needrain said:Your previous thread comments led me to go to Google Images to look for 'jade bonsai'. They were there and those led me to watch a couple of YouTube videos, though the two I watched were using Portulacaria instead of a jade. What kind of wire do they use for training? Does it have to be taken off and redone regularly? Looks like it would strangle the stem as the plant grows unless the wires are flexible and will expand somehow.
Looking forward to seeing the plants you've done. At least one of the videos cut a huge plant back leaving only about half a dozen leaves. Scraped away a lot of upper roots, too, to expose the upper part of the root system. Unfortunately it didn't show how the plant looked a year or so later after the operation took place.
DaisyI said:Nice job Connor!
Hallow said:I was thinking, of going for a windswept mountain top look. Since I am lazy, I am thinking of putting it in a square pot and laying it on it's side. The branches grow up and went set normal it will look windswept. For now. Going to wait to prune until the stems get large.
Smotzer said:once I get it going I will. I tried a bonsi with the same plant before but ended up putting it a normal pot. But I'll start it again.
Please post a picture of it!! You can likely repot it now and do the pruning in a couple months after it's established
Hallow said: once I get it going I will. I tried a bonsi with the same plant before but ended up putting it a normal pot. But I'll start it again.
This is the one I'll be using
Smotzer said:is if I wanted it to branch lower closer to the pot....
Turbosaurus said: Hhallow, yours looks so happy and dense, good job!
I'm okay with the wire.. I've done the electrical in my house and I make jewelry as a hobby, so I have plenty of feel for wire. . It looks like ~18 guage copper elec wire from Home Depot in the pics, but If you have a Michaels or Joanne store near you, Jewelry wire might do better for beginners. Its much softer so it's easier to move slowly and you can bend it with your fingers. you don't have to worry about breaking the stems if you haven't worked with copper directly if you use a softer metal. You'll need a heavier gauge ( lower numbers are thicker wire/ heavier gauge. High numbers are thin wire, low gauge). I'll probably start to train mine w 14 guage jewelry wire because it's stiff enough but still softer than copper and I have it on hand.