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Anyone into Bonsai ?
Wisdom23
Veteran
I recently bought a Bonsai Tree and was wondering whether anyone on here was also into Bonsai and would be willing to share some tips. I have had it a week and still finding the ropes. I have a Ficus retusa.
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Comments
The biggest failure is underestimating how often you need to water the ficus. In the summer, when you have lots of sunlight and hot temps you might have to water once every few days! See, there's not much soil, lots of roots, and the dirt is very sandy and drains quickly without retaining water. It's best to mix up a weak fertilizer in a bucket and use that during the growing months for watering since all this water flushes nutrients out of the soil.
And bugs and mites love bonsai for some reason. Keep an eye out for tiny critters crawling on the plant.
One condition I put on my plants is that they demand my attention only once a week. As long as they agree we can have a relationship. Any time I have been given a little juniper in a tray pot it has died post haste. In the past I have tried giving more frequent attention to these demanding life forms but I cannot not pull it off. Once a week or bye bye greenery.
Many plants can stand the rigors of my schedule . It is a combination of plant size, pot size , maintaining moisture in soil, shade or sun as needed . Once you find the right spot for an acquisition , the rest is easy. And feed them for G-d's sake. I do remove them from their pots on occasion to trim roots and add fresh soil, but often many years go by between these efforts.
P.S I live in a Mediterranean climate which helps greatly.
Those bought from a commercial garden centre - if they're ridiculously inexpensive - will in all likelihood perish. More often than not, it's been a hurried cosmetic process to generate income from would-be enthusiasts gambling on a short-cut.
If you'll pardon the pun.
A 'proper' Bonsai will have its value reflected in the price, because it has taken care and dedication to get it to look as good as it does....
And Bonsai trees do best outside, in sheltered positions.
But taking a tree indoors and treating it like a house-plant, will toll the death-knell for the poor thing.....
Lots of enthusiasts , especially bonsai people,take their plants in and out on rotational basis to display them, but that feels a lot like work to me... I do it on occasion and am always astonished at how fast a seemingly healthy outdoor plant will fail even in a sunny spot inside. Then it can be a year or more to bring it back to health.
Anyway, bonsai in particular are demanding little devils.
If you live in an area that experiences winter, then trees like Ficus can come indoors 'till spring. With the proper bonsai soil you can fertilize heavily to thicken up the trunk. The aim is to wind up with a tree in a pot that looks like it should be growing outside normally; only dwarfed in size. The soil is one key factor.
I'm using my Kindle right now, but when I get on my laptop I'll post a pic or two.
First, get thge acorn to root.
Plant it in open ground.
When it's about 3 feet high, dig it up and trim or cut the roots back with a sharp spade. Re-plant in open ground.
The next year, when the tree is in full leaf, cut all the leaves off, individually (down to where the leaf joins the leaf stalk.)
Leave the stalks, they'll fall off on their own, and this eliminates possible damage to the tree, down to you, if you were to try cutting the leaves right down at the branch-joint....
Take a look at the shape, and think about how you want the tree to start looking....
Remove branches you don't want. Cut the branch as close to the main 'trunk' as possible, but never flush with the trunk....shrinkage will cause an indent or hole, which you may not want.
Repeat the above processes for at least another 4 years, alternating root chopping one year, with leaf-removal the next.
At the 5th year, dig the tree up, trim the roots, and plant into a pot.
This bonsai will always be bigger than you imagined it would be. But with proper care, attention and devotion, you will have the 'mighty oak' - in miniature!
A true and proper bonsai will be outside, and be a darn sight bigger (although admittedly, it will depend on the variety of plant!)
It's all a question of proportions and what Nature 'herself' will permit; An Oak tree will never be a really good bonsai at 6" in height - but picture a 3-foot high, 'fully-grown' specimen, in its autumnal glory.
Isn't that something?
To be honest, I have seen smaller bonsai oaks - but again, it depends on variety - and certainly, on the skill of the grower.....
I'd look for plants with nice thick trunks and a thick, compact foliage that could be trimmed to start the shaping. Trim the root ball and remove the center tap root which will almost always be extremely root bound anyway, but don't try to put the started plant in a shallow bonsai pot at first. Find something maybe 3 inches deep that looks good. You'll be keeping the plant in that pot for years. But eventually, you'll know it's time to transplant, do another root trim, and graduate the plant to the next level.
Hey @ federica How about a tiny Ficus Religiosa - how cool is this:
You could sit your little Buddha underneath him.
Also, plain old junipers are good. Even though they are technically a bush, they can be trained easily to resemble a tree. But they must remain outdoors all year round.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69/Pill_Man/Bonsai/Penelope_large.jpg
(Ooops! won't post!)
On a more serious note, I've not even been able to keep indigenous trees alive in a pot long enough for them to be meddled with the slightest...
I've given up and now only cultivate my Peyote
Omg frederica u must be a yoga master!