Thanks Nigel, I really appreciate your kind words. Yes when they grow bigger the pyrenean oaks are very pretty, especially with their tightly spaced small leaves.

Great! Glad you found it helpful.

Cheers Edinborogh! Yes the tap root can be horrendous in some seedlings. But it does help to think there's always another year! you can deal with it over 2 or even three goes if necessary. Glad the video helped - thanks!

Thanks ! I'm flattered that you would be interested... but this year the video would be like 30 seconds long! Basically they're all still in these grow pots for this year, thickening up. Next spring I'll do a Year 4 update, if all goes to plan. The seedlings in bigger white pots will stay in their pots until year 5 but all the oaks in smaller black pots, I'll repot them into the white pots. It's also a chance to inspect how the roots are getting on, and hopefully remove the rest of the tap roots.

​@@BlueSkyBonsai awesome! I'm interested in learning how to develop a future bonsai from seed/seedling and I think this series has a lot to offer on that department! I germinated one european oak (quercus roble) and one cork oak (quercus suber) which grew absolutely huge just these season (~60cm)! I will rewatch this video to cut the tap root next spring! Greetings from Porto!

Yes-like night and day! 🌳👍🏻

Thanks, glad you found it useful!

Cheers Matt! Yep, I noticed a few years ago that some of my seedlings withered beyond revival after I chopped the tap root, and others just didn't bud out until mid summer when there's less of the growing season left to grow. So tourniquetting and taprooting over two years seems to avoid that risk. I wonder why oaks seem to tap much thicker than other trees. It's also, I guess, the reason why I have never successfully kept oak yamadori alive.

Thanks so much!

Thanks Jeff! yes I think the oaks all make wonderful bonsai, I have five different species developing -- two you saw in this video, and also Holm oak (aka holly oak), Cork oak, and Portuguese oak. I haven't seen any Burr oaks here in Europe, but looking at pictures of them, they look fantastic full size. If you can reduce the leaves they would make super bonsai. I also like the look of pin-oak leaves but I think they are just too big; not sure they could be reduced sufficiently for a convincing looking bonsai.

Cheers Dave, it's always nice to see other Daves out there! 😊 I've just subscribed to your channel!

@@BlueSkyBonsai Bonsai on my youtube friend. Look forward to seeing more of your trees in. 2022!

@@DavesBonsai happy new year!!

Thanks so much! I remember it well; I'm so happy yours have budded out and are doing well. They will make fantastic bonsai in the future. It's a great plan to plant a glazed tile under the roots - that will make it so much easier to pot up in the future. Cheers! 🌳👍

Thanks! I also love oaks, they have wonderful leaves and make great bonsai

Thanks! Have fun!

You're welcome!

Thanks OB! Yes if ever you are considering what to use as potting soil for seedlings or any plants... that 16-month like-for-like comparison is clear enough for me. Cheers!

@@BlueSkyBonsai You can't get a clearer proof for the benefits of granular soil!

@@OddBonsai yep! Also there's a lot to be said for trying it out yourself and seeing the results first hand! I was surprised at how well the vermiculite worked on its own, but, it was much stickier and trickier to get off the roots than akadama or cat litter.

Thanks Zachary, good job rooting the acorns, enjoy it!

Thanks Gary! Glad to hear my videos are helpful!

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!

Thanks Nick!

Thanks BA! 🌳👍🏻

Yes 🌳👍🏻 thanks 😊

Sorry to hear about this year's oaks. I have also lost several oaks in the past, tried to take some as yamadori and they all died. They are pretty sensitive if they don't have enough fine roots. When you start on your benches next year drop me a line and I can give you an update on mine, what I'd do different next time, etc.

That sounds like very good advice - thank you!

Cheers Ian! Yep - and amazingly a few of the seedlings I decided to tourniquet have already wilted substantially in the hot sun, so I'm really happy I didn't just do the chop and hope because I'm sure they wouldn't have survived. Hey maybe they still won't make it through summer! 😂

@@BlueSkyBonsai yeah imsure they will bounce back in no time

I'm so glad you found you had done the right thing. TBH this video was one month too late or even 6 weeks late. But that's a glimpse into my life and how I have zero time spare... hey, first world problems etc... I shouldn't complain! Thanks S.Y.

