Choosing the Appropriate Tree

Since I now have a pot to use, I need to choose the best candidate to become a bonsai tree from the tree saplings growing in my backyard. I have few tree saplings to choose from.



The Mansanitas tree is a small berry-like fruit. It just grows in one of the pot intended for my ornamental plant. The ornamental plant originally planted on that pot died because it was overpowered by the Mansanitas tree. I already cut this tree but it grows again, and last summer, this tree already dried up but new leaves show up again when the rainy season came.

The second one is the Kalamansi tree, a small citrus fruit that appears as cross between a lemon and lime. In the west it is variously known as acid orange, calamondin orange, or Panama orange. It has also outlived the ornamental plant in one of my pot but it has a small trunk, so it will be hard to for me to make it look like an old tree.

The last one is the Atis, in English it is most widely known as sugar-apple or sweetsop, also sometimes custard-apple. This tree is also durable and has a good size trunk, but the leave is a bit large, so it will not look good for a miniature tree.

Since the trunk and stems of Mansanitas easily grows and looks matured and its hardiness has been proven. And being the oldest among the tree sapling growing in my backyard, I think it is the best material to train into bonsai form. Since I had now a pot and had chosen the tree to use, I will start the practice of bonsai development, which will be documented on my next post.

Bonsai Pot

To start my quest of having my own grown bonsai plants, I need to acquire first the materials needed. The two important materials I need are the pot and garden soil. I have no problem with the soil because, I already have a compose I made from the kitchen waste. So the only material that I need to produce is the pot. I will no longer buy the pot, I will just create my own using any material available in my house. The Styrofoam from the packaging of the rice cooker I purchased can be used in creating the pot.



I will not follow the traditional size of bonsai pot. The size will depend on the available Styrofoam I have. I have a two octagon shape sytrofoam and the size is 1 square foot.



I removed the extra part in the center of styrofoam to widened the pot interior.



Then I joined them together using small stick and hot glue.



Bingo, I have now a pot for my first bonsai tree. I understand that the durability of this pot is questionable but I will only use this as a training box. I will then transfer it to the final presentation pot once the tree achieved the desired size, shape and design.