HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gse@ida.liu.se (Goran Sedvall)
Subject: Re: ficus
Organization: CIS Dept, Univ of Linkoping, Sweden
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 11:45:32 GMT

dave@alex.com (Dave Quinn) writes:

>In article <1992Sep25.133945.23283@ida.liu.se>, gse@ida.liu.se (Goran Sedvall) writes:
>|> I'm a beginner and I shall buy my first plant today. I would
>|> try a ficus tree and they say that is a very good beginners
>|> bonsai. The price is about $30 and I think thats cheap. Is there
>|> anything I realy need to know about this plant? ...

>One thing that I think I should point out is that you need to be very 
>careful if you choose to wire the plant. Ficus's grow quite quickly and have a
>fairly soft bark which means that they are very susceptible to wire damage.

>I often see nursery grown ficus's in local bonsai shops which have been 
>horribly mutilated with wire which has been left on too long. Actually, this
>seems to be quite common on all varieties of trees. I think growers often try
>to achieve to much to soon to produce a tree which is recognisable as bonsai to
>the general public... anyway, I digress...

>The important things to note are:-

>a) when buying that tree, check for wire damage

>b) be very careful if you wire it yourself

>Dave

The plant I bought was unwired and pretty small. As you mentioned,
the ficus seems to grow very fast. The instructions I have says
that wires should be left no more than 6-8 weeks. I found that 
the branches stay in the new possition allready after one week.
Actually, I found it easier to tie the branches on a thick wire
with strings. That didn't harm the bark. Well, that don't look 
to well but it seems to work well. 
My next question:
My tree have one very long branch with foliage at the end
and I want it shorter. Is it possible to cut the branch?
Does new foliage grow on the cutted end?

Goran
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: jwcoll01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu
Subject: Dechlorination of water
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 15:16:02 GMT
Organization: University of Louisville

Has anyone ever used dechlorinator to treat water used on bonsai?
I realize I should use rainwater when possible, but I can't collect
much in my apartment.  I have some dechlorinator that I use with
my fish tank, which says "Safe for acquatic animals and plants", can 
I generalize to bonsai from the word "plants"?

Thanks in advance.

Joel Collins
jwcoll01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu
University of Louisville
From: keith@intaud.usu.edu (Keith Sedgwick)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: bonsai styles
Date: 16 Oct 92 19:46:38 GMT
Organization: Utah State University (USU)

In article <26468@oasys.dt.navy.mil> venkatac@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Ravanasamudram Venkatachalam) writes:

>Here is a question for you bonsai experts.  I have recently purchased
>a few untrained plants; namely: serissa variegata (white flowers), serissa
>variegata (pink flowers), serissa kyoto (white), a ficus and a thuja.
>My question is when I start to train them, what is the best style for
>these plants.  Additionally, when and how often should these be pruned,
>and fertilized?  Thank you.

>R.S.Venkatachalam


Hi:

	Serissa can just about be trained into any style you want to
create.  It can be wired and bent very easily.  Most of the Serissa's
I've seen have been in the informal upright.  

	It's hard to talk about what style to develope without seeing
the tree.  You normally can't take a "natural" cascade and make it a 
formal upright.  However, some of the things Kamurai(sp) is doing makes
you wonder.  Probably the easiest style to develop and change a few years
down the road, is if it isn't just right, is the informal upright.

	Serissa makes very good bonsai.

				Keith
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: varmart@atlas.cs.upei.ca (Reji Martin)
Subject: Re: alt.bonsai FAQ updates
Summary: Chinese bonsai
Keywords: Chinese bonsai, Japanese bonsai
Organization: University of Prince Edward Island
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 13:29:18 GMT


	Irregardless of the origin of bonsai there is a major
	difference in the art of bonsai of the Chinese and the
	Japanese.

	While the art from Japan is the "tree in a pot" the Chinese
	on the hand is actually a "SCENE in a pot". The Chinese like 
	turn the tree(s) settings into a copy of the natural scenes
	with rocks as cliffs and mosses as the small foliage and a
	person or two meditating on the "Sound of one hand clapping!"





