…of an old year seems like a fitting way to sum up life in the garden at the moment. As always it parallels my own life as there’s been some significant changes over the last couple months. Which partly explains my absence, although it was also partly due to stepping back and focusing on some of my other obsessions for awhile. In the name of balance and all of course, no single obsession should ever detract from another…



As this year rapidly dies and we get ready for the birth of next year, I’ve been meaning to write and today I had the perfect excuse, the creation of my first Potzai! Yep, that’s right I’m taking a stab at growing my own pot bonsai for no specific reason other then the challenge and curiosity. It’s one of many idea’s or opportunities that have popped up in the last month or two since I last wrote. I’ll leave that for another post though as I have plants waiting to be trimmed and I’m running out of day to trim them in. The last week in particular I’ve been slammed as the crop of Sunshine and assorted clones mostly came down in the same week, along with starting a small job painting. So I’ll have to do a general garden update, bud review and so forth next time as I’m trying to keep it short today.

Saying goodbye as they part ways

I’ve been toying with the idea of growing a root-over-rock bonsai with pot for the last couple week whenever I look at my mini-mom’s, plants up to 16 weeks old in 4″ pots. This week it all came together at the worst time imaginable as we rush towards the holidays, but you can’t let opportunities pass even if the timings not ideal. So I jumped in head first, logic tossed to the wind. It all started Monday as I was pruning René and getting them ready to flower in a week or two. I realised René #3 was the perfect plant to bonsai as it naturally grows slowly, has really tight internodes and lots of branching to work with. Well, as perfect as such an imperfect plant to bonsai can be. Tuesday I happened to notice that one clone I’m giving away this weekend at the Santa Clones edition of NugSwap was actually two, I had forgotten I popped two unrooted clones into it. It also happened to be #3 coincidentally. Finally Wednesday I happened to find a good stone with the right shape and look I wanted. Since I had to separate the clones anyway, I figured why not take some quick snaps and let the world know I’m still alive, just absent lately.

Ms Ganja meet Mr Rock

There was nothing too fancy about it, just a nice pointed shape with some good recesses for roots to grow in.

Fits like a glove

I’ve never grown a root-over-rock bonsai myself but it was my favourite style when I grew them in my youth. After rinsing the roots and arranging over the roots, soil is packed around them and traditionally it’s buried. Slowly the soil is washed away revealing the beautiful roots growing over the rocks.

I cheated though, using saran wrap to cover the rock/rootball to hold everything in place. Since the roots and soil are so light I was worried about them being washed around during waterings. This way there’s less fear of that as there’s more pressure directly on the roots/rock.

Finally, since it’s xmas and there was some extra crushed brick around I figure why not add it to add a bit of holiday cheer. Now to let it do it’s thing, keep it wet until the roots grow into the smart pot below and start thinking about what kind of shape I want it to be.



In case I don’t have time to write again before the holidays, I hope everyone has a safe and joyous season with lots of laughs.