So this post marks my first foray into the world of bonsai. this would be a perfect time to put in a quick disclaimer. I am in no way a bonsai master! This blog aims at showing my journey from an absolute novice with young saplings and some seeds, to somebody who at least knows a little bit about growing little trees.
To kick this off, a little background. I am currently situated in Johannesburg, South Africa and stay in an apartment. So as a result, my trees would experience relatively warm temperatures all year round. Also, I don't have the luxury of big open gardens to keep my trees, at least not yet.
Now that all that boring stuff is out the way, How did this all begin? I started by doing a tonne of research. I started to just learn all I could about these cool little trees. It started more as I wanted decoration for my new apartment. This quickly changed to a real interest in the intricacies of bonsai and the beauty of it all. Anyways, research led me to a great nursery around the corner from where I stay. It looked like it had a little bonsai area with everything I could need to start my newly found hobby.
Off to the Nursery! I took a short drive and arrived at the nursery excited to start my journey. I had done a lot of planning and watched a lot of Youtube videos, I was raring to start. I walked around to the bonsai area and found a whole lot of different plants at varying ages and different set-ups. Some were 4 years old, some were in plastic pots and others in beautiful bonsai pots. I decided that I wanted to start with an indigenous tree that is used to the South African climate. this would allow me the best chance of success. The tree would be suited to warm weather and is not too heavy on the water. So I chose to go for the Black Monkey Thorn Tree (also known as an Acacia Burkei). It came in a little plastic pot and the tree was about a year old. This was perfect as it was not too old and seemed a perfect fit for a beginner tree. It would allow me to watch it grow and mature and also let me shape and design it the way that I wanted. I also invested in a beautiful dark red bonsai pot, some bonsai soil (looked like compost or dirt), bonsai gravel, a tray for under the pot and some wire mesh for the drainage holes. I was concerned that this would cost me an arm and a leg but I managed to get all this for a mere R200 (approx. US$ 13.15). I left the nursery extremely excited to re-pot my new Acacia tree.
I arrived back home, after acquiring a new spray bottle and some chopsticks that I picked up on my way home. I started the repotting process by removing my acacia tree from its original plastic pot and started to carefully remove the old dry dirt using the chopsticks.
After clearing all the dirt, I saw that the tree had grown an od spiral-shaped taproot, this had to be strimmed a small amount before it could fit into the new pot.
I pruned off the lowest parts of the root just to shorten it a bit. I was very hesitant to trim anymore, being the novice I am, and to be honest, I wouldn't be able to handle the disappointment of my first tree dying after its first repotting! So into the new pot my acacia went.
You can see from the picture above that the new pot is significantly bigger than the little black pot the tree initially came in. I attached the wire mesh and added a layer of soil. I then positioned the tree as I wanted it, which was just a little off-center with the roots stretching around the entire pot. I then filled the pot with soil and added a layer of gravel.
At this point, I was extremely satisfied with the work I had done. It was extremely satisfying to see my little piece of art come together.
I placed it on the ledge of my balcony where it could get plenty of sun during the day. I gave it a good water and left it to get some sun. The tree looked a little dry and closed up so I left it overnight to see how it would react to its new environment.
I woke up the next day and to my delight, I saw that the leaves had opened up again and the tree was looking much healthier! As a side note, I learned that the acacia trees' leaves actually fold up at night to conserve water and prevent unnecessary water loss. they will then open up during the day to get as much sun as possible. The more you know right!? Anyways, I decided to trim the topmost branch off the tree as I wanted to start shaping the canopy a little bit already. This was probably me just being too eager, but hey, I was excited!
All in all, I was very happy with my new tree, it looked like it was responding well to the new soil and pot and I really can't wait to watch it grow and mature! I'll keep posting updates showing the progress of my acacia tree and also posting about any new trees I have in my collection. I have ordered a few seeds from overseas which should arrive soon and I look forward to sharing my experiences of growing from seed too.
Comentários