     The     O
     Wheel  /-
     Brat  ( )\_	varmart@atlas.cs.upei.ca

      Reji Martin, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: andy@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Andy Hart)
Subject: Re: indoor bonsai  (Serissa)
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 14:15:21 GMT
Organization: CompuTrac Inc., Richardson TX

I moved it inside and have largely defoliated it.  I gave it one good
watering with B1 solution.  It's putting out some little leaves, so I'm
sure it's not dead.  I may have killed some of the smaller branches...
I'm not sure yet.  I think I'll wait a little bit to see what's dead and 
what's not before I prune.

During the summer (at my old place) I kept it out on the sidewalk on the
east side of the house.  It was no problem keeping it in full sun during 
the spring...  except that it grew so fast that it was almost impossible 
to control.  During the summer I partially toasted it once, so then I 
putting it in a place where it would get some shade from the midday sun.

That's when it really started putting out the flowers.

Thanks for the suggestions...  Do you use SuperThrive much?  Does anyone?

It's not _technically_ fertilizer, but rather "hormones", right?  Seems 
like I remembered reading that it was therapeutic for injured or sick plants.
Do most of you concur with this? 


Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Please someone, save Mike's life! 8-)
Date: 9 Oct 92 21:17:56 GMT
Organization: Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center


 The following message was found in soc.culture.japan. When I suggested in 
my e-mail that he should post in alt.bonsai, he said that his site doesn't 
have it.

 If there's anyone in this group who can help him, please respond to him by
e-mail or post your reply in soc.culture.japan.

===============================================================================
Article 17478 of soc.culture.japan:
Xref: fconvx.ncifcrf.gov soc.culture.japan:17478 soc.culture.china:85779
From: rchill01@uctvax.uct.ac.za
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.china
Subject: Growing Bonsai
Date: 8 Oct 92 13:45:38 GMT
Article-I.D.: uctvax.1992Oct8.114540.203016
Organization: University of Cape Town

I have recently been given a Bonsai English Oak tree ( yes, i know, it seems a
little strange) for my Birthday and know absolutely nothing about the subject,
but am very interested in finding out about bonsai, it's history, and
especially how to look after and grow them, because if it dies, then the person
who gve it me is going to kill me.

So, any bonsai enthusiasts or anyone at all, please write.

Mike
===============================================================================

 His e-mail address: rchill01@uctvax.uct.ac.za (as shown above)

Michiaki Masuda
Laboratory of Molecular Oncology
National Cancer Institute
Frederick, MD 21702-1021
U.S.A.
From: keith@intaud.usu.edu (Keith Sedgwick)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: What's a Training Pot?
Date: 16 Oct 92 20:01:12 GMT
Organization: Utah State University (USU)

In article <7303@transfer.stratus.com> kvk@questor.sw.stratus.com (Ken Koellner) writes:


>I read someones post that mentioned 'training pot'.  Whats is it?  Is
>it more similiar to a bonsai pot or a regular plant pot?

>I have a few trees that I am starting to work on.  They are in regular
>garden-shop-type pots.  I plan to work on them for a year or two and
>then repot the best few into a bonsai pot (in the proper season
>following technique outlined in bonsai books).  Is the right approach
>to beginning bonsai?

>Please post follow-ups.  Traffic in this group is plenty low.


Hi Ken:

	When you are developing a bonsai you have several choices.
You can usually put it into the ground and it developes very fast.
It gets a large, fat trunk which is desirable in most bonsai.  Then
transfer it into the correct size pot when it is developed and dug
out of the ground.  There are some rules about the size of pot to
used based on the diameter of the trunk and the size of the bonsai.

	If you don't want to use the ground, or don't have that
option, the next best thing to do is put it into an extra large pot.
This is called a training pot.  You want to supply the tree with a
lot of nurishment and supply ideal growing conditions.  The tree
developes a large, fat trunk but at a much slower pace that if it
was in the ground.  

	After the bonsai reaches what you feel is finished (bonsai
are never finished, because they never stop growing) you can put 
it into the correct size pot.  I hope that helps.

				Keith
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: andy@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Andy Hart)
Subject: Re: indoor bonsai  (Serissa)
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 05:05:16 GMT
Organization: CompuTrac Inc., Richardson TX


That garment bag thing sounds like a very good idea...  I'll try it.

I am greatly encouraged.  It seems to be putting out new leaves.  It will
just take a while for it to make it's come-back.
From: andy@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Andy Hart)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: Winter Activities
Date: 16 Oct 92 20:04:49 GMT
Organization: CompuTrac Inc., Richardson TX

Well, the next thing I'm going to do is build a cold frame out of 
plastic sheeting and lumber.  I'm going to try to build a "collapsible"
cold-frame so that the next time I move I can break it down into panels.
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: andy@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Andy Hart)
Subject: Re: alt.bonsai FAQ updates
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 14:30:05 GMT
Organization: CompuTrac Inc., Richardson TX

Hi Mike...

