Hi, well I can't tell you what it is (kind of generic looking at the moment and I might not be familiar with what grows where you are), but I will suggest that you get the whole thing out of the pot (which is encouraging a deep rather than a wide root spread, and into the garden for now to help fatten it up (the fastest way there is), but only if you can do it in one lump without disturbing anything, and into a well drained spot out of full sun (either filtered thru another tree or in light shade is good) with lots of water. Then in early March (whenever buds are about to open, but just haven't yet done so, then chop the heck out of it down to where there are only a couple or so branches. Leave it in the ground for at least 2 more years, then dig again after doing another chop in another year if it's doing well otherwise) and then consider if you want it to go into a pot (same time of year again!). You could stick it into a bonsai pot this coming spring, but then you'd just have a stick in a pot, bonsai or not, and I doubt if that's what you want. While you're waiting, find a local club to join and see how things are done, plus read a lot (www.bonsai4me.com for basics) and bring a cutting to a local nursery for I.D. Also get other nursery trees and work with them, just remember that the smaller the pot you get them into off the bat, the longer the trunk will take to fatten up. Nursery trees may have better developed trunks and some 'movement' in them though, so you'll have a chance to get your hands dirty! Love to know what your tree is though, so come back here when you find out.

lucy, at the moment i am living in an apartment and i dont really have any ground to plant my tree into, would using a larger pot be better than nothing? i was about to take a small stem to a nursery but most of them have closed for the season, i dont know why they close here though, it never gets below freezing all year. other than a few occasional frosts. but the main reason i need to find out what kind of tree it is is because i am originally from utah, which has a much colder winter and a lot more dry weather. i might be moving back there or to vegas with in the next year or so and i need to know if it will survive through winters or if i have to bring it inside. it looks like a deciduous tree. but i am no expert. thanks for your input. this is my first bonsai attempt, i hope its a success, i also have a grapefruit tree seedling, a red grape seedling and some kind of vine i am going to try and use as bonsai.

Hi, it's certainly deciduous, but in any case, it and the other 3 you mention just need to live outdoors to survive meaningfully for any length of time. It's just no good to go digging up trees for indoors unless you're in the tropics, and even then the time for doing that would be March. Cold is one thing, but all plants take some form of dormancy, if only a few weeks, where they stop growing, need less water, and you need to watch for it in trees indoors. Apart from that, however, even in MS, your trees expect cooler nights, air circulation you can't replicate inside, particular nutrients in the air and soil, strengthening breezes, etc. etc. and also need (if they're in a pot) to be in fast draining grit, vs e.g. potting soil (or anything you might dig up). I really would like to be more positive, but I don't want you to be discouraged from doing bonsai in future by trying to grow things now in the wrong environment.

lucy,

thanks for all the advice, i am not planning on having any of these as indoor plants. i'll just let this one ride out the winter in the pot its in, i might put some grit or pea gravel in the bottom of the pot for better drainage because with the potting soil it has right now i am afraid that it is a bit waterlogged. next spring i will repot it with some better soil and take a stem to a nursury for ID then, unless someone on here happens to know what it is. i have searched and searched online with no luck so far, but i am too attached to let go of this tree.

Don't put gravel at the bottom of the pot, as it will actually impede drainage.

What I'd do is mix up a small bucket of bark, perlite, and gravel/grit (hydrate the mix, allow to dry just a bit). Then I'd remove some of the soil from the potted container, being careful not to damage roots, and lift the rootball out. I'd replace as much soil as possible with the new mix - then I'd slip the rootball back into the container, side fill, et cetera.

I wouldn't necessarily re-pot immediately. I'd wait for early autumn, maybe when your tree's lost its leaves.

Josh

greenman,

today i was at my local Wal-Mart and i spotted some orchid mix, that looked very similar to what you are describing, it had bark and rocks and perlite. you think that would work? and whats with inorganic bonsai soil? i see people talk about it all the time on bonsai sites.

Orchid mix is great for most bonsai, though works best on larger ones because the wood (and often stones) are really too big for small ones. Inorganic bonsai soil is what bonsai soil is all about - it's mostly grit of one kind or another (similar in size to aquarium gravel, which is often used), which can depend on where you live in terms of accessibility. Common ones are turface, which is high fired clay bits of about 1/16 - 1/8" in size, crushed lava rock, akadama (of Japanese origin, expensive, and available mostly online or in dedicated bonsai stores), chicken grit, available at farm feed stores, etc. etc. It usually makes up anywhere from 60 to 100% of the whole mix, the rest being organic, such as some form of conifer bark mulch (or the orchid bark), or compost, leaf mold, etc. and there is occasionally some sphagnum peat (moss) added in, but it's tricky and you need to know how to incorporate it for which trees, plus varying amounts of Perlite (never Vermiculite, which breaks down to mush and clogs root 'pores'). The point of all that gravel is fast drainage, as well as the ability to allow unneeded chemicals, salts, etc. to wash away easily, and to let 02 in. An important thing to remember is never to let the pot sit directly in water (drain or otherwise) to keep roots from rotting. A good mix is always 'mixed' vs layered.

Orchid mix is great for most bonsai, though works best on larger ones because the wood (and often stones) are really too big for small ones. Inorganic bonsai soil is what bonsai soil is all about - it's mostly grit of one kind or another (similar in size to aquarium gravel, which is often used), which can depend on where you live in terms of accessibility. Common ones are turface, which is high fired clay bits of about 1/16 - 1/8" in size, crushed lava rock, akadama (of Japanese origin, expensive, and available mostly online or in dedicated bonsai stores), chicken grit, available at farm feed stores, etc. etc. It usually makes up anywhere from 60 to 100% of the whole mix, the rest being organic, such as some form of conifer bark mulch (or the orchid bark), or compost, leaf mold, etc. and there is occasionally some sphagnum peat (moss) added in, but it's tricky and you need to know how to incorporate it for which trees, plus varying amounts of Perlite (never Vermiculite, which breaks down to mush and clogs root 'pores'). The point of all that gravel is fast drainage, as well as the ability to allow unneeded chemicals, salts, etc. to wash away easily, and to let 02 in. An important thing to remember is never to let the pot sit directly in water (drain or otherwise) to keep roots from rotting. A good mix is always 'mixed' vs layered.

Lucy said it best!

Clint, I use Orchid Bark...but I screen out the fine dust and the larger pieces to try for a more uniform particle size. I use "Large" perlite only...never the fine stuff. Feel confident to make this half of your "soil" volume.

Josh