July 2014 - Journal #19

MICHAEL S. IMAINO President EDISON YADAO Vice-President Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation MPBF@fukubonsai.com ___________ *Journal Editor* DAVID W. FUKUMOTO President, Fuku-Bonsai Inc. (Kurtistown, Hawaii) david.f@fukubonsai.com *Journal Contributing Editors* JERRY MEISLIK Author, bonsai instructor and Ficus (Fig) authority (Whitefish, Montana) www.bonsaihunk.us jerry@bonsaihunk.us RYAN CHANG Leader of Study Groups (Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii) ryan_a_chang@msn.com JOHN "JAY" BORYCZKO "In & Out" specialist (Farmington Hills, Michigan Bonsaijay@outlook.com *Journal Contributing Writers* RON DAVIS (Bozeman, Montana) RUSS MANN (Polson, Montana) rmann.n.az@gmail.com TRAVIS FARGHER (Long Beach, California) ROB ANDERSEN (Pleasant View, Utah) BURTON FLAKE (Virginia / Bahrain) JOSHUA ROWSON (Brooklyn, New York) PAUL BAKERMAN (Phoenix, Arizona) GEORGE McLEAN (Kalispell, Montana) CAROL TINGLEY (Apex, North Carolina) ORA SCOTT (Huntsville, Alabama) THOMAS MATKEY (Glendora, California)	Aloha & welcome to the 7th issue of our second year as we build a national and international Tropical & True Indoor Bonsai Community! ISSUE #19. JULY 2014 www.fukubonsai.com/Journal19.July.2014.html ALOHA! THIS IS ANOTHER MILESTONE ISSUE! We knew this issue would be a challenge as our senior contributing editor Jerry Meislik was off on an extended trip. Last month Jerry introduced the topic "SMALL SIZED BONSAI" and there was a lot of interest and positive feedback. We also announced that: "with this issue we are moving toward teaching REFINEMENT to create more detailed bonsai including smaller leaves. Refinement begins when your tree is nearing it's near-finished size and bulk and there's a steady change in strategy from the vigorous growth of the "growing-on" stage to the slower, steady growth of "refinement" that results in shorter internodes, smaller leaves, and a "finished" bonsai appearance. This is a subtle art that everyone should understand as it balances the health and longevity of a tree with the beauty of maturity. The information is helpful for both those who train bonsai or our customers and gift recipients. Ryan did the introductory article on "ramification" and I added one on "mini-bonsai." That got Jay interested and he shifted and produced "Rubber Baby Buggy Bonsai Bumpers!" and with such a great title, it turned out to be one of our best articles to date. At the end of last month, Ryan and long-time friend Charlene Smallwood were here for a workshop that had other spill-over bonsai activities and the visit produced two major articles on rock planting Bird's Tongue Podocarpus and on Rainforest Banyans. There's a lot of other bonsai activity, especially as the May-June period is when Hawaii and most of the U.S. have the best bonsai growth and its time to do the most challenging work! There's a range of articles like Kathy's combating mold, a report from Italy, the use of sphagnum and Java moss, Keaau Cub Scouts workshop at Fuku-Bonsai, and this year's Hawaii State Bonsai Repository's Juniper curator challenge. Thomas Matkey graduates with two IWP articles including a non-standard hard rock root-over-rock planting. He's been invited to be a contributing writer and promises a summary, evaluation and recommendations for the Beginner Study Group in next month's Journal. Everyone is invited to make input to answer the question: "Where do we go from here?" It's been a hectic month and there's a number of initiatives in progress. I hope you've enjoyed reading of the activities and have learned a point or two to enhance your bonsai enjoyment. We're trying to teach how to get better bonsai growth and more about training bonsai. We invite you to join us! ~~~David, Journal editor (david.f@fukubonsai.com) Fuku-Bonsai president & founder JOURNAL OF TROPICAL & TRUE INDOOR BONSAI JULY SPECIAL: 10% OFF ALL INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED WORKSHOPS ORDERS MADE IN THE MONTH OF July 2014! Please write for more information to customize your project! Fuku-Bonsai is the international pioneer of True Indoor Bonsai™ . . . the growing of proven durable houseplants as bonsai . . . the most successful form of bonsai that are ideal to give as gifts. YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE 2014 BEGINNER STUDY GROUP! Click this link for more information.
