Experiments

          As a scientist by day,  I place a special significance on rigorously tested knowledge that I can see or duplicate when it comes to what we accept for horticultural practices in bonsai. As we all do, I want my bonsai to be as healthy as possible, to survive transplantation during digging, and to save me money on products that claim to be helpful if they are not actually. I am currently and will continue to use my scientific background to create as rigorous experiments as possible to answer questions that I have or that others have where helpful data is lacking in the bonsai-specific context. A few sample completed or ongoing experiments are listed below. If you have any topics you would like to see some experiments for, let me know!

I. Completed Experiments

A. What to do with early germinating white oak seeds?

• Input variable: 3 storage condition types on 12 acorns that germinated in December at the beginning of winter.
• Output variable: What are the germination rate and long-term (1-year) survival rate?
• Results: Inconclusive as the final rate of germination/1 year survival was too low therefore the variation could have been random rather than be due to any particular experimental condition. Take home message would be that the conditions did not make a meaningful difference but more experimentation is needed with a larger sample size to know for sure.

B. What sizes of branches are optimal for propagation of Ficus benjamina? What mediums are preferred (stagnant water vs used bonsai soil)?

    This one I have not written an article on for publication yet partially because I got into measuring the sizes of the branches and in the samples which did not succeed in rooting at all in the stagnant (irregularly replaced) water condition, 100% of samples failed! The results clearly showed soil propagation was the superior method for success when testing between these two lazy conditions. Perhaps results would differ if the water was emptied and replaced more frequently. Anyways I will prioritize analyzing this data on branch size impacts of the success of the branches in soil which by the middle of 2024 and will update here with new information.

• Input variable: Branch length, branch thickness, and storage conditions (stagnant water vs used bonsai soil) for Ficus benjamina cuttings taken around August and kept outside.
• Output variable: What are the rooting rate? How does it correlate to each variable?
• Results: Propagation directly into soil is strongly recommended under these conditions. TBD on optimal branch sizes information.

II. Experiments in Progress

A. What time of year performing trunk chops on deciduous yamadori yield the best results (backbudding rate and survival) in Ohio when left in the ground for 1 year after?

  Results coming by August 2024

• Input variable:
• Output variable: 
• Results:

B. What soil substrates give the best yamadori survival after digging? How do cheaper alternatives available in the East Coast USA perform compared to pumice, the popular favorite of West Coast bonsai practitioners?

  Results coming by August 2024

• Input variable:
• Output variable: 
• Results: