Bonsai Supplies

What are the basics of effective Bonsai care.

Caring for your Bonsai tree involves many of the same activities associated with caring for a pot plant or an indoor plant. Well developed and healthy fibrous roots are essential for the continued good health of your Bonsai tree and repotting is an essential way to manage this process. Normally a young or fast growing Bonsai will need to be repotted roughly once a year; for less prolific growers or older trees it can be done as infrequently as once every five years. You should always try to repot during late winter or early spring when the buds start to swell.

How to repot a Bonsai tree.

The process of repotting a Bonsai tree is one that you should take seriously and follow these simple instructions:

First, you should tidy the tree by carefully pruning off any unwanted, long branches. Also, make sure the tree has been under cover for a few weeks if it is an outdoor Bonsai, this way the soil will be relatively dry. Once you remove the tree from its pot you will be able to see whether it really needs repotting. If it is root bound then you should repot it, however, if there are another few inches of room so the roots can grow a little longer then you can carefully replace the tree in its original pot and continue as normal.

You should remove surface soil from the roots either by hand or using a nylon scrubbing brush. Brush away from the trunk and be careful not to damage any of the roots. Removing the loose soil will give the Bonsai tree a healthier look and feel. Once youve removed most of the soil in this way, you can use a small, fine bristled paintbrush to remove the soil stuck in the roots or that has collected in the roots.

Use a Bonsai fork to comb out the roots. Do this by combing out the roots from underneath and then use scissors to prune up to a third of the roots and then cut out small wedges around the root base to allow fresh soil to collect and keep your Bonsai healthy. Add a layer of grit to the bottom of the pot and then add the Bonsai compst of your choice.

Take the time to position your Bonsai tree in the pot and then push a little more soil into awkward places. Complete this as often as you need to as mentioned above.

Have you ever heard of Bonsai gardening? If not, then realize that it is an ancient art form that hails directly from Japan. When you think of Bonsai gardening, you may picture an old looking tree. Bonsai gardening, in the Japanese language, means “tray garden.” This type of gardening is done by growing a plant in a small pot or tray, while taking care to frequently prune its branches and roots. By doing this, the plant grows in the shape in which you desire it to grow. If you plan to have a Bonsai plant, be prepared to spend a great deal of time taking care of it.

Bonsai plants are not naturally small. They are trained to achieve this appearance. It is after bonsai training, they appear to be dwarfs. They will range in height from 2 inches to 3.33 feet. There are basically two different types to buy. There are the type, which have been trained already by a genuine bonsai artist, or the untrained starter plant, which possess little or no training. It is important to find out the type of species you have purchased so you can research the care they require regarding watering, pruning and repotting.

The bonsai plant is not an indoor plant. Although it can be brought indoor on occasion, most of its life will be spent outdoors, if it is to survive. It should not be placed in direct sunlight. You should use a potting soil mix or you can buy a pre-made bonsai soil mix. The bonsai plant needs to be watered frequently, since its container is small, and therefore, only has a small water reservoir. It will need more water in dry, hot weather and less in cool, rainy weather. It also requires fertilizer to restock whatever gets washed away during frequent watering. Feedings usually take place in early spring to late summer.

Regular repotting is also necessary with bonsai plants. This will promote its growth and maintain its health. Repotting is best done when the plant is most dormant, usually in early spring or late autumn. Younger plants will require this every two to three years and older ones less often.

Pruning is what will give the bonsai plant its desired look. This should be performed during its growing season. This is done with the fingers, by pinching new growth to develop more bushiness, with scissors by trimming new shoots or with leaf pruning by removing bad looking leaves.

Aluminum wires are used to guide the tree’s branches and trunk in different directions. It is loosely wrapped around the desired part so as to not damage the bark, and then gently bent into shape. Once the tree is trained to grow this way, the wire is removed.

When looking at a bonsai plant, you will see that it is truly a work of art. It has been shaped through years and years of care to accomplish a desired look. Through this time the grower has expended a great deal of patience and care during their plant’s life. The resulting beauty is a true testament of an artist and one that should be admired.

Bonsai Care

Well, you have got the watering and feeding of the Bonsai down. Think you’re home free. Not a chance. There are still things you need to do successfully to realize the full beauty of these little Japanese wonders. Since the care of the root system is essential to the survival of the trees you need to know the how and when of re-potting your bonsai. This is one of the many steps to proper Bonsai Care.

The importance of Re-potting

The young bonsai trees grow quicker and need to be repotted about once a year. The older trees not so often and eventually get to a point where repotting every 5 years is sufficient. Repotting should be done in the late winter or early spring. This is when the buds begin to swell. First, you should prune your bonsai. Take away any unwanted or long branches. If your bonsai is kept outside it should be placed undercover for a few weeks before repotting. This will help dry the soil. You need to carefully remove the tree from its original pot. Check the root carefully. If they are bound then it is definitely time to transfer it to another pot. If the roots still have some space to grow (a few inches is sufficient) then it does not need repotting.

Remember, repotting at the correct time is essential for Bonsai Care. Place it back into its original pot. Now the fun parts. You dont simply stick the tree straight into a larger pot. Your tree has to be almost groomed before it moves into its new home. First, the original surface soil must be removed from the roots of the tree. This can be done by hand or by using a nylon scrubbing brush. Be careful not to damage the root system while doing this. This is a sure fire way to kill your tree and make all of your previous Bonsai Care skills worthless.