Thanks and welcome to the rewarding (and addictive) world of containerized trees!

Thanks for watching and commenting!

Thank you! 🌳👍🏻

Cheers Broski!! Glad you liked it.. the tap roots have to be dealt with of course, but, if that threatens the survival of the seedling then it defeats all the work you've put in so far. Actually a few of the seedlings that I tourniquetted have already wilted a bit in the hot sun, so I'm double glad I decided not to completely chop the taps. Ps. Madrid out against Chelsea last week, did you see the match? Madrid's defense was worse than nomal, so it was almost predictable result, but my son was really sore!

Thanks Edinborogh, great idea. I wish I had more time to do more videos. I've got one coming soon about shallow pots then another one in the queue about a 9-tree forest planting. Then I need to do some early summer pruning.. and space is still an issue... hahaha I think I'm saying I have more difficulties now than I did initially!! I think I don't yet have enough subs to do a personal story, but it could work to show the challenges and setbacks, and how I overcame them. The biggest one is about tree deaths!

You're welcome! Glad you found it useful information!

​@@BlueSkyBonsai Totally! Thank you again. Now I know how to prune the tap root of my 2 year-old trees that I collected as tiny saplings last year. I subscribed to your channel and I hope to find the time to explore your videos some more. Also love your channel name. I want to create a photo garden blog with photos of our garden but couldn't yet think of a fitting name, haha. Kind greetings

@@Dispatern it's getting quite late in spring by now to prune the tap roots. If it has already grown several large leaves then you might be risking killing it to prune off the tap roots this late in the season. You could still do the torniquet part only now, then do a more severe root pruning next spring in early march?? Ps. Good luck with your blog name!

​@@BlueSkyBonsai Thank you for the advise. I'll prune the tap root next spring then. Is it okay to prune the tap root of 3 year-old trees or would the ideal time have been in the second year? That's something I'm confused about. (I've got a green thumb but I'm fairly new to the wonderful world of Bonsai.) Thank you! Every project starts with a name :) Have a nice weekend and thanks a lot for your tips. I appreciate it.

@@Dispatern it's okay to prune the tap root year 3 as long as there are plenty of fine roots still attached to the trunk (ie above where you prune). And as mentioned do it just as the leaf buds are swelling but before the leaves have all started to extend.

Thanks Garrett! That's why I always recommend planting many seeds, because some wil always die along the way. Growing them from seeds is really special, because you did everything to the tree from before it even became a tree. Good luck with the remaining cypresses!

You're welcome, and, you're right to see that you can't rush bonsai. Part of the beauty of it is in the long term development and seeing your work from 5 years ago come to fruition now! Some trees survive much easier than others. Elms and ficus for example seem to survive all kinds of chopping and hacking! But at the same time, it's inevitable that we will lose one or two trees along the way. What trees do you have?

Thanks bro!

Thanks very much 🌳👍🏻

Thanks! I'll be sure to update in the future. Good luck with the pines!

@@BlueSkyBonsaiit’s been 2 years, have you already repotted these?

@@Augustinion yes, I did it in spring this year, but unfortunately time ran out and I didn't make a video of it. Luckily I took some photos, if you're interested you can see them in this album: www.flickr.com/gp/davidhseymour/2t571HB25q -you need to scroll down a bit. I repotted them into the same deep grow pots, to keep thickening them up for another couple of years. If I get more time next spring I'll do a video. Maybe take a few out again and inspect, with a kind of "what worked and what went wrong" angle, maybe lessons learnt.

@@BlueSkyBonsai thank you!! These look amazing

Hi Isa, that's great to hear! I'm also happy for you. Are you going to be brave and tourniquet your tap root? Or will you wait until we can visit next??

@@BlueSkyBonsai I will wait :)

@@isabelcubria370 ok! I'll bring some binsai soil when we come. Whenever that may be!!

Hahaha yes, lived in Madrid for over 20 years, I drop it into a few of my videos but this time I said it right near the beginning so you couldn't miss it! In a week or two I will be attempting to construct some kind of semi-shade over the bonsai benches. Some trees love the strong sunlight, like the oaks and elms, and of course olives love full-on direct sunlight. But my Japanese maples seem to get leaf burn every year and it's not for lack of watering! Azaleas suffer too. Cheers Edu!

