Newbie - please help

hi guys, i'm new into bonsai. i got myself 2 plants, a juniper and a Molave.

Juniper
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/578940_10151166556297695_1491213020_n.jpg" alt="" />

Molave


Molave (top left part)


can you gimme some tips how and where to cut and other stuff?
i want to focus on my molave first.


juniper is still young though, and i just transferred it to a bigger pot..

Welcome to the forum. We have several members from your own area and climate zone and I'm sure they'd be happy to give you the advice.

T T T

Vitex parviflora is a species of plant in the Verbenaceae family, known mostly as Molave Tree. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It is threatened by habitat loss.
From Wikipedia.
Iris

Hi Again,
First do you have a nickname that we can use? I hate typing long name----including my real name.

First the juniper: To be honest, don't bother wasting your time and effort on it, Creeping juniper is one of the most hated material for bonsai among Filipino bonsaists...the one you got will not be going anywhere.

Concentrate on the molave "Vitex", you can do branch selection at this stage of your tree to focus the energy of growth on them.

regards,
jun

First the juniper: To be honest, don't bother wasting your time and effort on it, Creeping juniper is one of the most hated material for bonsai among Filipino bonsaists...the one you got will not be going anywhere.


regards,
jun

Sir Jun,

May I know the reason for this. Someone is also selling this kind of tree to me, Good thing I still keep my money. hehe..

Thanks,
Kelly

Iris: i..thanks for the info.. guess i'll have to really take good care of my molave material..hehe

jun: thank you also. hehe can you gimme a virtual of what can i focus in (branches)?. .

BTW, y'all can call me steven

-steven

OMG!!! I repotted my Molave and did some grooming, and pruning, and i somehow wounded some part of it!! is that a bad thing??? I dont know if how i pruned it will make it look nice.. (

somebody please help me?? I really want my bonsai to look nice.. I dont want to just play with it, i want to make it look nice and grow old with me.. (

depiques2ry wrote:OMG!!! I repotted my Molave and did some grooming, and pruning, and i somehow wounded some part of it!! is that a bad thing??? I dont know if how i pruned it will make it look nice..

How did you wound it exactly? Trees are living things and often sustain damage in nature(loss of limb, damage to trunks, etc.), and are equipped to heal themselves given time and care. Part of the appeal of bonsai is the fact that the trees can go through hell and back(or at least look like it), and still survive. As I understand it, the idea is to create a miniature tree that has the image of a tree that has been beaten and battered by nature for a long duration, and lost limbs and trunk damage are pretty typical of the look of a weather worn tree.

As a fellow beginner, the only advice I can offer aside from that is to not get into a rush. You have plenty of time to decide what to do with your trees, so take it slow. Build up a picture of what you want, and maybe let it grow for a while while you decide. As beginners it's tempting to rush in and work on the trees without really knowing what we're doing, which often leads to damage, so if it's a tree you want to keep for the long run, take it slow, maybe pick up a few more trees that are lower quality to practice your pruning on. That way you don't accidentally kill a tree you like(as I learned the hard way).
In the end though, you will likely damage or kill a few plants as part of the learning process. As Thomas Edison(inventor of the light bulb) said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Hope this helped in some small way.

uhm, there are scratches on young branches as i tried to cut some of it's "i dont need" branches.. would that be a problem??

Assuming they're not deep, I would bet they'll heal over and flesh out much the same as if you were to leave wire on too long. I'm a beginner too, so I may be wrong, but from what I've seen over the years with local trees with chains, power lines, and all sorts of odd things stuck in them, I don't think I'm too far off.

Here's how it looked like when i bought it from a nursery.. ..





I left 3 branches and i just dont know how to wire it and where they should go..
can someone please help me , or gimme a virtual of how can I work it out?any suggestions? anything would be greatly appreciated..

On the tree above, you need foliage closer to the trunks. You would do this by cutting back hard, to the first bud, and growing out.

So does that mean am gonna have to get rid of all the branches i left?like cut them all off?

Sorry, but im really new to all these..

depiques2ry wrote:So does that mean am gonna have to get rid of all the branches i left?like cut them all off?

Sorry, but im really new to all these..

Yes

aiht.. thanks bill..

weessel wrote:


Sir Jun,

May I know the reason for this. Someone is also selling this kind of tree to me, Good thing I still keep my money. hehe..

Thanks,
Kelly

thickining is very slow, hard to keep as bonsai, Doesn't back bud easily, Difficult to style....and lastly leaves are annoyingly itchy.
Unless you saw something like 3" diameter trunk, Don't bother buying it, there are countless better local materials than this species.


regards,
jun

Steven,
if I provide you with sketches at this point/stage of your "bonsai career", you'll get more confused.

There are I believe some stages that we must learn first before we proceed with styling stage, keep this tree alive first, then we'll deal with the design later.

You cut it perfectly, don't worry.

Some pointers that every starters must learn:
Horticulture of bonsai- Keeping the tree alive and healthy, fertilizer, soil, watering, Sun and shade, etc...
Branching techniques/ Basic "rules" first before the out of the box style...hehehe, Branch selection too comes to play too.
Wiring techniques- Sizes of wires and where and when to apply it, Different species has different reactions to wiring,
And many more...

Take your time and don't rush things and have fun, attend local shows and demos.


regards,
jun

jun wrote:

weessel wrote:


Sir Jun,

May I know the reason for this. Someone is also selling this kind of tree to me, Good thing I still keep my money. hehe..

Thanks,
Kelly

thickining is very slowly, hard to keep as bonsai, Doesn't back bud easily, Difficult to style....and most lastly leaves are annoyingly itchy.
Unless you saw something like 3" diameter trunk, Don't bother buying it, there are countless better local materials than this species.


regards,
jun

Big help Sir.

Thank you,
Kelly