My Bonsai Diary July 2009

14th July, 09

For last 10 odd days i was more busy than usual and hence could not update the blog. It had rained once and hope it catches up for the shortfall. I have more space at my place, so plan to bring my bonsai home . Delayed monsoon & loss of my penthouse were responsible for loosing some of my bonsai collection but the good thing is next year i will have an opportunity to grow 250 bonsai & make biggest bonsai collection in Ahmedabad. Looking forward to it.

Right now at my Place I have 10 odd jades of different style & shape under training. All of a sudden Piple, a variety of Ficus has caught my attention. I will sure want to give some time in studying this play as i have done in case of Jade.

The ones i had placed at ramdevnagar 4 died, 3 survived. They are back at my place, are being taken care of. Gulmohor peter umbrella style , Ficus harrington raft style & Jade cascade survived (these are one of my favourites). Jade, Bamboo, Champa & one more died, don't recollect which one.

The ones that were at pangrapole - Jade semi cascade, jade informal, jade formal, adenium, ficus, jathropa survived. Bougainvillea, Shoe flower, Grass, Mayurpankh, ficus triple trunk died.

The once at manekbaug - Jade harrington, jade umbrella, neem, , rayan slanting, adenium, survived. ficus (died), grass (died), champa (will die). Guess 2/3 more plants are there which i do not recollect.

5th July, 09

Me & Parag had been to a members palce & to Abad Nursery. We spent some 2/3 hours in all, but it was worth it. Nursery guys are selling good stock at throw away price becuase of delayed monsoon. Those of you who are interested in buying bonsai, this is the right time.

2nd July

My new experiment in Jade Bonsai.

When planting a jade cutting, plant it in totally dry soil. Do not water it for first week or so. Than start with Once a week & in subsequent weeks try decreasing the frequency by a day till you do no reach level of 2 times a week if jade bonsai is kept in shaded place or thrice a week if kept under full sun.

Excess watering will rot Jade bonsai, so occasionally keep checking the trunk. If bark peels off or if the trunk is soft, than the rot has set in. Remove the rotted part with fresh blade till you do not see pale yellow/white or green trunk. let is try for few day & re-pot in fresh dry soil., Remember while the trunk is rotting, jade will still be green & flourishing at the top. So best thing is to keep checking the bast occasionally. For Bonsai club of Ahmedabad, Ramesh Sinha