@@BlueSkyBonsai yeah, i just got a couple of maples and was just thinking about doing the same, but for now I'll just keep them in a shaded area. Take care!

@@PSPMHaestros thanks! Hey it's a tricky situation though, of course they need sunlight to grow, and in the shade they sometimes develop bigger leaves. But bigger leaves are better than burnt leaves, given the choice.

Great stuff David, the key is drainage so that every time you water them, a pot-load of air is also sucked down into all the pores in the soil which is essential for root health

No, sorry Darren for some reason I only took video, no photos. The thumnail is from a screen capture during the video. Or did you mean, how the roots have grown above the tourniquet 1 or 2 years later?

@@BlueSkyBonsai yeah the 2 years later stage. I have some growing through CDs but they aren’t ready yet. Impatient to see what I might find

@@grobonsai same, I have some oaks and JMs with tourniquets but they're stil buried. Have you read Harry H's 'Inspirations' books? He has some good pictures of his touniquet results in ... can't remember if it was book 1 or book 2. I'll have a look now.

Hi! Well I don't expect you would remember all my videos!! But it doesn't hurt to see them again 😉😂

@@BlueSkyBonsai Absolutely. :P I like watching them anyway. :)

Yes that's a good option. The issue here is that I left it too late in the season to do serious root work and I needed leave a lot of the fine roots on. As it is, some of the trees have lost their leaves as a result of the root pruning and hot dry Madrid air. They'll survive, but I should have done this job back in early march...

Thanks Xavier! One of the things I love about oaks is their lovely leaf shape, but at the same time those leaves draw up tons of water from the roots. This is why I find it safer to tourniquet the tap and deal with it over 2-3 years rather than a "Hail-Mary" "chop and hope". I have lost 2 oaks (that I can remember...) due to severe root pruning too late in spring when the big leaves are already demanding lots of water. I have also tourniquetted Japanese maples, sycamores, mulberry, anything with bigger leaves that risk dying of thirst after a tap-root chop. Elms and hornbeams can take quite a heavy root chop and survive ok - I haven't bothered tourniqueting them. Never tried it on a hawthorn (I don't have any) but Larch - I have one thickening up in a deep grow pot so I will inspect the root system next spring and decide whether to tourniquet it. There is a potential downside to the tourniquet. It can give lopsided or uneven radial roots. My biggest Japanese maple in a grow pot still has its tourniquet but I can't really use the resultant roots: one is so much bigger and thicker than all the others. And there is a big gap. So I will have to tourniquet again above the roots or do a full ground layer next spring. But for oaks, it's still better to do this than continue growing the massive tap root and sending out feeder roots 30cm under the trunk base...

@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks for such a detailed and useful response. That will all go onto mt tree notes for reference.

Thanks Raphael! Glad this video met your expectations.. and was relevant to your oaks. You've picked two great oak choices to develop. Of course the English oak is deciduous, but the cork oak is evergreen - they have wonderful small leaves a bit like holm oak but a deeper green and less spiky. I have two corkers, one is two years old (i.e. in its third year) and the other only 1 year old. They were both out all winter, so we know they can withstand snow and sub-zero temperatures for a significant period of time. Just saying, because they are most common in southern spain and portugal where they don't get much freezing temperatures. Haha the wine sounds good, I also drink beer by the gallon! I plan to leave my english oaks for several years to get bigger and fatter, but some of the pyrenean oaks I will probably start to bonsify sooner because they are slower growers and have smaller leaves. It's also the advantage of planting many acorns, like you did-- you have a lot more options each year for deciding whether to bonsify or continue trunk development. I'm not too keen on wiring seedlings. On one hand, now is a great time to do it, but on the other hand if you leave that wire on for just a few weeks too long, and you'll have the tell-tale spiral wire mark for many more years .. the growing bark takes a long time to forgive and forget! Maybe I will wire just a couple of them for interest but the best bet then is to unwire and rewire each 4-6 weeks, to avoid the scars. Too much effort for me, especially when you're also watching dozens of other trees. Anyway, yes, I'll continue to track these along with some of my other developing trees. And now re-reading my reply here, maybe the subject title of my future pre-bonsai development video could be "to bonsify or not to bonsify", I believe I might have invented a verb here unless someone has already coined it. 👍🍻

@@BlueSkyBonsai if people know what you mean, it's a word. And Bonsify is clear to me!!