I remember reading something that supported the person who claimed that
bonsai originated in China.  According to Peter Chan in, "Bonsai -- The
Art of Growing and Keeping Miniature Trees" in the chapter "Historical
Origins"....


  "It is commmonly imagined that bonsai originated in Japan;  this is not
  the case.  Bonsai has its origins in China.  The Chinese were the first
  to practise [sic?] the cultivation of trees and shrubs in ceramic flower
  pots...  There is evidence that that as far back as AD 200 the Chinese
  were the already growing potted plaints as part of their everyday gardening.


Paraphrasing now...

I think the gist of this is that the Chinese started potting smaller trees
in their Imperial Gardens long ago.  At first, these trees were larger than
what we would typically consider bonsai and the practice of reducing them
in size developed.

It wouldn't surprise me that China is, in fact, the source of bonsai.  China
is one of the world's oldest civilizations.  I think much of Japanese 
culture is derived from the Chinese.  (like some of the martial arts).


Happy to see 9 bonsai messages here this morning!

Later...

Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: mulberry@triton.unm.edu ()
Subject: juniper bonsai tree
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 92 23:42:26 GMT
Expires: Thu, 22 Oct 92 06:00:00 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Distribution: na


I have a juniper tree that I have been watering it as per
instructions.  However, it looks as if it is drying up and
turning brown.  The tree does not look diseased.  It may 
need fertilization.

Can anybody tell me what kind of fertilizer I may need,
and how much of it I should use?

Thanks.

=====================================================================
Bill  (mulberry@triton.unm.edu)   || The secret of the greatest    ||
C. O. P.                          || fruitfulness and the greatest ||
U. N. M.                          || enjoyment of existence is to: || 
Albuquerque, N. M.                || Live Dangerously! -Nietzsche  ||
=====================================================================
From: kvk@questor.sw.stratus.com (Ken Koellner)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: What's a Training Pot?
Date: 16 Oct 92 18:21:46 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Software Engineering


I read someones post that mentioned 'training pot'.  Whats is it?  Is
it more similiar to a bonsai pot or a regular plant pot?

I have a few trees that I am starting to work on.  They are in regular
garden-shop-type pots.  I plan to work on them for a year or two and
then repot the best few into a bonsai pot (in the proper season
following technique outlined in bonsai books).  Is the right approach
to beginning bonsai?

Please post follow-ups.  Traffic in this group is plenty low.


-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four candidates are on the ballot for president in all fifty states.  Only
three were invited to the debates.  What's the Dough-Boy afraid of?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: venkatac@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Ravanasamudram Venkatachalam)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: bonsai styles
Date: 16 Oct 92 15:55:57 GMT
Reply-To: venkatac@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Ravanasamudram Venkatachalam)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD

Here is a question for you bonsai experts.  I have recently purchased
a few untrained plants; namely: serissa variegata (white flowers), serissa
variegata (pink flowers), serissa kyoto (white), a ficus and a thuja.
My question is when I start to train them, what is the best style for
these plants.  Additionally, when and how often should these be pruned,
and fertilized?  Thank you.

R.S.Venkatachalam
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: jwcoll01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu
Subject: Re: Bonsai Destruction
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 00:34:12 GMT
Organization: University of Louisville

In article <1992Oct7.125435.1@ulkyvx.louisville.edu>, jwcoll01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu writes:
> I was in my local bonsai store recently talking with the owner about
> his tree sources.  He told me that most of the trees he buys are from
> "farms" in Florida.  However, Hurricane Andrew, he said, has totally
> wiped out several of these farms.  Has anyone else heard these tails
> of destruction?  Will this destruction cause an increase in bonsai 
> prices on in the eastern U.S.?
> 
> Joel Collins
> Experimental Psychology
> University of Louisville
> Louisville, Kentucky
> 

It's me again.  I was in the local bonsai store again today speaking with
the store owner (mentioned above).  He told me that approx. _100_ bonsai
farms were in Homestead, FL, alone.  Of those 100, he said that some are
able to salvage some of their trees, but many are getting out of bonsai
all together (at least as a business).  I can't imagine what it feels like
to see the trees that you have been growing for years scattered around,
all torn up and dead.  To make matters worse, the store owner also told me that
itis very difficult to properly insure bonsai trees; from theft, fire, forces
of nature, etc.  I guess alot of the bonsai growers are now bankrupt, too.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.