Preparing the roots

Once you have completed this task you need to use a small paint brush to remove any dirt that is stuck in the roots. Soil tends to collect around the roots and using a paint brush will help insure that you do not do any root damage. This process helps the trees look and feel healthier. The next steps require a Bonsai comb. The roots need to be combed out and due to the delicate nature of the trees it is doubtful that the use of a human comb would be advisable. You need to comb from the underneath and using scissors prune away up to 1 third of the roots. Once you have done this you need to cut small wedges out, around the base of the roots. Sounds radical, but this allows for fresh soils to collect and will keep your tree healthy.

Well if you havent run away by now you probably wont, time for the last bit of Bonsai Care. Now that your tree is happily groomed it is time to prepare the pot. You should put a layer of grit on the bottom of the pot and then what ever compost you have chosen to use. Now that its pot has been prepared, our little friend needs to be positioned. Once you have him sorted out begin putting in the soil. You have most likely figured this out by now but place the soil in gently. Why? You guessed it, to avoid root damage. Hopefully the information that you have learned hasnt sent you running and your Bonsai trees to the compost heap. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do correctly to insure your tree makes it to adult hood. It maybe easier just to have kids. Bonsai Care is an art and it has been said that the care and maintenance of these trees is an art form in and of itself. However, the rewards can be grand. The trees are beautiful when cultivated properly and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have mastered the art of Bonsai Care.

If you are a beginning bonsai artist then you might want to select and Juniper for your first tree. This is a beautiful species of tree which tolerates a wide range of conditions and is a good species for the cascade or kengai style where the branches in the trunk grow out over the container and below the horizontal edge.

Junipers like to be kept in the full sun and they are rather forgiving when it comes to water although the soil shouldn’t be allowed to dry out and you should make sure there’s adequate drainage. they should be planted in the soil mixture that is 10% peak, 60% soil and 30% course sand.

Fertilizer your juniper once a month starting in the early spring and straight through the summer. Inorganic fertilizer will be more gentle and your plant but if you do go with a man-made chemical fertilizer you want to ensure that it has the proper amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus and potassium. The Juniper will probably do best with a 20-20-20 NPK mixture. Refrain from fertilizing when it is very hot and the first two weeks after you repot the plant.

Repotting should be done every two years until your juniper reaches 10 years of age and then you want to spread out to every three or four years. This is a good time to trim the roots but don’t go overboard with this as gradual trimming his best. You can also take this time to prune unwanted branches. Keep your Juniper out of the full sun for two weeks after repotting.

While wiring should be done in the late fall you will get quicker results if you do it during the act of growing season. However you probably want to wait into you have some experience under your belt as you need to be careful to avoid scarring. During the act of growing season you can remove new shoots by pinching them off gently with the thumb and forefinger. One doing this you want to be sure not to bend the tree or any of the branches.

Just like any other plant, the Juniper can have pests. The most common is red spider mites. symptoms of these mites includes yellowing foliage and if you see this look under the branches for tiny spots then hold a white sheet of paper underneath and they give the branch at tap. If the docs volunteer paper and are moving about then you know you’ve got red spider mites.

You can get rid of the red spider mites with a nicotine solution that can be prepared at home by soaking tobacco and water or you can buy commercial insecticide. After you have treated the Juniper for spider mites and let the solutions it for a day spray the foliage down with water each day during the growing season allowing it to dry in the sun.

With proper care, your juniper can live for years or even decades and can be enjoyed as a living work of art that you’ve lovingly sculpted, pruned and cared for.

Most beginning bonsai artists will purchase a tree at some point of development and step by step learn to care for it. The beginner will graduate later on to pruning, trimming, wiring and other more advanced practices. At some point in his or her education, the enticement to undertake the challenge of producing a bonsai from seed will seem irresistible.

Here are some tips on how to grow your first bonsai tree from scratch.

Trees develop from seeds. True, many begin as seedlings, prunings or offshoots of mature trees. But the whole enterprise begins with seeds. In order for those seeds to become trees they pass through a stage called germination.

Sitting in the cold, wet soil of wintertime and springtime slowly dampens the seed’s casing or coat and induces early growth. Soil bacterium aid the process along. Nature provides the clues the bonsai artist should follow in order to give the young plant a proper start.

Planting in the autumn allows for the seeds to undergo this process, slowly and naturally. An artificial, and perfectly valid, method of seed preparation is known as ‘cold stratification’. It consists, essentially, of preparing seeds artificially by placing them in a container in the refrigerator to imitate natural conditions.

Whether preparing the seeds artificially or allowing for nature to do it for you, this discontinues the seed’s dormancy and leads to germination. It often happens that this will take a year or longer, with seeds beginning to germinate in the springtime a year and a half after the autumn sowing.

The length of time will vary by species, climate and even individual seed. Plants, like any other species, is composed of individuals with their own timetable.

You will be able to give your seeds some help by suitable fertilization, but exercise moderation. Once per month in early spring to mid-summer with 10-10-10 NKP (nitrogen (N), phosphates (P) and potassium (K)) is plenty. Fertilization should begin when the soil begins to warm up. If you maintain the pot indoors, this can be controlled artificially with a heat lamp, but this is more effort.

It’s important that the soil be kept moist, but not too wet. Moisture is important, but overly wet soil will kill a developing plant as quickly as soil too dry.

Naturally, finding out the correct balance will require some experimentation. Those experimentations can be sharpened by the usage of a moisture gauge, a thermometer-like device that measures water content in the soil. In point of fact, it’s helpful to have a thermometer, too!

Sow them in a container of beneficial soil, and then monitor occasionally as the year progresses. Seeds should be planted about 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch below the surface in soil with good drainage.

Once you have a little tree thrusting a tiny trunk above the surface you are on your way. But keep in mind that producing a bonsai from seeds takes several years. Brace oneself for a long term project!