Yes, at 3:08 you see this was grown in 100% vermiculite and it grew really vigorously. For acorns you don't need to fertilize in the first year, but from the second year I recommend fertilize every two weeks from Spring through to autum.

Thanks Toby! I have never tried a touniquet on the main trunk. I'm not sure it would work. One of the risks of air layering is that the bark starts to callus horrendously and that's why it's important to cut the layer right through the cambium and leave a sufficient space bare so that the callusing can't hinder root growth. So I think to use a tourniquet alone, the trunk would callous over it. I think you'd need to combine it with the cut layer. I might be wrong though...

Thanks Robby! Not sure if you already saw this video about ensuring your cuttings take root: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iNR3mbiWtqmbomw.html For a few weeks you need to have the cutting in an incubator or propagator to keep the humid at 100% to keep the leaves alive. Also, keep the pot resting in a shallow bowl of water for a few weeks so that the akadama stays wet. You can do this with a cutting to encourage roots, but not a seedling that already has roots because you have a risk of the water stagnating and then possibility of root rot in that water. Hope that helps!

Thanks! I don't have any bald cypresses, they're very rare in Spain. So I can't say from personal experience. If you do try the tourniquet method, there are a few things I've learnt since this video. 1, use a thick enough wire to ensure the bark doesn't callus over the wire, and wrap it 2 or 3 times around the trunk. 2, remove ALL roots above the tourniquet, otherwise they will grow much bigger and thicker than any new roots. 3, Bury the tourniquet deeply enough in the soil so that the new root plane you want doesn't become uncovered. Hope that helps!

Thanks Andrei! Now you say that, I regret not doing a close up of the different leaves. On the good side, I took some pics last year and started an archive on Flickr here: www.flickr.com/gp/davidhseymour/446xb8 I don't have any downy oaks though, but I hope this comparison helps to some extent.

@@BlueSkyBonsai Thanks for sharing :)

If you cut the tap root in half it can continue to grow new roots from the end and from many points further up the root. In the ideal situation we would want to completely remove the tap root to force all new roots to emerge next to the trunk base. But in the real world that can sometimes mean killing the seedling if it doesn't have enough remaining roots to support the water requirements of the leaves. So that's why sometimes need to cut it in half and use a touniquet to limit further root growth.

Thanks Chris! I did this last spring to over 40 seedlings, and only 1 died. I did it slightly too late in spring - the leaves had already opened up on most of the seedlings. The best time is just before the leaves unfurl, when the leaf buds are really swelling and ready to pop.

Hi Tom, I hope I have answered your questions about branch pruning in this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mbV3dK1mzte7lp8.html (part 1) And then part 2: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qOCZqNmQqMrKXYk.html If you watch these and still have doubts, let me know! Also, a lot depends on the tree species. Some grow apically (taller/upwards) while others are more laterally dominant (more bush-like). Apically dominant trees can be harder to encourage fine ramification because their genes have evolved for elongation, to push up higher than the surrounding trees. But ultimately all can be encouraged to bifurcate, just some slower than others. If you're finding only one new shoot emerges at every pruning point, prune that back to two or three leaves, then those too when they grow. Keep doing it and consider ramification a long term goal, not something you achieve in a matter of months. I really hope that helps. Above all, be patient and don't give up! 🌳👍🏻

Hi, and thanks! Yes same applies to q.ilex too. I have four holm/holly oaks from acorns that I collected near my house and planted in autumn 2017. I used the tourniquet trick on them when I moved them to bigger grow pots 3 years ago. If you're interested they are in my holm oak album in Flickr here: www.flickr.com/gp/davidhseymour/i8173e The last photo in that album was Nov 2020 so I probably better take some new photos... they are already quite a lot bigger now. I am considering turning one of them into a small bonsai already. I'll need to transfer to an intermediate pot first to train the roots and start developing nebari.

