Cryptomeria japonica : Giving it a try

I bought this Cryptomeria japonica [ Japanese cedar ] back in July 2012. I had no real bonsai plans for it and for the last months it was left in it nursery bag and left alone in the garden. Some weeks ago I saw several long roots going out of the bottom of the bag and decided a re-potting was in order. In the end I ended up deciding to give this plant a go at turning it into a bonsai and work on improving its root system.

J'ai acheté ce Cryptomeria japonica [Cèdre du Japon] en Juillet 2012. Je n'avais pas de reals projets pour le convertir en bonsaï et pour les mois qui suivirent, il a été laissé dans son sac de pepiniere et laissé dans le jardin. Il y a quelques semaines, j'ai vu plusieurs racines sortir du fond du sac ce qui m'as forcé a faire un rempotage. A la fin je me suis mis a rechercher comment ameliorer le system radicire pour le convertir en bonsaï.

Monn aste sa Cryptomeria japonica [ Cedar ] la en Zuillet 2012. Mo pas tinn prens li pou fer bonsai are li premier cout. En de semainn parla monne trouv racine pe sorti par enbas so pot. Pendan ki mo ti pe repot pied la, so sistem racinn ti pe paret interessant pou fer li vinn en bonsai. Abe lerla monne decide arranze so racinne pou ki pli tard kapav fer li vinne en bonsai.

 The root system, after cleaning up the soil

 Le système racinaire, après avoir nettoyé la terre

 So sistem racinn kan inn fini netoye so la ter

 There were several taproot that needed to be removed

 Il y avait plusieurs racine pivotante qui devait être retiré

 Ti ena en tas racinn epais ki servi pou tinis pied la dans la terr, sa banne racinn la in bizin tir zot.

 Lateral root and thicker roots that would eventually develop into lateral roots were identified and removed.

 Les racines latérales et racines plus épaisses qui finirait par se transformer en racines latérales ont été identifiés et éliminés.

 Mo finn tir bann pli gro racinn. 

 Finer roots and feeder roots are favored and kept as far as possible close to the trunk. Feeder roots at the end of long lateral roots are reduced to fit into the rootball.

 Racines fines et les racines nourricières sont favorisé et maintenu autant que possible près du tronc. Les racines nourricières à la fin de longues racines latérales sont réduites pour tenir dans la motte. 

 Monn gard bann racinn fin et tipti racinn ki servi pou nourri pied la, ek monn finn assir mwa ki zot pre ek tron pied la. Bann racinn ki tro long finn rakourci.

 The rootball after the inital root pruning. The thick lateral roots are gone, the long lateral root have been reduced, and the mass of finer feeder roots have been kept. There are still 4 lateral roots that I kept because there was lots of feeder roots sprouting from them. Those lateral roots will be reduced at the next repotting. 

 Voici la motte après la taille des racines. Les grosses racines latérales ont disparu, les longues racines latérales ont été réduits, et la masse des racines nourricières fines a été conservé. Il y a encore 4 racines latérales que j'ai gardé car il y avait beaucoup de racines nourricières germination d'eux. Ces racines latérales seront réduits au rempotage suivant.

 Ala leta sistem racinn la apre in fini taille li. Ena enkor enn de gro racinn kin pann koupe akot ena enn ta tipti racinn ki sorti ar zot. Sa bann long racinn la mo ava diminier zot kan pou bizin fer enn lot repot lor li.

 The plant was placed at the center of a training pot, and the roots were disposed in a radial disposition around the trunk.

 La plante a été placée au centre d'un pot de formation, et les racines ont été disposées dans une disposition radiale autour du tronc.

 Inn met pied la au milieu en pot ek inn tall so bann racinn autour pied la koumadir en la rou bicyklet.

 Finally the roots were covered with earth. This will be allowed to recuperate for 12 months or so and allowed to grow freely to thicken up the trunk and grow new ramifications.

 Les racines ont été recouvertes de terre. La plante va récupérer pendant 12 mois au moins et seras permis de se développer librement pour épaissir le tronc et développer de nouvelles ramifications.

 Bann racinn la inn rekouver ek la ter. Mo pou laiss pied la trankil pendan environ enn 12 moi par la, sa ava aide peid la grossi ek fourni nouvo branches.

False bonsai in Mauritius

Im kind of disgusted with the way some people just try to sell sprouts or small immature plants as bonsai to the gullibles.

There was a "flower fare" during the weekend in the Municipality of QuatreBornes and there were several flower stands by various nurseries.

In two of the stands there were nurseries selling "bonsai", one was selling ginseng ficus at a respectable price. Not bonsai quality, but the price was right at Rs700. Rs200~500 would be a right price for the plants in any nursery any other day but they need to make a profit. Apparently they were ginseng roots grafted with a Ficus Benjamina variety.

Those are the ginseng ficus - not the one in the flower fare, but visually the same

The other stand was selling false cypress [ The plant itself is called "false cypress" ] sprouts, normally rs50~rs100 in a nursery, at  rs300~rs700 each. That's 6x or more its normal price, and the same merchant was changing the price every times I passed by that stand and heard visitors asking for a price.





The darker green ones were ranging between rs1200~rs3500 or more. Again when ever I passed by after some time the prices seemed to increase or decrease. Frankly those trees are worth rs150~rs300, I'd even go as far as rs500~rs700 on a sizable one, but not more than rs700.

I tried to ask some questions to get a feel of what he really knew at first but was quickly disgusted.
The recommendation is simply cut the leaves once in a while to keep it "small" and feed here and there.
No precautions about the watering, no information about the repotting, nothing worthwhile to help the user get a bonsai out of those sprouts and starter trees.

Those false cypress and even normal cypress are quite difficult to handle properly as the roots are easily prone to rotting and any starter will be bound to overwater to "prevent" the plant from drying out.
I know a lot of people who bought them and had them die out on them in a matter of months, even when they have quite a successful plant collection.

Clerodendrum Smithianum [ Light Bulb Clerodendrum ] Bonsai 001

The Clerodendrum Smithianum [ Light Bulb Clerodendrum ] Bonsai that I re-potted some months ago is starting to grow new buds. Another issue that's popping up now is that it is showing signs of rotting on some exposed old wood. When the is a heavy rain, the wood gets all spongy and spreads over to the trunk at some areas.

One large branch is growing over two areas containing the more damaged zones, making treatment of those deadwood next to impossible. My only option is to remove that branch in order to reach the damaged areas.

The most damaged area, the branch on the
left is making access to the whole damage area
impossible.

The tree before removing the branch.

To reduce the possibility that the branch snaps along its length,
the branch is being removed in several parts.

The bonsai after removal of the top section of the branch

Top view : The removed branch is in the middle of two "ramifications"

Side view : If that branch had continued
to grow it would have made treatment
of those exposed wood areas next to
impossible.

Removing some more of the branch, bits
by bits.

Nearly there... 

Annnd done... Now to even the cut

Now I get a clearer view of both areas
with the wood exposed

Side view : The branch now removed.

Now to treat the deadwood and shape/carve the current cut.
The current cut will have to allowed to age with the elements before its preserved.

I did not used any "bonsai cut paste" on the cut. I've had mixed results with them, and so far not applying any has provided better healing results.