I just want to tell you, there are many bonsai channels, but I have few favourites amongs them, that I really enjoy to watch, and I am impatiently checking for new episodes.. and your channel is one of these. Great work, great wisdom, great videos! Thank you 👍😉

Thank you so much. I started my cork oaks from acorns collected in Modesto a few years ago. The little trees are so vigrous, I need to start looking for guidance for starting to shape them. Your guest's tree is truly incredible.

Yeah I went to UCDAVIS they had this cork oaks planted all over the town and the campus they are more than 100 years old when the University was created 1908 as a farm University. The cork oaks only grow in south west Spain and Portugal. They are forest of cork oaks, the ones in Davis came from this part of the world because many Portuguese moved to Sacramento at that time from the island of Madeira . That’s the connexion since they don’t grow in another place than this region. They are absolutely gorgeous very tall and a beautiful bark grey color.

Very informative video and nice variety of oaks. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the video!

Usually in Spain and Portugal the cork grows back and can be harvested again between 9 and 15 years, the trees must be at least 30 or 40 years old before the first harvest

Clearly information here. Learning a new plant species for me

Portugal is the world leader in cork. We export approximately US$1.1 billion annually. 62% of the world's cork exportation are made from our country.

thank you for sharing this bonsai tree video 👍🛑🙏🙏

on Mike's awesome oak you guy's were talking about the thick upper branch, but i like to call them trunk extensions, like an oak in the wild, a lot end up being multi trunked.

Thank you for this video. I’ve been following this same approach but it’s good to know I’m not messing them up. I have some cork bark oaks I started growing from acorns at the same time as these but unfortunately I’m up in Seattle and I don’t get nearly the same heat and vigor of growth you get.

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

That's funny, I think the same thing when comparing to growers in LA.

❤❤❤❤❤

👍👍👍

I’ve got a cork oak from the iohnsteen company a few years ago and it’s still alive! Here in Richmond Virginia, I wonder if I’ll be able to keep it alive for a long time- did well outside the past couple years though!

Eric, thanks for following up with this video. The one I got from you last month has adjusted to its new spot on my bench and is now growing like a weed so your video came just in time. I just sat down and put a bunch of new curves into the 4 straight shoots that are about 8-10” long. Hopefully with all the fresh new growth they will do well. Any other tips on timing of things like repotting and how they take root work in the spring would be appreciated. Also it would appear that if these in 3” pots are moved to gallon pots next spring I might get explosive growth over the next growing season. So your thoughts on repotting and root disturbance would be even more important.

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

While young I would concentrate on combing and arranging the roots. I've seen them die from overly aggressive root work, so be careful about how much you cut. Timing wise - early spring is best, but keep in mind these are not a cold-hardy species. Zone 8 USDA, but in a bonsai container I'd aim for 28F or above.

@blueridgebonsai9155

Жыл бұрын

So this one just keeps on growing, when do they usually go dormant? Since I received it the main stem has added at least 10” of new growth. I wired and twisted all three shoots and they have extended 2-3” beyond the wire! I finally tried an experiment and snipped off the end of the longest one to see it f I could get it to backbud. I plan to put it in my garage for the winter as my wife already hates it when I bring my Brazilian rain tree into the house each fall. I had a slippery elm that refused to drop its leaves last year that I then wintered in the garage and it is growing well in spite of not having a dormant period.

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

Lol. Yeah you have to let bonsai get kinda big and lanky for a while if you want the larger trunk and bark. Being a coastal mediterranean species it is likely opportunistic - as long as conditions are right it keeps growing. We see this with a lot of coastal California trees also.

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How difficult is it to propagate oaks from across? Do they need scarification or stratification?

When do you cut the tap roots? I’ve grown Texas live oaks from seed 2 years ago. Had them in 1 gallon pots from seed. They grew long. I repotted on the second year in bonsai mix and cut the tap roots off. I’m going to check them on their third year and move them to larger shallow pots.

