr 10, 2005)

I know mush means to much water. I have just never been able to get it right so I will stick to water plants which I am good at. I turn away hundreds of cactus. I know I will water them too much. I just can't "neglect" a plant like they need. If you or anyone else wants me to pick them up cactus I will give them to you free just pay ship when I get them. LMK I will only pick some up next time they are offered if someone wants them. 

snakeice- on a side note the anubius you sent me is growing like a weed. The limpets disappered however I am not sure why. :-s Tank conditions are perfect. The brown neo shrimp in the tank are breeding like rabbits. Maybe the shrimp ate them  
The things were cool looking on the glass while I had them. Oh and one more side note shrimp eat scuds. I had a ton in a small tank(different) then put in shrimp in 2 weeks the scuds were all gone  I never really liked the scuds anyway. They ate too many plants because there was no algae left for them.


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

fishmaster#1 said:


> I know mush means to much water. I have just never been able to get it right so I will stick to water plants which I am good at. I turn away hundreds of cactus. I know I will water them too much. I just can't "neglect" a plant like they need. If you or anyone else wants me to pick them up cactus I will give them to you free just pay ship when I get them. LMK I will only pick some up next time they are offered if someone wants them.
> 
> snakeice- on a side note the anubius you sent me is growing like a weed. The limpets disappered however I am not sure why. :-s Tank conditions are perfect. The brown neo shrimp in the tank are breeding like rabbits. Maybe the shrimp ate them
> .


My limpet population has dropped off. I have even less of anything that would eat them, no visible fawna other than moluscs. My guess is that the conditions where I imported them from included decaying plants due to lack of light. My young tank had blooms of the film they eat well and I had a hearty population. They are interesting, but to small to feed very well.

Do you know what kinds of cactus you have been offered?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

ranmasatome said:


> cut back? you really mean trimming the plants right?


That's right  ... Not! :lol:


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## fishmaster#1 (Apr 10, 2005)

All I know is they have thorns.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Don't know if this will help. But I don't even water my cacti. Instead, I spray them with the fert mix I use for my aquatic plants for about once a day. Nothing much; just light sprinkle. Wet enough to keep the surface moist, but not too much to cause the roots to swell. Some of my specimens include Lithops, Echinopsis, and some type of barrel cactus. The last two are some sort of grafted pieces which lack chlorophylls in themselves, hence the need of the bottom graft to supply them with the nutrient. These are very common, but maybe to many people are a bit tough to keep. For me, at least that has always been the case. But this time they seem to be doing very well; even flowered few weeks ago. These can't be placed directly under the sun or the top part will get scorched. The Lithops, on the other hand, require more sun and less water(which I did not know). I also found applying the aquascaping concept to these plants(and bonsai) is a nice challenge~ 

Maybe I will post some picture. Or if any of you have actually done it, please post your work of art


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## jimjim (Jan 25, 2004)

Hi All; I've been keeping Bonsai for years along with a few Cacti. Both are easy to water depending on where they come from. Most cacti (dry land types) just spray like Paul said. They are built to channel water straight to their roots. Epiphyte cacti should be kept moist ( Christmas, Easter, Etc). Bonsai should only be watered depending on whether they're indoor or outdoor types. More indoor Bonsai are killed by overwatering that for any other reason. I usually just spray them like the cactus...Jim


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

fishmaster#1 said:


> All I know is they have thorns.


 :biggrin: :lol:

just shows we are all smart about something


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