As for watering, I've been keeping tabs on the look of the soil through the clear container. Though when I repot the tree into a clay pot I plan on keeping it somewhat buried in wet sand until I display it.

I want so much to keep this cute thing on my desk inside. To bad I can't do that all the time. :(

It's one year and a few months old. After I repotted it to the container you see in the above pic I think I may have damaged the tiny roots. The top 3-4 leaves have dried out as a result. Hopefully, that will be similar to giving it a slight trim and when it recovers it should have even more leaves.

I've been afraid it will start to produce much larger leaves, but it hasn't yet. *crosses fingers*

Being so small, you have to be extremely careful or they will die almost immediatly.

:/

No drainage holes. It's so small it doesn't need it. Transpiration from the leaves and evaporation from the rough peddles is enough. If it was any faster then I would have trouble watering it.

Also how about a few pin holes in the bottom sides of this little cup-I would use a dissecting pin.
Also use aquarium gravel instead of the large pebbles. Put a small layer on the bottom of the cup and mix gravel into your soil mix.
Repot without disturbing the roots any more than possible and adding the new gravel/soil mix around the sides.
Topcoat with coarse sand not the gravel-as it detracts from the scene though you may want to add one large pebble that is nice looking to make a scene out of your miniature.

There are also mini-bonsai pots too!

Burying the pots in a larger pot of moist sand almost has to be done in order for shito to survive any length of time.

Oh, and it seems one of my cats decided he or she wanted to help with my little maple (the one in the above photo.) I found it this afternoon at my doorstep, just the tree sans the pot and soil. It was completely dried out and dead by the time I stumbled upon it. But, that's okay; I have a few dozen more. Guess I'll have to get out my hardware cloth and make a cage for all my shito after all. *sigh*

I use to keep smaller shito inside of miniature terrariums made from those old "egg" cases for Leggs brand pantyhose. Wish I could still find that kind of containers these days.

I have a little birch growing on the back of the waterfall we built out in the front garden and I have considered getting it a really tiny pot and keeping it small, but I am afraid that Colorado would not be to kind to it, I will however try to post a picture in the near future.

Ohhh, I never thought of those food containers. I've seen a few sundae containers like that around here. I'll have to find one that looks decent and doesn't have logos. That's why those Leggs containers were perfect. Last one I had was from about 3-4 years ago. Haven't seen any since. They were perfect for an office desk.

brendan_of_bonsai:
"Colorado would not be to kind to it"

Do it anyway. For the winter, dig a hole about one foot wide and one foot deep or how ever big you need it to fit your tree in; just no less than 1x1 foot. Fill it 2/3rds full with sand. Place your tiny potted tree in it and then fill it with more sand until only the top most leaves of the tree are exposed(some people completely bury their trees, though I never have.) Place a cover over it and make sure the cover won't fly away. Try not to use a black cover because if there's a chance that the sun would shine on it it might (slight chance in a Colorado winter) raise the temps inside so much that the tree come out of dormancy. Make sure the hole in the ground is somewhere dry and not somewhere rain and snow runoff will fill the hole. Having the whole somewhere away from direct wind will help. Check the sand every so often during the winter to make sure it doesn't completely dry out.

One winter in recent memory, here in WV, temps dipped to -42F. So, I always try to use this "poor man's cold frame" for my tiniest bonsai; just incase.

I think the brand starts with R ??

Ferrero Rocher is the name of the candy according to my older brother.

lol I see. Instead of the hole in the ground with sand and a cover, which you can still use for winter, use a large pot filled with sand. It is the standard way to keep shito and mame sized bonsai so that they won't dry out in a few hours. Bury their tiny pots in the moist sand fully; no need for a cover. Leave the foliage exposed. When you display them you'll need to clip the roots that grown through the drainage holes into the sand.

terrestrial_man and brendan_of_bonsai:

I was at Wal-Mart last night. Just inside the door there are 50 cent toy machines. They are red and act somewhat like a gumball machine. Inside of them are toys incased in near-exact "egg" containers with flat bottoms that Legg’s pantyhose used to make. They come in tiny, medium, and large depending on the size of the toy.

lucy:
"but those pots... no room for forgiveness."

Indeed. 1 hour in the hot sun unprotected or 5 hours in windy shade unprotected can completely dry out some of the smaller ones; killing the tree.

*wonders off to his driveway in search of fossil encrusted stones for future Root-Over-Rock style shito and mame bonsai.*

West Virginia (North-west part.) My river behind my house has many shale fossils, but they won't last long once exposed and are very brittle. The ones I am referring to are the occasional fossils you can find in imported driveway gravel; Fossils and pyrite (Iron Sulfide, aka, Fool's Gold.) Some may be marcasite instead of pyrite. Nothing special really, but very fetching when used with shito and mame bonsai. Lava rock used as landscaping gravel can harbour some very nice stones for the same purpose.

Finding exceptional pyrite formations, nice fossils of crustaceans and shells, or a nice ancient-looking lava rock is like finding buried treasure almost. I found only a fossil fragment of a shell the size of a dime. Though, I did find some neat stones with unique properties that draw your eye to them. I might as well use them

Here are two nice pyrite photos:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrite

I've always wanted to use a pretty geode or large quart crystal formation as a Root-Over-Rock stone for bonsai.

if you feel uncomfortable making the pot, i would gladly make one for you at your specifications in exchange for some more info on how you managed to keep the plant that small.....

thanks!
calvin

ps, go to wall mart or something and go into the wedding stuff. that section often has funny dome like bowls--perfect for a terrarium enviroment

Kim's Nature
10011 Highway 48 RR 1 Stn Main
Markham, Ontario
L3P 3J3
Canada

Tel: 905-201-6166
Fax: 905-294-3301