	LESSON #24: RAINFOREST BANYANS - PART I We have two long-term projects for creating banyan aerial roots and this is the first major report that discusses the two primary methods. This article provides the resource information for Ryan's workshop that follows.
	LESSON #24b: RAINFOREST BANYANS - PART II Ryan is a young man in a hurry and he's not so proud of taking all possible short-cuts. To create the most difficult rainforest banyan style, start with the best possible older tree that is already throwing down aerial roots!
	THREE PODOCARPUS ROCK PLANTING WORKSHOPS Charlene Smallwood, friend Noneth, and Ryan did a Bird's Tongue Podocarpus rock planting. Dwarf Schefflera is our fastest growing bonsai plant. The podocarpus is our slowest growing so we pre-train and use other techniques.
	LESSON #25: MINI-BONSAI Its fun to use small trees as part of rock plantings and complex landscapes as well as to be enjoyed as mini-bonsai. But suitable pots are not readily available and we're trying to create new and better mini-bonsai pots.
	RYAN'S RAMIFICATION EFFORTS By Ryan Chang (Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii) Journal contributing editor. Ryan is completing a bonsai phase that includes the basics, growing-on techniques, and rock plantings. This is his first major article as he learns refinement.
	RUBBER BABY BUGGY BONSAI BUMPERS! By John "Jay" Boryczko (Farmington Hills, Michigan) Journal contributing editor. Jay is taking a break from his saikei series and testing the "mini-bonsai" waters. He quickly figured out the basics and how to create suitable training pots.
	KEAAU CUB SCOUTS WORKSHOP AT FUKU-BONSAI A few years ago, 25 from the Keaau Boys and Girls Club came to take a great workshop. One young man returns as part of another group and takes his tree to the next level as we bring another group into the bonsai world.
	LESSON #27: CURATING REPOSITORY JUNIPERS May and June are the best time to work on old bonsai. This is an introductory article about the Hawaii State Bonsai Repository, one of the oldest juniper bonsai in Hawaii, training juniper bonsai in Hawaii, and about tropical outdoor bonsai.
	KATHY'S PAGE: COMBATTING THE MOLD! Kathy's story began in 2002 and this is her third article as she combats a mold. She's done things a bit differently but her tree is one of the oldest with a documented history!
	THOMAS MATKEY'S THIRD IWP: ROOTS! Thomas also has been growing our trees for over 10 years and also in ways we do not recommend! But they do well for him and he's now learning a new way to grow them. His first three IWPs probably were a bit too easy for him!
	THOMAS MATKEY'S FOURTH IWP: ROOT-OVER-ROCK! Thomas is the first in the Beginning Study Group to do Root-Over-Rock. But he's already rooted cuttings from his original Fuku-Bonsai and have rock planted in dense hard rock. He's learning a new way and sharing his lesson!
	MOSS II: SPHAGNUM AND JAVA MOSS At Fuku-Bonsai we've learned how to grow sphagnum moss and learning some interesting applications. We also like Java Moss and believe it may have the potential to grow indoors.
	NEWS FROM ITALY Daniele and his wife visited on a rainy day and got to sit in on a workshop here, learned a bit about our 1:10 Project, and wanted to chance taking home a tree that needed special packing as it would be a while before they got home. So he sent an interesting report and we hope to do a more complex workshop on his next visit!
	MAILBAG 19 - JULY 2014 Shipping has begun to the four Koolau Farmers stores on Oahu and we look forward to a long-term win-win relationship. Ryan Chang is assisting as Fuku-Bonsai's Oahu representative and the first IWP class is scheduled for the McCully store on July 19. This is the season to do major pruning and mailbag includes photos of a recent assist.