Okay, I’m going to just say it. I’m really upset with Mirai. Today I’ve just come to terms with the fact that Ryan and the Mirai team are producing content at a faster rate than I can consume and I may never catch up. Every week the Mirai team are recording a live stream, a Q&A, a Forum Q&A and at times a podcast. That’s 6+ hours content each week. I’m trying to sip from the flood gates of knowledge, but every stream has nuggets of wisdom and so it’s hard to pick and choose what to watch.
Even if I remove the Q&As, I still have two years of backlogged live streams to catch up on.
What are some of the essential and most pivotal streams so far? Would love to hear where I should focus my efforts. Please drop 3-5 of your favorite streams in the comments below.
Mirai Team: you are all amazing! Keep up the great work. Sorry about the clickbait, but now that you’re here, what are a few of your favorite streams? Thanks, we love you! <3
Haha, I’m right there with you. I’ll tell you the ones I’ve rewatched the most: pruning fundamentals, the wiring videos (I’m cheating by calling that group one video, I know lol), repotting fundamentals, and then I pillage the Q & As constantly.
I benefit greatly by filtering the streams by my preferred species and topics.
I list my preferences as juniper, elongating species, air layering, and seasonal.
BUT… there is always a BUT
You may be sleeping too much.
ALL THE STREAMS are nuggets of knowledge.
I go back and review multiple streams before taking an action I cannot take back.
Pinching my spruce and fir this time of year so I check the indicators and technique that are recommended.
I may have dark circles under my eyes… but my trees have never looked better!
Get you priorities straight!!!
Haaha
I would deffo go back to any stream that includes word ‘fundamentals’ rather than specific topic/specie etc.
Also any made at the beginning of existence (first year) I found the most useful when it comes to basics you want to implement and create good habits.
But this works with me and it doesn’t necessary work with others. Either way hope it is a bit of a help
I feel like I can’t get enough material to watch and study. I just finish up watching all the videos. I think im going to have to update my account to the top tier to get access to the Q/A .
I agree that there is a lot of content. In the beginning, I had the intent to watch everything that was put up, but I also found that I could not keep up. I have resorted to making the live stream a priority and set aside Saturday morning to watch those each week.
My favorites are Wiring Series; structural and detail I & II, Design Fundamentals, Spring Fundamentals, Pruning Practices, Pinching to Design. Following those is any species specific streams that pertain to trees that I own. I find that my wiring and pruning skills have improved by watching Ryan as he styles ANY tree in the streams.
I do “pillage” the Q & As now, like Carl says he does, looking at the topics covered to find interesting stuff. I have found that MOST of the Q&A stuff is covered by Ryan in the streams, but there is gold in almost all content.
A lot of the podcasts are not so focused on techniques and skills as they are on individuals and where they find inspiration, but DO NOT miss the Modern Soil Science, Telperion Farms, and Dennis Vojtilla episodes for some amazing insights into techique!!
I find that taking notes as if I am sitting in a class helps with the retention. I do it when watching from the library and find that I can concentrate for 30-45 minutes at a time in the evening before I start to miss stuff. I now better understand why my classes are 50 minutes long when I teach.
Thanks for flagging this podcast, I had missed it and it’s got some really good info in it. I think I am going to have to listen again when I have finished it to make sure I have got all the nuggets of information from it.
As @Bonsai_bob suggested use your filter preferences. Pick fundamentals and perhaps species pertaining to what you have in your collection or beginners content.
@andy2sheds recommended some streams which contain some important content.
You could also filter by season and check out those related videos.
My suggestion is just maintain your trees for now… Just water, fertilize, and when the season is appropriate carry out the scope of work that can safely be performed.
That should get you started on the right foot.
Good luck!
Congratulations on the legitimate heart attack you just gave me. However…it looks like we’re achieving our goal in terms of always having new content to watch, and I’m loving reading what everyone’s favorite streams are!!
My contribution to this discussion, not being a practitioner myself: Shinpaku Design Pts. 1 and 2. That tree is just marvelous and I can’t stop looking at it, and it undergoes such a drastic transformation. Definitely an aspirational stream.
Design Fundamentals and Forests of Mirai are two that the team is extremely proud of, so if you haven’t seen those yet, definitely check them out. We’re proud of all our streams, but those two are more feature-film style and they’re really special to us.
Other than that, I concur with the person who said try to cover everything with “fundamentals” in the title - those are great baselines for technique. And the nursery stock series is great for that too!
Thank you again for the kind words, and for the short panic attack. Bonsai on and have a great weekend!
Haha, I feel your pain. Today is my first day of being a member and the amount of content was so much! I’m just going to try to fill what I feel are my immediate deficiencies and then see what else I don’t even know. Just gonna take my time and accept the fact that overall there is too much for me to know, but that’s okay because I don’t plan on having every type of tree.
Welcome, and enjoy the archive.
Yep prioritise the streams for the species you own, and the skill set ones such as the wiring or the seasonal (Spring fundamentals etc).
Once you’ve caned those though, you’ll find yourself watching with jealously the streams of the other species you dont own, but its fine as theres so many transferably tidbits in each…
Happy hunting
Hi All,
Just replying to this old thread with a tip that I use to save some time on the “too much content” issue. Definitely pause and take detailed notes as you watch the streams but most importantly remember to write down timestamps. This way when you review your notes before working on a tree or something, you can go right to that moment and get the visuals and context as well rather quickly.
Chris
Totally fun! I just did inventory on pots and soil and of course need more of both. (Can you ever have too much of either?) Actually toyed with the thought of buying pumice in one of those 2000# totes!
Looking forward to getting at some trees that are starting to push in the greenhouse. Elms, blueberry, zelkova are ready to go.
And the Chinese quince have been pushing for 3 weeks already because they have no idea what time of year it is apparently. Temp was 9 degrees this morning. 33 in the greenhouse. I think I heard Ryan say that their name in Japanese means forgetful? For obvious reasons.
However…it looks like we’re achieving our goal in terms of always having new content to watch, and I’m loving reading what everyone’s favorite streams are!!
Bonsai on and have a great weekend!
Various stages of course, but the amount of repotting I’m piling up is funny. Still fun though.
