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.

Guerilla gardening...

Collected California coastal live oak in reused water bottle

I believe wholeheartedly that everybody irrelevant of where they live should grow some kind of edible plant some time in their lives. Of course some people absolutely are not able too, but the vast majority can. What does this have to do with bonsai bro? I will tell you. Bonsai is a specialized branch of horticulture. All of the same things that apply to bonsai apply to raising food stuffs. There will be some modifications. Growing bonsai can be more difficult than growing food. Another similarity is guerilla gardening for bonsai and growing vegetables.

Collected Epiphyte

No, this may not be what you may expect. What it is is that sometimes we have to use the things that are at our disposal and not necessarily things we go out and buy. There are different levels of guerilla gardening. I started by collecting seeds. I loved collecting pods and what nots. I would try to grow some. Some would grow, and some would not. Later I would cut jugs open and grow strawberries in them. When I got into bonsai I was able to harvest epiphytic ficus. At my place of employment the gardeners for years have hacked and tried to poison them. They were unwanted, well, not really because I wanted them. I would come to work early, or after work I would cut them out of the trees they were growing out of. I was able to collect some very nice trunks with lots of potential. Sometimes the gardners dumped the pots after they planted some annuals. Yes, I collect those too. When I can't find some pots and I need them i cut open the water bottles that I drink at work. I punch holes with a hot wire.

Collected Wisteria seeds

Discarded Stone pine

Collected Cork oak acorn

I have collected seedlings when I knew they would be mowed. I still collect seeds. I found a California coastal live oak in front of an industrial building. The acorns get crushed by the cars. I try to save as many as possible. I collect wisteria pods in the fall. Where I collect them they get cut off and thrown away.  This last year I collected italian pine trees, aleppo pine trees, and rosemary. They were bought as mini christmas trees. Then after the holidays they were discarded . I thought to myself, what a waste. Some can be made into bonsai now, some will have to wait.

Collected Epiphyte

I am always on the lookout for construction sites. They will always clear a lot before building. Sometimes you can get permission and rescue old bushes. Most will die, but the ones that don't will probably be able to take pruning and root cutting.

Some people don't have an interest in bonsai. They should still grow things. Herbs like rosemary, and parsley are easy and don't need that much space and light. Growing plants gives us a peaceful feeling. Eating plants that we grow gives us satisfaction. Seeds for fruits and vegetables are inexpensive. You can use a two liter bottle of a soft drink to grow herbs. Cut the top off and place on the ground or hang off of a fence or tree.

Collected Kapok seeds

The point is to be creative. To use ingenuity to solve problems. To use the things around you so that you don't have to buy more things. Cheers.