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

Tap roots aren't a myth, but they are mis-understood. They are just a big root essentially, you can cut it back after the first year or two, then continue cutting it back as the tree makes more lateral roots and you repot a few times more in subsequent years.

Great video, thank you for all the insight, but a quick heads-up, that even has been mentioned in the comments. Although not an incorrect comment when you mentioned that cork oaks can be found in Spain and in most Mediterranean countries, they are much more abundant in Portugal, which is the one of, if not, the largest cork supplier and exporter in the world. Side note, I have recently bought a piece of land that has several mature big cork oaks, and I'm trying to grow a bonsai from them. Will a stem work or do you advise planting seeds? Thanks in advance!

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

I think you can air-layer them, but not cuttings. I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that oaks are basically never propagated by cutting. I just planted a couple hundred acorns that came from the cork oaks on the UC Davis campus. They don't harvest the bark out there, so it's a gnarly campus. So, my strategy is acorns. Unfortunately, in the northern hemisphere you just missed the season to pick them. See if there are any left?

Can you do a guide care for cork oak specially winter care ? I’m from Pennsylvania

Would it be a viable solution to apply the wire when dormant, then wait to actually bend once it's growing? It seems like that way you get the best of both worlds.

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

Great question - and I assume it would - although you do bend the branch a little just by applying wire. But, I think it could work.

Eric-so based on one summer of growth these seem to have a tendency to just take off and grow like crazy extending long branches and stems. So instead of just chopping these back and tossing them in the compost, how well do they root as cuttings or as air layers?

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

Dirr says that cuttings of all oaks are difficult but not impossible. Use a high PPM IBA rooting hormone (perhaps Hormex #16). I believe air-layers can be successful, but cuttings might be a bit frustrating! In any case, success with either would be heat- and rapid growth-dependent, so better left for late spring/summer.

Would these grow indoors for the winter? I know its way to cold to keep them outside in the snow belt.

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

I don't know for sure. Probably not ideal. Maybe possible.

From little acorns grow great oaks. How long would it take for these newbies take to develop acorns and are they in proportion to the tree or big?

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

Oaks normally take quite a while to start making acorns. I've never seen any on my 17 year old valley oaks, but I trim them normally so that may be the issue. They tend to be slightly smaller, but not miniature...kinda like the leaves.

@bnsaibum

Жыл бұрын

While I don't have any cork oak, I do have a number of other oaks that I've started from acorns and this year one I started in 2000 began developing a few acorns.

@9daywonda

Жыл бұрын

Are the acorns mini ones or near actual size?

@9daywonda

Жыл бұрын

@@Bonsaify Nice one, that really clears up the confusion on my part. The Oak tree is actually Welsh and not English as the text books would suggest?

@bnsaibum

Жыл бұрын

@@9daywonda They were small, but that's because they aborted very early in their development.

Which is the best soil for Cork Oaks I’m in SoCal!.

@Bonsaify

5 ай бұрын

1:1:1: APL would be my choice.

@Chuy007GDL

5 ай бұрын

@@Bonsaify Thank you very much!. Great video I just bought my first Cork Oak. Your videos are very informative thanks for sharing!.

its a bummer california oaks are the only ones that like being bonsaid lol i have tried a lot with red oak around here and they really do not respond well. once you touch the roots on red oak they will die back for a year or two

@jameswalker3416

Жыл бұрын

I've been growing red and white oaks and didn't know this. I cut the tap root on them when there acorn was still attached without a problem.

@Bonsaify

Жыл бұрын

Just for the record - Cork oaks are not native to CA, and they are more usable than any CA species I know of. Q. agrifolia is finicky. Doable, but finicky. Q. lobata is also doable but can be finicky. I've tried many others that are native to CA with little success. Blue oaks for example are just plain frustrating. Q. robur is usable from England. Keep looking!

@Sherman_616

Жыл бұрын

@@jameswalker3416 what kind of soil mix do u use for them?

@jameswalker3416

Жыл бұрын

@@Sherman_616 50/50 safe t sorb and potting soil.