Ikea training bonsai pots, how to

I am always looking to improve on what i use for my bonsai. I use a lot of plastic pots for growing my bonsai. However, when my trees start to develop but are not yet ready for a bonsai pot I like to use terracotta pots. They are heavy, they lose more water than plastic pots, and I like the way they look. The problem is that I could only find tall ceramic pots when what I needed was low wide ones.

My wife dragged me to Ikea one day. I hate going there. I feel like a lab rat running through a maze. At Ikea you start at the top floor. You walk around what seems like a maze picking up items as you go. To be honest my favorite level is the bottom one. It's not my favorite because it's the end, or because they sell food there. It's my favorite because it has all the gardening stuff.

So, one day my wife drags me down to Ikea. I am bored beyond belief. Finally, I see that we are about to go to the register. I spot orange in the distance in between the indoor palm fronds. I go there and notice a pot with a tray. The best part is it is only 3.00 U.S. I leave the pot and take the tray. The cashier tells me that I have to buy both. O.K., whatever. Ill jump what ever hoop I need to buy the tray.

The one negative is that it is a drainage tray so it had no hole. Well, that's easily taken care of.

For this demonstration my beautiful daughter will be assisting me.

As you can see the problem is that there is no drainage hole.

A masonry bit will do the trick. When you make a small hole you can see through turn it around and finish the job.

There you have it. One hole in one pot. Now you can grow and develop a bonsai tree in it.

All done

The pots come in three sizes. The one that we used as an example is the smallest one. I do use the bigger original pot. I grow seeds in them. I hope this helps further the art of bonsai in some small way. Cheers.

Where every body knows your name, I joined a bonsai club

I went to my first meeting this past friday. I joined a bonsai club. I have been reluctant to join a club because I did not want to dedicate too much time to it. I think we can all relate to this especially if you have a family. Families and bonsai are similar in that you have to dedicate time to nurture them, you have to make sure they are growing healthy, and occasionally lop off some unneeded branches. This particular club meets once a month which is great for me.

My daughter holding a micro bonsai pot

First, I would like to say that I had an amazing time at the meeting. The people were friendly. The orator was an expert in his field. I believe the format was somewhat different for their usual meetings.  The speaker was Michael Ryan. This was Michael Ryan’s first of a three part seminar on bonsai holders. Mr. Ryan talked about the early history of bonsai pots. An interesting point he mentioned was how Tokoname in itself is not valuable. What makes a tokoname valuable is who made the pot. I have found this to be true. I have sold various tokoname pots and the price they bring vary dramatically. What I liked the most about Mr. Ryan’s presentation was his explanation about the cities in Japan where pottery is made, and the styles that come from those respective cities. Over all Mr. Ryan was friendly and charismatic. He has expert knowledge in his chosen field. I was not able to attend the other lecture but hope to if he returns to L.A.

As for the club in general I would say that there is a very friendly feeling. I talked to a few people and they were very nice and accommodating. There was about about 40 persons as varied in backgrounds as is possible in Los Angeles.

I am not sure what to expect from future meetings. I am sure it will be interesting though. Sharing ideas and learning from others is always a good thing. I took my thirteen year old daughter. Although the lecture was two hours she enjoyed most of it. Her favorite parts was the raffle. She was able to take some things home with her. Cheers.

Michael Ryan's website: https://japanesebonsaipots.net/ He is more than willing to ID Marks, chops, and hankos.