9 replies to this topic

[AntsGodzilla]

Other than ant keeping, what is your longest lasting hobby/interest? Mine is Godzilla, I've been a fan for 6 years.

Edited by AntsGodzilla, September 3 2024 - 12:36 PM.

[AntsTx]

My hobby is keeping leopard geckos. I've always been fascinated by how they hunt and make their burrows. Although it's not my longest hobby, it's definitely my favorite one besides antkeeping. I decided to get one about a year and a half ago and I've loved the experience.

For anyone wanting another hobby besides antkeeping I recommend keeping leopard geckos.

Edited by AntsTx, September 3 2024 - 2:56 PM.

[cooIboyJ]

Probably scootering in the skate park.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I've been playing soccer for 6+ years and I've been keeping birds for almost 5 years

[AntsGodzilla]

I've also kept carnivorous plants for 3+ years

[Stubyvast]

I've been writing books and stuff for at least 6+ years. I've also played minecraft for 9+ years...still gotta get into that redstone stuff haha

[rptraut]

Hello Everyone;

 

I've probably had more hobbies and had them longer than most of you merely because of my age.    When I was nine or ten years old, I had a book about Japan with a picture of a bonsai tree, and I was intrigued.   I tried to grow a small maple tree in an acorn and another in half a grapefruit.   Around the same time, I tried keeping ants in a makeshift ant farm that I'd made by putting a small jar inside a larger one.    I was never able to find a queen.   Both my attempts to grow bonsai trees and keep ants were dismal failures.   To be honest, sixty years ago there were no videos, websites or even books about these subjects, so information about both hobbies was almost non-existent.    About forty years ago, I was able to buy a small dwarf juniper tree that was genetically smaller than a normal juniper, and my bonsai hobby began in earnest.   As more information became available and my experience increased, I accumulated more and more trees.    I now have 25 trees, everything from maples to junipers of various ages and sizes.   

 

 

 

I still have the dwarf juniper I bought forty years ago; it's still less than a foot tall.

 

 

 

 

Bonsai trees are kept small by various forms of pruning and training, but they still exhibit all the characteristics of a full-size tree.   They flower, produce fruit of normal size, and change colour in the fall if they're deciduous.   

 

 

 

 

I don't pot up every tree in spring, many of them are pruned and trained as I would any other bonsai tree, but I grow them in my garden.    This way I can grow a larger number of trees without all the work of watering them every day or two like a potted tree.   

 

 

 

I display the potted trees on our deck, picnic table and some are displayed in the house as well.

 

Now you know why I use a photo of a bonsai tree as my thumbnail.    Keeping ants is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid, but growing bonsai trees is the hobby that I've actually done the longest.

 

If you're interested to see more about how I grow my bonsai trees, please watch this video.     

RPT

Edited by rptraut, Yesterday, 12:47 AM.

[ANTdrew]

RPT, your trees are truly amazing! I’ve been training an American elm tree for eight years now. It’s looking ok now, but nothing like your trees.

[rptraut]

Thanks ANTdrew;

 

I grow a wide variety of bonsai trees, but I've always been a little wary of American Elm as we have big problems with Dutch Elm Disease.   About 25 years ago I bought a Korean Hornbeam, Carpinus turkzaninowii, I believe, it's very similar in looks to American Elm.   It was about 25 years old when I got it and it's one of my favourite trees, now about 50 years old.   

 

 

 

This is my Korean Hornbeam after a round of spring pruning and repotting.   The foliage thickens quite a bit over summer, it takes regular pinching back and pruning to keep it this size.  The pot's homemade because I'm not willing to pay the price of very large clay bonsai pots when I have a woodworking shop where I can make "wooden pots" quite cheaply.   I unpot all my hardy trees in the fall and plant them in the garden for the winter with my other trees.   We have large windbreaks, so the trees are often covered with snow and survive the winter quite nicely.  My tropical trees, mostly figs specially selected for use as bonsai like Ficus benjamina "Toolittle", spend the winter under grow lights in the house.   

RPT

 

 

[Ernteameise]

OMG, these bonsais are amazing!

 

Well, actually, since I have been playing with ants since I can remember, kept them in my youth and only came back to them recently, I think antkeeping IS indeed my longest hobby!