Salam everyone,
Most of us in this forum might have realized by now that bonsai requires much more time and commitment than an ordinary house plant and a garden plant. I have noticed that it soon becomes an obsession and does not remain a hobby anymore. I remember when I started this endeavor, I had a handful of seedlings, cuttings and maybe one nursery plant. But once the bonsai fever got worse, I was never satisfied with the materials I had and kept on collecting. Sooner or later I was spending a lot more time watering and pinching them.
Did I mention that I have a family with two kids/a wife, no servants, full-time job, a large house, friends, family, ...you get the picture. So after 3-5 years of hoarding plants, I decided to down-size my collection, and maybe trade a couple mediocre calibre material for a good one from some of my bonsai friends. This way I was satisfied with the material I had, and was actually able to practice some bonsai techniques on them. A good 20minutes a day with my trees was sufficient to keep them healthy and in shape. Once a month I would spend around an hour for larger work on trees.
The purpose of this post is to know your way of time management with bonsai. Hopefully, this will help people better manage their time with family, self, and with bonsai. Bonsai is a wonderful hobby and it can only reward you when it is treated like a pet, and not a plant.
- AH