Yes! Also, if your tree already has several leaves like in this video, keep it watered and in the shade for a couple of weeks to prevent the leaves from drying due to a temporarily depleted root system. If it already has a lot of large leaves, put a clear plastic bag over it for a week or so, to virtually stop the transpiration in the leaves while it regrows new tiny roots. HTH!

I wouldn't recommend vermiculite because it gradually breaks down in the winter freezes - I did it on this on tree as an experiment. Much better soil would be: Akadama if you can get, mixed with tiny chopped pine bark and pumice, all seived to get rid of the dust. The reason for using granular soil (instead of compost) is to allow good drainage and to continually get oxygen down to all the roots every time you water. Get rid of the dust before potting so that it doesn't clog up the pores in the soil and the drainage holes. HTH

Ps. 53? You still have a long life ahead of you!!

Yes I would leave them until next spring - early spring just as you see the new leaf buds swelling. Because oaks can be a bit sensitive to root work this close to summer with their large leaf area.

Thank you! It depends where you are. If you're in the northern hemisphere, you should wait until early spring next year. Oaks don't respond well to root work in the heat of summer. If you're in the southern hemisphere then you're nearly at the right time to do it, as soon as you see the buds swelling, go for it! Vermiculite worked well but it starts to break down after a year or so, so if you can mix it with perlite or pumice then it should hold its structure for a couple of years. If you can get hold of some akadama then that would work great.

@@BlueSkyBonsai many thanks. I'll do it next spring then, I'm in sunny England. 30 degrees today

@@sarahrhi82 sounds fresh! 😁 38 in Madrid today due to keep rising during the week 🥵

What species is it? Usually you'd want a seedling to grow for a whole year before starting any pruning.

I have never applied a wound sealant to cut roots. But maybe you could do that to make sure no more roots emerge from the cut location. Give it a try!

Do you mean the Pyrenean Oak at 3:10 ? The soil was 100% vermiculite. It's good for one year only then decomposes to a mush. So you can use it for seedlings for 1 year but not good for establisted trees that you leave in a pot for more years.

Thanks so much Oyens! There is so much long-term pleasure in developing your own trees from seeds. My advice is, carefully move them into indvidual pots now while it's still spring, with granular soil to get the the maximum chance of fine-root development. Like you saw in this video, even pure vermiculite will be good enough, or perlite. Perlite is great, but too lightweight so I've found mixing it 50-50 with a heavier component like any of akadama, pumice, leca/expanded clay, or turface in USA (not available here in EU). If you leave them in the seed tray until next year, it would probably be okay but the roots will start to intermingle and you just make more work for yourself untangling them next year. Also, in general it's better if your tap root goes directly downwards, rather than twisting and going horizontal. If it goes straight down, you always have the option of using some part of the tap root as your trunk. HTH.

@@BlueSkyBonsai Thank you so much for the answer (and such a thorough one as well!). Luckily I have both vermiculite, perlite, akadama, pumice and lava rock (plus sifters!). So I will go on to carefully repot my oaks this weekend and slip pot my zelkova in a slightly bigger pot since they are growing very well. My acers I will leave them alone since one of them is very weak since it germinated early (february!). Once again thank you and keep up the great work!

@@Watashiwapitadesu sounds like your seedlings are in good hands 🌳👍🏻

Thanks C., funny you should say that... most Brits pronounce it in false-french like "torniquey" but I decided to go for the mid-atlantic pronounciation with a hard T on the end. That, and Roger Waters is my dad.. no he's not, of course. Roger Waters would be great nominative determinism for a garden assistant ("Do you know Roger Waters? No, but thanks for the tip!") Regarding the curly tap root, I kept a couple of them like that, and exposed the twists above the soil like for a bit of fun. I think a tap root with a modest curve would be fine to use as a trunk, but most of the twists were too severe in stark contrast with the straight trunk. Btw, still planning on sending you a couple of them, I'll let you know when they're in the post.

