More mame videos please, many people don't realise that it is just the same process as the large ones. I am very much going smaller as I've had more time over summer. Keep 'em coming.
Thanks! It's gonna be tough to go smaller. But, I had a lot of fun watching a former San Francisco club member fit things into smaller containers than this one.
Oh my goodness, that last cascade is absolutely adorable! What an amazing transformation, thank you so much for sharing it. I have two small privets that I have in mind to develop into Mame, I'm very excited about exploring this even smaller world :) xx
Thanks Stephen - Actually, I was just thinking of some oak videos. Will work on it. (although the east coast oaks are different than the ones I've worked with.)
@@Bonsaify Im in N.C zone 7b and am working on a Suber and Agrifolia. This is my first year with these Oaks and hope everything goes well through the colder months.
Ha, well I do have both of those species. And we're gonna have a few suber starters for sale in spring I believe. Just about to do some transplanting of the suber seedlings. Agrifolia grows natively at my growing grounds and there was a bumper crop of acorns this year, which the birds and squirrels proceeded to plant in every container meticulously. I wish I could get the crows to wire the trees when they sprout.
thanks for this video and others. this particular video interests me because of the size of the Bonsai. At my clubs' recent exhibition, I particiated as a novice with several young and small Bonsai. I was convinced to take part by the club president. I competed with other novices for best of the fresh(men)." Size does not matter" was what my wife had told me years ago. And I believed her. However, the biggest and oldest were selected by members and the public attendees. Several were repeat winners. These results will effect my entries in the future but not my enthusiasm for growing small, medium and large Bonsai. Thanks again. For Pete's sake.
The last tree is precious. I didn’t think that I would be able to keep mame until I saw someone grow them in their tiny pots in a larger tray of pumice in the summer. That has worked perfectly!
Aussie Dave here, wow so delicate work 😄. But I'm 60 years old and my eyes aren't good enough to play with something that small....hahaha enjoyed the video. 👍
These smallies looks to be Shito size rather than Mame, What a fabulous tree it's going to make!!👍😎 I have a few really small pots but daren't use them as I feel sure they will dry too quickly and perish!!☺ - Keep up the great work!!
Me parecen maravillosos tus "pequeñitos" yo soy aficionado a los mames, me generan mas satisfacción incluso que los bonsáis grandes. Así que comprendo tu trabajo y la dificultad. Vivo en un clima con escasez de agua y calor , ¿Cómo solventas tu el problema de riego ? Los pequeñitos se quedan antes sin agua. Muchas Gracias
Beautiful! You've inspired me to start working with cotoneaster bonsai. Do you do heavy pruning work like this late in the year often? I see you posted this in November, and I'm contemplating doing some hard pruning on some nursery stock I picked up just now. 😁
Interesting question - I think you could do pruning pretty much any time. You'll get a faster response in mid-spring through summer, but I think now would be fine.
I love mame bonsai. My only concern is when shrinking, you initially have a lot of root in a small pot. Would this mean you have to unpot it more frequently to reduce the roots before it becomes root bound?
Yes, they need to be repotted at least once every couple years. We'll actually be doing some of the ones shown in this video this coming winter and I'll make a video about it.
I love mame/shito bonsai in the philippines in use premna material for bonsai its easy grow... but here in california i use jade for a new starter i cannot see premna plant here in the plant store. Right now im growing jade plant for mame bonsai i hope it will grow.. im a new viewer and i already sub to your chanel.. im looking right now to your post to look and learn some techinks how to grow good mame here in california..
Any tips on growing thicker trunks on contoneaster specifically or are they just the same as any other tree? I have a ton of cuttings currently that need to ticken up as fast as possible.
Honestly, they're slow. Slower than pine, maybe more like juniper. But the key to more girth on any plant is to put it in a larger container and let it grow wild. then cut off all the large branches and make tiny ones. That's bonsai in a nutshell.
Hi There - these are all grown outdoors, or in a greenhouse as young plants. But, I think you could try this species indoors, just keep an eye out for aphids, scale and mealy bugs since there are fewer natural predators indoors.
Contoneaster roots great in water. did a lot of smaller cuttings this year and atleast 80% of them survived. Just be sure to change the water every couple of days (4-5). But I've also heard just sticking them in a pot with any soil works great as well. They are pretty easy to root.
The ants are normally just the farmers, so I go after the crop instead. In this case there are a few scale. The big black scale are easy to get rid of, but the tiny ones are harder. Soap slows them down.
I have tried 4 times to grow those tiny cotoneasters. died died died died. Do they need a lot of sun? You make it look so easy. Also can they stay out in NY winter?
Lots of sun, they don't like to dry out either. They will go deciduous when it's colder, which is fine, they pop back out and flower more reliably. But I'm not a cold expert. I suggest you buy a plant, then start by propagating from it - you'll learn a lot more if you have 20 of them. They are very easy to root - they even root themselves where branches contact the soil.
With these guys, you can take the fines you would normally discard from regular bonsai soil, or just akadama. I think in the video I'm using shohin size aoki mix. But sifting the coarse-sand-size particles from the fines of akadama is a good mame soil.
Kishu Chinese Juniper, Cotoneaster microphyllus, 'Seiju' Chinese elm, Premna species, some olive varieties, miniature Japanese maple cultivars. Dwarf Quince (chojubai)...or anything else you can get tiny leave on !
for growing out 80%perlite and 20% coco (by volume, so 4 scoops to 1 scoop) and then for tiny containers I use a 60% akadama mix that is premixed from Japan (Aoki.)
As often as they need it! Lol. But, depending on your conditions, you should have a tray under them for sure and possibly 40% shade cloth above/around them to mitigate heat and evaporation during the summer. If you live in a hot/dry climate it's gonna be tough. One of my customers said it's like the "Extreme sports" version of bonsai in his climate.
Thank you.... A laugh for you.... I hate ants, they hate me.... I am watching the video(on my phone) and ants are calling on my hand,,,, not really, but I shook my hand and looked,,,, I was really into the video.... What happened to the berry?....
Hi Brian - we will be doing a release of Cotoneasters for sale next month! Some of the trees in the video will be for sale. It's interesting - here in SF, they don't grow outdoors during winter, but they also don't drop leaves, the leaves get a bit discolored and hang on, then green up again in spring. In our greenhouse, they grow like crazy straight through winter though!
