Celtis occidentalis North American Common Hackberry Part II

     I ordered my North American Common Hackberry on 24 January 2025 and they arrived exactly one week later on 31 January 2024 (today).

    I cut open the envelope and finally got the seeds in my hand just like a mad man! Just looking at those little seeds and thinking of the possibilities yet to come made me feel all warm and tingly inside, just like that time I peed on an electric fence. 

    After getting my private physical reactions I took the seeds out of the package and for once followed the directions. I'm supposed to soak them for a solid 24 hours. So I tossed those bad boys in a jar of water and set my timer. 

    The reasoning behind soaking the seeds is because they are filthy because they are from New York 😲 Just kidding New York, nothing but love for ya. The truth is that if a seed floats it isn't viable. So if your seed floats, there is a big chance that it will never germinate. Seeds that sink are thought to have a healthy embryo inside. A healthy embryo is heavier than the air pockets that are likely inside the floaters. See I'm smacking some knowledge in you noggin! Respect!  So come back tomorrow and I will be putting them in the fridge and let them chill for a solid 90 days. 

   If you want to follow along the progress of my 2025 Hackberry Contest entry, just click the subscribe button. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section below and you may contact me directly at Aaron@K5ATG.com

Until Next Time

Aaron Scott    

Jade Cutting

     When I had asked on the Bonsai Nut Forum for some Tiger Bark Ficus cuttings, one of the users that responded was Carol83 of Illinois. She sent me a whole grab bag assortment of trees. There were several rooted Tiger Bark Ficus cuttings, a too small Ficus (sadly I believe this died) and a couple of jade cuttings. 

    Jade is a succulent and not something that I actively sought for a bonsai. That was my mistake and Carol83, without knowing it corrected me with these two.

     It the photo above, it is a bit hard to tell but there are two plants in the pot. One is standing upright proud and mighty and the other one is like me, laying down and lazy. I don't have any names picked out, perhaps you could help me in the comments section below. Since I received them and took this picture, both plants have shown strong signs of life. 

    If you do a search of Jade Bonsai, you will see a plethora of beautiful examples. Since these are so small and I'm completely new to Jade, I'm gonna let them grow out a bit before I attempt any styling. 

        If you want to follow along the progress of these two Jade plants, just click the subscribe button. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section below and you may contact me directly at Aaron@K5ATG.com

Until Next Time, Stay Keep Growing Planet Earth

Aaron Scott   

Twiggy Tom - Tiger Bark Ficus

     I recently received a gift of Tiger Bark Ficus cuttings from fellow Bonsai Nut member RJG2. It was a large bundle of cuttings that he had started and then never got the chance of sorting them out. 

   

     I decided to slip pot them into a larger pot and then I gave them a rough pruning to clean them up a bit. When I pulled them out of the pot that they came in, one of the cuttings was pretty lose so I went ahead and removed and put it in its own pot. 

Twiggy Tom 25 January 2025

    Since I have untold mental disorders, I decided to name it Twiggy Tom. It seems like a good name for it. I put it in the only real bonsai pot that I have. It isn't plastic, I don't think that it is ceramic, it could be just clay. I've had this pot since 1997. A soon as I transplanted it, it lost all of its leaves, so he is living up to his name. At the time of this post Tom is regrowing his leaves so he doesn't feel so naked. 

    I have Twiggy Tom in a prize spot at my amateur radio station. He is soaking up some rays beneigh a full spectrum grow light and listens in as I talk to other hams all around the world. 

    I don't have a style picked out yet, I hope that Tom will let me know. Bonsai Enthusiast / YouTube sensation Nigel Saunders of The Bonsai Zone has an epic Serissa that he has used clip and grow to create a African Acacia Tree complete with a zebra taking a break in its shade. Do you think that Twiggy Tom can be inspired to grow into something like that?

    If you want to follow along as Twiggy Tom goes from a leafless twig into a beautiful bonsai tree, just click the subscribe button. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section below and you may contact me directly at Aaron@K5ATG.com

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Planet Earth

Aaron Scott

Celtis occidentalis North American Common Hackberry Part I

     The Bonsai Nut Forums is a great place to learn all about every aspect of bonsai from seed to majestic tree. At the time of this post Bonsai Nut has more than 33,000 members that have posted more than 1,100,00 posts. Each year there is usually a contest that is started. Since we are talking about bonsai tree's here, these contests will generally last years. After all a bonsai tree will generally become better as it ages. Most of the contest are in the range of 5 years but the participants of the contest regardless of rather they win or not, will continue updating their contest entry long after the contest has ended. 

    The great contest of 2025 is The Celtis (Hackberry) Scored Progression Contest  This will be a perpetual so there isn't an end date. From my understanding people do not have to start with their entry tree in 2025. They are welcome to join at any time and are allowed to have as many entries as they want, provided that each entrant tree has it's own progression thread.   

    I know nothing about the Hackberry tree. I don't recall ever even being around one. That's ok because the 33,000 + Bonsai Nut members are usually eager to help you out.  I chose Celtis occidentalis North American Common Hackberry by considering advice from the Bonsai Nut forums, and as looking at the picture below, Oklahoma City is right at the southern boundary of its natural growth zone. 

I have heard good things about the quality of seed from Sheffield's Seed so I placed an order for some Hackberry seeds. 

 Now it's just the waiting game for the seeds to arrive. 

   If you want to follow along the progress of my 2025 Hackberry Contest entry, just click the subscribe button. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section below and you may contact me directly at Aaron@K5ATG.com

Until Next Time

Aaron Scott    

Japanese Black Pine Experiment 1.2

 Well not one of the JBP seeds sprouted. I think that I got a bad batch or something. I guess if you try to save some money by growing something by tree, you will end up spending any money that you tried to save by having to get more seeds. The seed starter tray seems to be doing ok though, I have some Tiger Bark Ficus cuttings in there right now and they look promising. 

I will need to order more seeds or figure out another way to get some Japanese Black Pine.

If you have any questions or comments please put them in the comment section below this post. I do encourage you to subscribe to this blog so that you will be notified for any new posts. If you have an idea or something that you would like to see me try then please let me know. My email is Aaron@k5atg.com

Follow me along as this blog grows. 

Aaron