Joel Collins
Experimental Psychology
University of Louisville

P.S. Perhaps insurance for valuable bonsai trees would be a good topic to
     discuss.  Anyone have insured trees out there?  Any tips if you do?  I
     hear that bonsai thefts are increasing.
From: kvk@questor.sw.stratus.com (Ken Koellner)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Winter Activities
Date: 15 Oct 92 19:17:29 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Software Engineering


Anyone have any suggestions for Bonsai activities to do in the
Fall/Winter?  

I have a few trees I started from seeds and a few I was given that are
one to few years old that I want to slowly work into Bonsai over the
years they really don't need much work now though.  From what I've
read, most of the work, repotting, planting seeds, collecting stock,
are done in the spring.  I gather fall/winter work is mostly major
pruning and wiring but my handful of trees are too young to need much
of this kind of work.  A few simple snips is probably all the work I
have to do this winter.

I really would like to get some more trees from planting seeds,
collecting, and nursery stock.  Can any of this be done in winter or
is it best to just wait for spring to start new trees?

One thing I was thinking of doing is building a combination,
bench/storage box.  I was considering using pressure-treated lumber
(the stuff you make decks out of) to make box 18"x24"x72" with a
hinged top.  In winter, I could store some of my outdoor trees in it
to keep them out of wind and buffer the tempurature.  Maybe throwing
in something to provide extra insulation also.  In summer, I could
display my trees on the top and keep supplies like bags of soil, sand,
empty pots, and stuff in it.  I don't have a yard; I only have a deck
so I would keep it on my deck.  Sound like a good idea?  It'll
probably cost my $75-$100 for the lumber and a day with a power saw,
drill and screw-driver to put the thing together.

Anyone have any other ideas?



-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four more years?  Just say "noe".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: bartlone@gemed (Michel Bartolone)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: Things Learned
Date: 16 Oct 92 18:38:17 GMT
Reply-To: "bartlone@gemed.ge.com"
Followup-To: alt.bonsai
Organization: GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee,  WI


<rkn@Apple.COM> (Hud Nordin) writes...

>What have you learned about life by practicing the art of bonsai?

>I snuck one in a previous posting: Patience is for things you do
>not enjoy doing. This is a supposed response from a bonsai master
>when asked how he could possibly have the patience to wait years
>for a bonsai to become a real work of art. I like that.

I may have not learned patience, but I have learned 'waiting'. There
is a difference. The tree's I have had, and the tree's I have known were
all 'in the process of becomming'. Waiting for them to 'be' what they
will become, can be (and usually is) a joy. I think its no coincidence
that I read 'Stranger in a Strange Land' just about the same time that
I discovered Bonsai. Bonsai masters 'know' (from what I've seen, and
read) how to commune with the tree. They become more tree like. No
matter how fast paced the rest of life is, they learn the 'slowness
of being' tree's can teach. I cannot do this, and some days doubt I
ever will...but I enjoy the striving for this as much as the knowlege
itself...maybe even more so..its the learning that I find enjoyable,
not the knowlege...its the going, not the getting there..

I have also learned the difference between 'beauty' and 'elegance',
although I have not learned how to express the difference...perhaps
I'll be able to..when I can commune with the trees...

--
##############################################################
## bartlone@last.med.ge.com 08:00-17:00 Mon-Fri my opinions ##
## are given to me by my boss...after that they are mine... ##
## .....except when my wife decides otherwise...            ##
##############################################################
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
From: winslm@aix.rpi.edu (powers)
Subject: Re: What to do with some trees in winter.
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 18:58:54 GMT