@@BlueSkyBonsai OK so I went back and listened to the song (it had been a while) and sure enough, he says "torniQUEY", all Frenchy-like. Unreal, as I'd always sung it (and heard) a hard "T" when spinning the cassette that I ripped from my CD so I could play it in my '84 hatchback Accord. Also I've googled "nominative determinism" and now understand your Waters joke. Very clever, David. Yes I'm sure the degree of twisty insanity would determine whether that part of the trunk were usable or not...good call. It was fresh in my mind as the same thing just happened to me when repotting a hornbeam (hopefully you'l see that soon). Send what you will, though I am undeserving.

@@BostonBonsaiIdiot For interest: About 40 years ago my dad went into a serious depression after he listened and investigated the lyrics of The Wall. Since then I've never really wanted to get into it! except of course the songs are still on the radio all the time... But if I listen now to Dark Side of the Moon I get massive nostalgia from my childhood.. same with Beatles and one or two others. Now I'm showing my age ...

@@BlueSkyBonsai There's something about the tone of that record that's mysteriously jarring. Add to that the subject matter, and the fact that your dad is British and of a certain age...perfect storm. I totally get it. Luckily, you brits have all the other greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time to fall back on, so there should have been no shortage of musical enjoyment in that house!

@@BostonBonsaiIdiot all true, but I also have to say one of my all time favourites was Simon and Garfunkel, that beautiful music was often wafting round the house in those years and I still love it now. And you had Elvis, and Roy Orbison. So it's six of one, half a dozen of the other...?

Sorry I can't advise, I don't have any Japanese red pines.

Yes it's possible and good for the trees. If they are deciduous oaks you need to let them get cold (below 10 degree C) for a couple of months each year so they can have a dormant period. But several oak species can keep their leaves and survive 20-30 degrees all year round, like holm oak (quercus ilex), cork oak (q. suber), Portuguese oak (q. faginea).

Hi Joshua, vermiculite encourages more fine roots but it breaks down after a year, can't cope with more than two winters outdoors. So yes I would use vermiculite again for other oaks' acorns too, knowing that in the second spring I have to repot, like in this video. Most oaks don't like too severe root work, but it's much less risky at the start of Spring just when you see the buds swelling ready to pop. Yes you can email me if you want, dave@blueskybonsai.com

Try perlite and turface 50/50, seived to rdmove the dust and fines. I prefer pumice to perlite but it's rare to get pumice in 4-5mm particles. Perlite is a very good alternative, but is very lightweight and I prefer heavier soil because it's very windy where I live.

@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks for taking the time to answer questions, I really appreciate the advice!

Best time is indeed before I shot this. The safest time is just when you see the buds swelling ready to pop.

Thanks for the reply, my oak is on year 2 now has buds and some leaves are just opening now. It's inside because I thought I had lost it this winter. Is the best time now then?

@@samjohnson3170 now yes. The later you leave it the more risk it has. But at this time of year you'll need to leave it indoors to avoid the frost freezing those lovely new buds, until there's no chance of frost outside. 👍🏻

Hi, It depends on the species - some root much faster than others, e.g. oaks, wait 2 years, but elms, 1 year. What tree is it?

@@BlueSkyBonsai hi i presume it's an English oak. It's an oak tree I found as a baby when out walking

@@sarahrhi82 even if you don't prune the roots now, Spring is a good time to lift it out of the pot and inspect the roots. So you can see if it has rooted prolifically and there are loads of fine roots coming from above the tap root, that's your chance to cut the tap root further now. But if you're not sure, leave it another year. Patience is the key in bonsai!

@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks, great I was hoping you would say that.

Hi Sarah, if you use vermiculite or any inorganic granular soil, yes then it's a good idea to fertilise at least every second week. However not straight after repotting/root pruning... let it recover for 5-6 weeks before fertilising. Lechuza pon, never tried it - it looks ok but maybe you need more water retention in your soil - it depends on your climate. Here in hot Madrid that would be too dry too quickly. If your climate is cooler and wetter I guess that substrate might work. But again, not great to use fertilizer straight after root pruning trees in containers ... I see lechuza pon already has fertilizer ingredients. Maybe you could try it for one seedling, and vermiculite for another, then compare the results after a year?

@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks so much for reply. Yes I may do that or mix a bit of the lechuza pon with vermiculite. Is there any particular fertiliser you would use if just vermiculite? Many thanks Sarah

@@sarahrhi82 sounds like a good plan. I use regular universal liquid fertilizer diluted to the amount in the instructions.

