FBnews18 Winter-spring 2010

David W. Fukumoto

President & founder, Fuku-Bonsai

David Fukumoto began growing house plant bonsai in 1962 while living in a newly-wed apartment. When the Fukumotos moved to the suburbs, the lot soon filled with all forms of bonsai and he was asked to teach evening adult education bonsai classes. Myrtle began the nursery to supply David's students with prepared bonsai stock.

David participated in forming the Hawaii Certified Export Nursery Program in 1972 and,when it was approved by California, the Fukumotos moved to the Big Island of Hawaii to start the first nursery. They pioneered mail order, selling only through Fuku-Bonsai Authorized Retailers, and shipping plants through the postal system.

In 1985 Fuku-Bonsai evolved into a Hawaiian corporation to become the catalyst to build an international bonsai center. Unfortunately, spraying defective Benlate in 1989 that was contaminated with weed killers began a 20-year battle for survival. Fuku-Bonsai is now entering a new era and is destined to become the major and premium supplier of innovative TRUE INDOOR BONSAI!

Since early 2009, David has contributed an article in each issue of the American Bonsai Society Journal. For those interested in a satisfying lifelong hobby, he encourages membership and subscription. For more information, please contact Gloria Duncan, ABS secretary at gduncan@buckeye-express.com or phone (734) 848-9207.

*FBnews* Issue No. 18; WINTER-SPRING 2010! *A newsletter for the Fuku-Bonsai Study Group, Micro-Lobster Team, friends and customers* *of the Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center & Hawaii State Bonsai Repository* Note: This issue is posted on our website but not yet distributed via email. We are having computer distribution problems and upon resolving the problem will send out email notices. If you would like a free notification notice, please subscribe by sending an email to sales@fukubonsai.com with your name, city & state, and email address.
David W. Fukumoto President & founder, Fuku-Bonsai David Fukumoto began growing house plant bonsai in 1962 while living in a newly-wed apartment. When the Fukumotos moved to the suburbs, the lot soon filled with all forms of bonsai and he was asked to teach evening adult education bonsai classes. Myrtle began the nursery to supply David's students with prepared bonsai stock. David participated in forming the Hawaii Certified Export Nursery Program in 1972 and,when it was approved by California, the Fukumotos moved to the Big Island of Hawaii to start the first nursery. They pioneered mail order, selling only through Fuku-Bonsai Authorized Retailers, and shipping plants through the postal system. In 1985 Fuku-Bonsai evolved into a Hawaiian corporation to become the catalyst to build an international bonsai center. Unfortunately, spraying defective Benlate in 1989 that was contaminated with weed killers began a 20-year battle for survival. Fuku-Bonsai is now entering a new era and is destined to become the major and premium supplier of innovative TRUE INDOOR BONSAI! Since early 2009, David has contributed an article in each issue of the American Bonsai Society Journal. For those interested in a satisfying lifelong hobby, he encourages membership and subscription. For more information, please contact Gloria Duncan, ABS secretary at *gduncan@buckeye-express.com or phone (734) 848-9207.*	*HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!* ALOHA! 2010 will be an exciting year for Fuku-Bonsai as we complete our 20-year battle for survival! After we sprayed defective Benlate that was contaminated with potent weedkillers, we really struggled! Losing our then 16-year old plant inventory was a major financial blow. But, losing the 17-acre Kona Fuku-Bonsai Center killed the dream of a generation of the Hawaiian bonsai community. The greatest loss was the fact that the contamination prevented us from growing our original Brassaia crops and it was necessary to develop entirely new crops and to totally reinvent Fuku-Bonsai. Somehow we were just lucky that Dwarf Schefflera is immune to the contamination. We also found that it is far superior to Brassaia for creating TRUE INDOOR BONSAI! It is much more trainable into more shapes than any other plant! It is a true tropical that will thrive as a houseplant and creates the most beautiful banyan bonsai with free-falling aerial roots! So, although there were 20 years of hardship, in some perverse way, we were lucky that out of tragedy emerged a great specialty bonsai that is destined to be the most successful and most popular bonsai of the future! THAT'S A BOLD TRUE STATEMENT! Bonsai is in the midst of change. While we respect the Japanese and Chinese roots, TRUE INDOOR BONSAI is purely American and Hawaiian and ideal for Fuku-Bonsai! Initially, we grew mostly HAWAIIAN LAVA PLANTINGS and these unique, slow growing arrangements came in four sizes and are great gifts for homes and offices. As more of customers became interested in training bonsai, the popularity of POTTED BONSAI increased! Because of the larger root systems, they are faster growing and much more trainable. Customer requests for information resulted in this website. As more advanced questions arrived, the website grew larger and larger. A small WORKSHOP HANDBOOK provides a concise guide and compliments our BONSAI WORKSHOP PACKAGES! In just a few years, I will be celebrating 50 years of growing bonsai! I've been privileged to live a wonderful lifestyle in a beautiful community. I've always enjoyed teaching bonsai and in doing so, I've learned a lot more. Very few have been able to live a bonsai lifestyle and retain a huge collection. We enjoy having visitors from all over the world. But most of all, I enjoy teaching bonsai and getting emails to see how their trees are developing. I believe I have the nicest bonsai customers and I'm very proud of them. Quantity discounts are available for our Introductory Workshop Packages and I'm honored they are increasingly being used for bonsai club beginner classes.
PLANS FOR 2010 WEBSITE CLASSES & EDUCATION!
Fuku-Bonsai introduced small and desk size Dwarf Schefflera Lava Plantings in 1997 as a replacement crop when we could no longer grow our original Brassaia specialty. The early plants were young and lacked character compared to the items we now ship. *The Premium Keiki Bonsai Workshop Package was introduced in 2001*	Although we have been growing Dwarf Schefflera since it was introduced in the early 1970's, initially we could only grow them as larger bonsai. By 1997 we learned to grow them in smaller sizes and over time we discovered to grow them short and stocky and the "SUMO" technique is now the basis for Fuku-Bonsai's high quality plants. As customers showed greater interest in learning to train bonsai, in 2001 we introduced potted bonsai and the "PREMIUM KEIKI BONSAI WORKSHOP PACKAGE." Because the prepared bonsai stock was larger and already rock-planted, the success rate was very high but it was too costly for beginners. In 2007 we made another major breakthrough with the INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP PACKAGE that is now widely recognized as the easiest and most successful way to learn (or teach) bonsai!




ADDITIONS TO THE TRUE INDOOR BONSAI WEBSITE:






I am committed to making our TRUE INDOOR BONSAI the most successful gift bonsai for anyone anywhere who can grow houseplants and committed to assisting our customers. Please contact me if there are any questions or if we can be of assistance. ~~~David (david.f@fukubonsai.com) FUKU-BONSAI CULTURAL CENTER & HAWAII STATE BONSAI REPOSITORY PO Box 6000 (Olaa Road), Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760 Phone (808) 982-9880; FAX (808) 982-9883; URL: www.fukubonsai.com © 2010 Fuku-Bonsai Inc. * Go to the FBnews portal page (includes summaries of all previous FBnews issues) * Go to Fuku-Bonsai Home Page FBnews is a free periodic newsletter for the members of the Fuku-Bonsai Study Group and the friends and customers of the Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center & Hawaii State Bonsai Repository. It includes current sales and articles of interest to those growing True Indoor Bonsai™ and The Amazing Hawaiian Micro-Lobsters!™ To receive email notification of new issues, send an email to sales@fukubonsai.com with your name, city and state. There is no fee, but donations to the non-profit Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation are gratefully accepted.