In article <1992Sep28.101319.6111@sniap.mchp.sni.de> Monika.Kreuz@graphics.ap.mchp.sni.de (Monika Kreuz) writes:
>
>Hallo Ken,
>
>I have a red maple with long slits in the leaves, I think, it is a Japanese, .5m height. It is more than 5 years old - I don't know. 
>
>In winter (Germany has nearly the same temperature) it stands outside. The pot has a width of .3m and a height of .15m and the material is plastic.
>
>In winter I cover the earth in the pot with the old leaves of the tree. The tree stands not in the direct sun, and it stands on a windstill place, that it don't dry when the earth is frozen and it cannot get water from the earth.
>
>When the earth is dry I pour it, but only when it is dry, that it don't became pudrid. 
>
>In the garage, where you want to put the tree, I think, it would be too dark. When the tree is too warm in winter, it get little animals which will damage them (I dont't know the word).
>
>Have fun,
>Monika
>
>
>
>
>------------------------ Monika Kreuz ------------------------
>Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG, Muenchen  (SNI AP 153)
>Tel.:   + 49 (89) 636-43061
>E-mail: Monika.Kreuz@graphics.sniap.mchp.sni.de

Newsgroups: alt.mud.lp,alt.mud,rec.games.mud.admin,rec.games.mud.diku,rec.games.mud.lp,rec.games.mud.misc
Subject: Up and Comming MUD 
Summary: 
Expires: 

Followup-To: 
Distribution: 
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Keywords: Moral Decay

	We are an up and coming MUD looking for more new players.  We run
a lp 3.x version with homemade monsters and plots.  Also players can do
unique things on our mud.  Wield two weapons .. one right one left,  Own
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more.. stop by and check us out at:
	
	138.95.19.13 2002

	Powers of Death
From: barnett@grymoire.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: Collecting Wild trees
Date: 8 Oct 92 10:28:54 GMT
	<1992Oct5.183217.3147@wega.rz.uni-ulm.de>
Reply-To: barnett@crdgw1.ge.com
Organization: GE Corp. R & D, Schenectady, NY

In article <1992Oct5.183217.3147@wega.rz.uni-ulm.de> s_ebach@wega.rz.uni-ulm.de (Bernd Ebach) writes:
>   Yep, this is exactly my view of Bonsai-Aesthetic. I've never seen
>   a real interesting Bonsai which was grown and shaped from seed up
>   by hand. Those tree's shaped by hand follow those strikt rules how
>   a Bonsai should look like. I can't find anything interesting in
>   that. They might be 'perfect' in sence of those rules but if you
>   watch them there is no such thing like a surprising detail or a
>   'feature'.

I might challange that. The latest issue of "Bonsai Today" (#21) discusses
how a master  (Masahiko Kimura)
	1) removed the living "core" of a tree from the dead trunk
	2) Turned the "trunk" upside down!!!!
	3) Attached the living part back onto the tree.

Yes, the trunk was turned upside down. Most of the trunk was dead
wood, with a small portion of living sapwood/bark up one side.
The results - to give you a crude idea - looks like some driftwood with green
leaves growing out of the top.

I thought it was amazing that it only took a few hours and the roots
weren't even removed from the pot!

I don't want to argue the aesthetics of that particular tree. But I
want to point out that in the hands of a master, it is possible
to add "surprising" detail. The above example is only one. 

p.s . The same issue of Bonsai Today has "100 tips for Bonsai
growers". Cost is $7.95 for one issue.
--
Bruce Barnett <barnett@crd.ge.com> uunet!crdgw1!barnett
From: andy@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Andy Hart)
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: McBonsai!
Date: 14 Oct 92 20:20:13 GMT
Organization: CompuTrac Inc., Richardson TX

Well, I suggested a chinese restaurant because that's what I like to eat!
I don't care much for sushi... McYuck!

I like that, "Meng Yuan - Chinese Restaurant & Bonsai Gardens".  Now, all 
I need is someone to run the restaurant...
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai
Subject: Re: juniper bonsai tree
From: keith@intaud.usu.edu (Keith Sedgwick)
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 16:56:29 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Utah State University (USU)

In article <a3lp92k@lynx.unm.edu> mulberry@triton.unm.edu () writes:


>I have a juniper tree that I have been watering it as per
>instructions.  However, it looks as if it is drying up and
>turning brown.  The tree does not look diseased.  It may 
>need fertilization.

>Can anybody tell me what kind of fertilizer I may need,
>and how much of it I should use?

>Thanks.


Hi Bill:

	I don't know if any has responded to your post.  But the first
thing I would look for is red spider mites.  They *love* junipers.  
Look real close at it.  Shake a branch over some white paper and if
you get a lot of "moving paparika" it is probably spider mites.

					Keith
Newsgroups: alt.bonsai