Thanks for the suggestion! I will add it to the list of future video ideas. Although I have to tell you, the list is getting quite long! Which is a good position to be in. 🌳👍🏻

@@BlueSkyBonsai thank you. Bad insect prevention should be top of that list ! 😀

Hi Matt, if you have the extra pots and space, I would separate them (carefully) as soon as you see the roots starting to extend more than an inch or so. The longer you leave it, the more work it is to untangle them. Even if you're planning to develop them as an oak forest, it's still easier to grow them separately for the first few years so each one gets the water and nutrients it individually needs, and so you can prune each tree's roots separately before combining them in a group planting. Whereas, if you keep them together then you're (almost) stuck with that positioning configuration of trees. And pruning tap roots is more precarious if you can't tell which root comes from which tree. Couple of years ago I converted a 5-tree forest to a 9-tree in a bigger pot (not oaks though) and the most time consuming part was separating the original 5 and pruning their roots. Hope that helps!

@@BlueSkyBonsai .. Thanks so much Dave

@@BlueSkyBonsai . Was that your Ginkgo forest? I love that one

@@mattbrennan647 yes that's the one. These 3 pics show how it looked in Nov: instagram.com/p/ClJemzjDZSF/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

@@BlueSkyBonsai .. wow! Beautiful Dave.

Ground or bigger pot... depends how soon you want to turn them into bonsai (assuming that's your plan). If you want to trunk chop quite soon then I would recommend slip-pot them into bigger pots with granular soil, and try not to disturb the roots. It's possible that they are suffering because they are badly potbound. Right now in autumn is a bad time to do any root work on oaks, I have accidentally killed an oak by repotting too late in the year. But they should be fine if you transplant without pruning roots. If you are considering waiting another 5 years before bonsifying them, then maybe they would do better in the ground. Either way you are eventually going to need to do very significant root work (early springtime) when you do finally want to train them as bonsai. And I would recommend not in spring 2022 but let them recover for a year first. Good luck!

@@BlueSkyBonsai That's great - thank you.

@@BoredOfBills you're welcome! I'll be interested to hear how they look in Spring

Hej Syster Yster! The white fluff might be caused by mealybugs, which have a waxy coating and repel most insecticides. I've had them on a juniper and on a dwarf jade, and on a pomegranate brought by ants. The best way to get rid of them is to get a cotton bud, dip in surgical alcohol and dab them all off. The alcohol gets though the wax and the critters die happy. Another natural method that works (as long as ants aren't involved) is to get several ladybirds and put them in the tree. They stay there and feed on the mealybugs. Ants are bad, they actively farm the mealybugs and consume their excretion! The other possibility if your trees are permanently warm and humid, is it could be fungus. But I guess not. Mealybugs have about 4 or 5 stages of metamorphosis and the first stage are like minuscule white dots the size of pinheads. Alcohol does the trick, variously. 🍻😁

@@BlueSkyBonsai Hmm, I can't see any bugs on them. I've looked and looked. I'll look again just to make sure though. But we have had a stupidly warm and humid summer so far. Maybe fungus then. It's like raining every other day right now, but still stays around 20'C warm. This summer is weird. We can even pick chanterelles (mushrooms) already, like 2 months too early. The birches are growing like crazy though. XD If it's fungus, what do I do about it?

I didn't do a video update because I didn't get enough good footage, but I took a few photos of how some of them look now. If you're interested you can see them in this flickr album- the last 12 photos are from March this year, removing some of the tourniquets and inspecting the roots: flic.kr/s/aHsmJ7vVRq

Wow, that turned out great! Excited to see how my roots look next year and I will for surely use the tourniquet method on it if needed. Mine is Coastal live oak from California, guess they are slow growers but I plan to make a shohin out of it one day if possible. Just happy one took off from see last year

Slow growers can sometimes be better for bonsai in the long term, because once they're in refinement stage they need less work than trees like common elms which need more frequent attention. By the way, the tourniquet method worked on about half the seedlings but not on the other half. Some of them continued to grow the tap root fatter underneath the tourniquet, which then bulged and met up above the tourniquet, enveloping it almost completely. Some of those could be salvaged but one or two were completly unusable. My takeaway from this, (and yeah perhaps I should have done a short video update...) was that for the tourniquets I should have used a thicker wire, and wrapped it round the tap root 3 times to ensure the lower growth could never meet up above the tourniquet. I also should have planted them deeper because a couple of them had become uncovered to the level of the tourniquet, meaning they couldn't produce new roots about it. Hope that helps you with your Coastal live oaks - good luck!

