I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.

Platyrrhini

Howdy folks, long time lurker, first time poster.

To the point. Next semester I am planning on having a plant of some kind in my dorm room. Until today I figured I would buy something that looked nice, water it every day, and just hope that it survives.

Then I saw a picture of a bonsai tree and my world was flipped upside down. Go google bonsai trees and look at some pictures. Look at those boss little trees. I need one. The problem is that I don't really know where to start. I looked on amazon and there are some starter kits and pre-grown trees with pretty good reviews, so obtaining one won't be a problem. I just don't really know how to care for it aside from watering it whenever it looks like it needs it.

Do I need to do more than just water it occasionally?
Will I need to do a bunch of pruning, and if so what tools should I use?
How long will my boss little tree survive, provided that I care for it properly?

Raekreu

Platyrrhini wrote: »

1.Do I need to do more than just water it occasionally?
2.Will I need to do a bunch of pruning, and if so what tools should I use?
3.How long will my boss little tree survive, provided that I care for it properly?

1. Yes, depending on the type of tree that it is. Hardwood trees are a lot more intensive when it comes to maintenance. They do not do well if kept indoors/away from natural light. To keep the tree small, you have to basically unpot it once a year and *carefully* prune the roots before repotting it with new soil. It's ridiculously easy to kill your bonsai during this process. All bonsai are also at increased risk for developing problems with pests and fungi, either of which are basically a death sentence. Keeping the tree small means keeping it weak until it is 'established', something that can take several years to achieve.

2. Not necessarily a bunch, but it does need to be done from time to time. The plant will put out shoots with new leaves on them and those have to be pruned to prevent it from growing. How often you need to actually pare them back varies from plant to plant.

3. If you're lucky, a bonsai can live for the rest of your life and be passed on to your kids. Realistically, 5-10 years is very long-lived and 1-3 years is a realistic bet.

My recommendation, if you really want to try for a bonsai, is to start with something that is both cheap and hardy. Dwarf Juniper is a good choice - it's a very common ground covering shrub that is easy to maintain - difficult to kill via over/under watering, somewhat tolerant to low light/non-natural light settings, and tolerates heavy-handed pruning quite well.

Usagi

Dwarf juniper, or any other conifer or real tree type bonsai, are not indoor plants and require the changing temperatures and light conditions of outdoor life to survive and thrive. It's a mistaken assumption that you can just prune a small tree and suddenly have a mini black pine, birch, aspen or juniper hanging out on your desk. In serious bonsai gardens, there will be a covered outdoor porch where these types of plants are kept, and they'll only periodically be brought inside for display and even then for only a day or two.

Indoor bonsai are mostly tropical plants - ficus, australian brush cherry, jade, palm, hawaiian umbrella, money trees and even bamboo are all appropriate and will thrive indoors. I would recommend a variety of ficus for your first bonsai as they're ridiculously hard to kill, but don't buy one from your grocery store or a hardware store, find a good place online and buy it mail order or from a local nursery that knows what they're doing. How can you tell: if the rock mulch layer is glued down, it's shit. Depending on what size you want, it will probably run you from $25 - $100 for the plant and container.

ceres

I just want to say that this is an awesome hobby that will probably take you some practice, and you probably will kill one or two in the learning process, but if you have an interest you should definitely go for it.

MuddBudd

You want to see some that will blow your mind, get this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Bonsai-Harry-Tomlinson/dp/1558591184

Platyrrhini

Lots of useful information so far. Thanks guys.

I shopped around a bit more and found this:

http://www.amazon.com/Brussels-Golden-Gate-Ficus-Bonsai/dp/B0000DGF9T/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1306271787&sr=8-3

Does this look like a good choice, both in regards to plant species and source?

Iruka

You aren't in the dorms are you? I only ask because ours would toss any plants left over long breaks (winter break) Which means you need to travel with your tree, or find a tree-sitter. If you are in an apartment and don't leave a bunch, nevermind!

My uncle has a tree and I think its pretty amazing, good luck with it.

LavaKnight

A peace lily is a pretty great plant to love and care for. It starts to droop every couple of days when you need to water it, and therefore is pretty hard to kill.

Gaslight

This is a hobby that has been on my "It sure would be cool to..." list for a long time, probably even before I saw Jet trimming his little trees in various episodes of Cowboy Bebop. I'm intrigued to learn this thread I could take a stab at it for $100 or less. This is now much more likely to be something I actually try sometime. Thanks, H&A forum!

As a side note related to the thread title, I'd just like to say that The Lorax was possibly my favorite Dr. Seuss story when I was a little kid, except that I'm pretty sure I missed the point because the part I thought was way cool was all the tree-chopping machinery and vehicles.

As a second side note, I would like to call to mind for anyone who may recall, the classic Bonsai Kitten internet hoax. That is all.