Thread: Bonsai. Split from 'Question about camellia oil'

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

IIRC all plant oils become sticky/gummy, but the Tsubaki oil seems to only do so on blades. I only ever used it on bonsai pots because I use a different oil for my razors. Perhaps because the bonsai pots are exposed to the elements, the oil reacts in a different way, I'm not sure.

Another bonsai practitioner. Its nice to know there are a few of us about.I have been working with bonsai for about 12 years.Although my collection has dwindled down to only a few trees at the present.Most are in the ground.

Originally Posted by zenshaver

Another bonsai man. Its nice to know there are a few of us about.I have been working with bonsai for about 10 years.Although my collection has dwindled down to only a few trees at the present.Most are in the ground at the moment.

Why are they in the ground?

The wife,(there so dirty and have bugs) and I can take care of them eaiser for now.I took an amur maple out of the ground this spring and am trying to work on that(slowly). Plus I have a black bamboo and buddah belly bamboo in pots. One as bonsai(black bamboo) and other in regular soil in a pot.

Originally Posted by zenshaver

The wife,(there so dirty and have bugs) and I can take care of them eaiser for now.I took an amur maple out of the ground this spring and am trying to work on that(slowly). Plus I have a black bamboo and buddah belly bamboo in pots. One as bonsai(black bamboo) and other in regular soil in a pot.

Maples are very temperamental and it is so easy to devalue them. Pure camellia oil is used on non glazed pots when exhibiting. Because it is in pure form, with no additives and so on, it will not cause harm to the plants.

Yes, I have read in books how oil(cammellia or whichever) is used to shine up the pot to give it a more presentable finish. I have tried it myself and it definitely works. I don't remember what I used at the time. I know it wasn't camellia oil though.It might have been cooking oil of some kind.

On the subject of maples I have found that amur maples seem to be the most hardy for my area(Connecticut). Tridents can work if you take good care of them in the winter.I have one trident (in the ground) that is coming along nicely. It has a 3 inch trunk and is being trained to be a double trunk tree. I also, have a corral bark and cork bark japanese maple in the gound but they are being grown as full size trees. I suppose later if I wanted to I could cut them back and start shaping them again.I have found this to be a very relaxing hobby and it has taught me an awful lot about trees and how to grow them. I have had to put this hobby on the back burner when I met my wife about 8 years ago.I am slowly getting back into it though.

Has anyone ever worked with a japanes cork bark black pine?I have always wanted to get one but was unsure of how to take care of it. They look simply amazing. The knobby cork bark is very striking.Unfortunately, pines can be one of the hardest bonsai to grow. At least for me. I suppose that shows when you have achieved a level of expertise with bonsai when you can take care of one of these.

you guys need to add some pictures!

i wish i had a picture of this tree. It has some of the best bark you will ever see. the bark just out at 90 degrees from the turnk in little squares that really make the tree look old.the re is a place in mbellingham mass that sells them on ocassion . next spring I am going to pick one up. I just would ahte to kill it. The winter would be the hard part. So, for the spring.summer, and fall i should be ok.I killed a japanese white pine over the winter. I paid over $300 for it too.

Obviously, bonsai is not a very popular subject.

I have tried it

I had a cork bark elm that had been potted for about 8 years. It never saw a tenth, a couple others that were made from nursery stock got hammered by a hot wind one day and they never came back. I just sorta lost interest