Ps. I encourage you to plant several more live oak acorns again this year! in my opinion there is too much risk and hopes on only one seedling. Y'know, if you have 10 and one dies, not too big a deal, but if you have one and it dies.. enough said!

GREAT QUESTIONS Felix, thnx for asking. Not all bonsai need wires. But they are useful when you're developing a desired style and your tree grows naturally in the opposite direction, for example most trees grow branches upwards but on an old, full size tree gravity pulls those massive heavy branches downwards so in a small potted tree we often need wires to achieve the appearance of heavy branches. I often use guy-wiring which you can see in the second half of this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/odiJh5eAvLjPhas.html I don't like wiring the trunk because that does make the tree look false, like a typical shop bonsai. And the wires often dig into the bark very quickly, leaving a spiral scar that stays on the trunk bark for years after. Bonsai are real trees; not some special dwarf species. We use frequent branch pruning and yearly or 2-yearly root pruning to keep them small and encourage small, in-proportion leaves. In this video I talk a lot about the pruning techniques and how to make a bonsai appear like a tiny version of a big tree in nature. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mbV3dK1mzte7lp8.html Hope that answered your questions!!

thanks so much

All good - thanks. Last year I sold some and sent some to bonsai friends, but the remaining ones are looking good. I recently did the year-4 repots and removed the tourniquets. I'm not doing a video on them this year, but if you're interested you can see some that I removed the tourniquets in the last 12 or so photos in this album: www.flickr.com/gp/davidhseymour/bWTZ0eUNm7

@@BlueSkyBonsai perfect. They look great! Did you need to remove the tourniquet or did you just leave it to grow around?

@@Ad_DOOM I removed the tourniquet on most of them, at the same time as chopping the remaining tap root. But some of them had the tap root grown completely over the tourniquet and unfortunately that meant The tap root continued to grow side roots so on those few I put another thicker tighter tourniquet for the next 2 years.

Cannot deny it, you were quick to comment! :)

Γεια σας, αν παρακολουθείτε το βίντεο σε υπολογιστή ((όχι σε τηλέφωνο), μπορείτε να κάνετε κλικ στο CC για παρακολούθηση με υπότιτλους. Στη συνέχεια, μπορείτε να ορίσετε τις επιλογές αυτόματης μετάφρασης των υπότιτλων στα ελληνικά. Ελπίζω να βοηθήσει!

Thank you!!

Most countries and states have laws about digging up trees, we need to get written permission from our local authorities. If you have the permission, then try to keep as much of the roots as possible intact because a lot of trees taken from the wild die in their first few months due to sudden root loss.

Thank you!!

🤓

@@derrickjoe1872 Then they incorrect

@@derrickjoe1872 I concede there is a difference between British and American pronunciation, due to our historical relationship with France. I urge you to Google ‘tourniquet pronunciation’ and you will see the two versions. Thank you for attempting to mansplain however. It has been amusing for this Linguistics BA 🤣. I could go into more technical detail but I really don’t think it’s worth my time. Have a good day.

@@derrickjoe1872 He’s BRITISH therefore he was pronouncing it in an incorrectly for a BRITISH person 🙄. I kindly pointed out the correct pronunciation for HIM. I didn’t want him to sound like he didn’t know and open him up to ridicule for being ignorant of the fact. It was a kindness, and politely done. You might notice that he thanked me, like a true English gentleman. He’s lovely and I felt protective. My degree is not worthless at all, and your personal attack suggests you feel a little threatened by people with an education. I’m sorry you feel that antipathy. I’m done with this conversation, so feel free to carry on being rude. I will not be reading or engaging. That ‘Thank you’ was all I needed. Good day.