Bonsai 101: mallsai, you have to learn to walk before you can run

For those who do not know what mallsai is here is my definition: This is a potted plant, most often woody that has an asian aesthetic that is sold at big box stores or on the side of highways and is labeled as bonsai.

Wow, now that I got that off my chest I feel much better. Thanks for coming folks.

I can’t fool you guys. You came here for some controversy. Well, most of you.

I do not understand why practitioners of the art of bonsai turn their noses at theses trees? Even the word MALLSAI is  used as an unflattering name. So my defense of these bonsai (yes, I dare call them bonsai) is two pronged.

First, the bare roots if you will. The foundations of what a bonsai is. The two things that all bonsai have in common. That is that you get a tree and you put it in a pot. BAM! There You have it.  You might use a piece of slate, plastic pot, a carved rock, it’s all good. Then you stick a plant  in it.

We can all agree that monocot plants are excluded from bonsai. Also, that a potted plant needs to have the appearance of a trunk. Can we all agree that these things are a common denominator in all bonsai across the world? Yes, I am making some big statements here. As I am a nobody in the world of bonsai I have nothing to lose by speaking truth to power and getting all you woke on bonsai or whatever it is people say nowadays.   

I am bringing kanji into the mix. In Japanese this is how you write bonsai:盆栽. It is made of two characters. The first is 盆. That character means tray. I Know because google translate told me so. Google translate also says that 栽 means cultivation. There you have it a tray for cultivation. OK, when you use 栽 as a noun it means plant. So, it means plant in a tray.

Not to make this anymore boring bonsai aesthetics have changed continuously since the time that japan brought penjing from China. Guess what? Bonsai is a living art so it will continue to change. The fact that there is disagreements on aesthetics in the bonsai world is proof of this.

Part two. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Just like lobster, salmon, beef tongue (wait, i am making a point here) these were poor people's food at one point in American history. Now, these babies are expensive delicacies. Why did I bring these things up? Because its proof of changing tastes.

How many of us were introduced to bonsai because of a roadside precombens nana juniper? I am waving my hand in the air. What if that is your comfort level as far as time and money investment? Do those things a bonsai define?

Maybe, just maybe our view on mallsai says something about who we are. Stop, before you scroll down to start trolling let me say this. If you have looked at the eveidence and are satisfied that mallsai are not bonsai. That is ok. I can accept that. However, this is subjective and we have to respect those who enjoy a tiny juniper in a mass produced Chinese ceramic pot with soil that does not drain well and will probably kill it in a month. Or would you rather they killed an 80 year old Japanese black pine because they had no experience keeping bonsai? Cheers.

Garden apple tree to bonsai, almost

My father wanted me to get rid of an apple tree. The tree was about 10 years old. It was probably planted by a passing bird. The problem is that it was growing next to the wall. so, before things got out of control we had to get rid of it and in the process, I would collect a new tree to turn into a bonsai.

I cleaned the trunk a bit. it was a multi-trunk tree. the smaller trunks were cut back but not removed completely.

Surprisingly (or maybe because there was a concrete slab under half of the roots) there was plenty of fine roots and only a couple of very thick roots. This was the bigger of the roots. The saw cut right through. The tree did not release though.    

The tree had a massive taproot holding it down. the angle was awkward but once the dirt was removed from one side all the way through it was easier to cut through.

I took a saw to the taproot again because it was still very big. I had built this box out of broken down pallets. I covered the roots in compost and watered. Ill prune off the extra bits sticking out but I am pretty much done.

This is my second time prying a tree from its comfortable home. Hopefully, this one survives.In any case, I have a peach tree to remove next weekend. Wish me luck. Cheers.

Growing ficus religiosa and benghalensis from seed in cooler climates

I have had much success with growing ficus macrophylla from seed. The weather here in Los Angeles is warm enough to germinate the seeds. The seeds grow even better during one of our many heat waves during the summer (here is the link http://bonsai-misadventures.blogspot.com/2016/03/grow-fig-tree-from-seed-moreton-bay.html).

Los Angeles is many things both good and bad, but it is not hot enough to germinate Ficus religiosa the bodhi tree and Ficus benghalensis the Indian banyan. I have had success  growing each on two different attempts. The first, I put some dirt in a thin plastic ferrero rocher box. It was very shallow and I left it on the window sill when I lived in Pomona. Pomona is 50 miles from the ocean and is much hotter than where I grew up and now currently live, Inglewood. During a very hot heatwave near 100f I noticed that all the f benghalensis seeds had sprouted. It looked like a carpet of microgreens. I was happy and if I had known then that I was not going to germinate that ficus again I would have taken better care of them. I lost them all.

Last year I tried my hand a Ficus religiosa. I used a heat lamp to grow those. It did work. It was not a carpet like the indian banyan, but I took what I can get. My mistake was removing them from the heat too quickly. I lost them all.

So here we are. It's 2018 and I have goals and aspirations. I want to raise a forest of banyans and bodhis.

First things first: SOIL. Oh yes start the controversy.

I am going to grow these seeds in a plastic shoe box. There will be zero drainage.

I started with good ole peat.

I added vermiculite for texture.

Then I added fine volcanic cinder for more texture.

I mixed it all very well. Then I got my shoe box. I chose this to keep humidity high, but I will have to monitor moisture levels. Because there is no drainage I will have to mist.

Here is the box with the soil in it.

These are the seeds.

Here are the seeds on top of the soil.

And here is the first misting.

Los Angeles is to cold for germinating tropical ficus seeds. so I got this:

I bought this heat pad to boost the temp. It was setup in a corner of the kitchen. A Styrofoam sheet was placed underneath to conserve heat.

I pushed it and forced three shoe boxes on the heating pad.

Three days after the setup was completed I was pondering on whether the seeds needed UV to germinate. I went to check the boxes and discovered a lone plant growing. I thought that it might be a weed, though the leaves did look like a ficus (looked like most dicotyleodn sprouts).

Then I noticed it wasn't alone, and that there was a very small one that was just the size of ficus seeds. I was satisfied.

I have been obsessing about Indian Banyan since I started my bonasi journey. I am satisfied with my experiment up to this point. Cheers.