Best Place Online to Find Quality Bonsai Trees

SilverArowanaBoi

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 21, 2023
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Houston, Texas
Hey y'all! I've been getting into yet another hobby...plants, in this case, specifically bonsai trees. Is there a store online where I can find quality bonsai trees for good prices? Also another thing, does anyone know of any small (like that can fit under a small shelf) light that will provide good light for the bonsais? Thank you!
 

Ansorgii

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 31, 2016
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South-West-Germany
Any Plant grow light should do, just be aware that "real" bonsai are very finicky and unforgiving. Its a death-costly hobby for beginners.

Maybe try to make one on your own, the cheap/affordable stuff were crippled just before aswell.

For a shelf I would recommend building a small greenhouse/use a jar instead. You will see results a lot sooner and can leave them for a week or two without issues.
 
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SilverArowanaBoi

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 21, 2023
1,406
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Houston, Texas
Any Plant grow light should do, just be aware that "real" bonsai are very finicky and unforgiving. Its a death-costly hobby for beginners.

Maybe try to make one on your own, the cheap/affordable stuff were crippled just before aswell.

For a shelf I would recommend building a small greenhouse/use a jar instead. You will see results a lot sooner and can leave them for a week or two without issues.
What do you mean by real bonsai? I have Chinese Elm right now. Is that real in that sense?
 

Ansorgii

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 31, 2016
143
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South-West-Germany
Its not about the species, its about how it was grown and is kept.

What i mean is that they sit in tiny pods with very little ability to store water, making them dry out easily if you dont watch closely. It usually doesn't kill them the first time, but if it happens more often then they die away. They take a longer time to recover aswell.

And the "real" ones have been slowly grown and carefully groomed over many years, making them very expensive

The plants you usually see in a store grew regularly to a certain size and where then cut and bend into shape, a faster and cheaper process, but you can tell the difference.
 
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krichardson

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2006
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Datnoid Island
Bonsais are pretty difficult. A lot harder than they seem. They're not just a house plant.
....not really difficult in my opinion but most importantly one has to be educated on the needs of the particular species one wants to try keeping.I dabble in them a bit and I have ordered from Weigerts bonsai as well as from a few sellers on Ebay.
There is a bonsai thread here but it hasn't had any activity in quit some time.
 
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esoxlucius

Balaclava Bot Butcher
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Dec 30, 2015
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UK
Bonsais are pretty difficult. A lot harder than they seem. They're not just a house plant.
From my extremely limited knowledge of bonsai I would tend to go along with this.

My mother in law received a nice looking little bonsai at Christmas. A couple of weeks later and it had lost all of its leaves and looked pretty dead to me.

She knows i'm a bit of a plant guy so she give it me to bring back to life! But alas, it was too far gone, completely dead.

I started doing a bit of research on them and these things are definitely a labour of love. To get the desired and professional bonsai effect can take literally decades with these miniature trees.

I decided at that moment that I wouldn't be going down the bonsai path anytime soon.

I'll stick to my prayer plants, they're challenging enough for me, lol.
 
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jjohnwm

Sausage Finger Spam Slayer
MFK Member
Mar 29, 2019
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These guys from Hawaii sells some nice indoor bonsai. Their larger ones are amazing

View attachment 1536872
Lol, if I were trying to sell bonsai online I don't think I could come up with a worse name than this if I tried! :ROFL:

Is this place legit...or is it just a joke??
 

esoxlucius

Balaclava Bot Butcher
MFK Member
Dec 30, 2015
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UK
Lol, if I were trying to sell bonsai online I don't think I could come up with a worse name than this if I tried! :ROFL:

Is this place legit...or is it just a joke??
Lol. I believe "***u", a Japanese reference, means "good luck" or "good fortune". Going off how difficult it is to properly master the art of bonsai, I'd say it's quite an apt name! You need all the luck you can get with those things, lol.

But then on the other hand, it is a name that could also have been born out of pure frustration by someone who failed miserably trying to keep them alive. Pulling their hair out after killing yet another bonsai maybe they just looked forlornly at the scrawny dead little tree and shouted, "***u bonsai", and voila, the name was born, lol.
 
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