Bonsai Plant Care Secrets

Some Secrets To Growing Bonsai Plants With The Perfect Style

by Jimmy Cox

Careful bonsai plant care involves proper watering. More bonsai trees die as a result of neglectful watering or lack of watering than any other cause. One cannot over water bonsai as long as the water can drain through the soil and out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the container.

During the summer and on warm days the tree should be watered thoroughly at every watering. The beginner should check the drain holes at the bottom of the container for the first week or so until the amount of water necessary to saturate the soil is known.

When the soil becomes saturated with moisture, water will drip through the drain holes. For those with only a few trees, a rubber syringe fitted with a spraying head does the job nicely.

For those with many trees, a garden hose with an adjustable spray nozzle is an effective and expedient method. The spray in any case should be fine so that the surface soil is not eroded away.

Watering should be through the foliage, using a gentle spray to keep the foliage clean. This doesn't have to be done at every watering, but often enough to discourage pests and scales. The tree should be watered once daily or more frequently under conditions of high temperature and low humidity.

Photo courtesy of OpenEye

Under these conditions it would be wise to water as often as necessary to keep the surface of the soil damp. This may mean watering the tree two or three times daily.

In autumn and spring and during weather when temperatures are mild (around 60 to 70 degrees F) the tree should be watered completely to saturation at least once every other day. If in a region where winter temperatures go below freezing, and if the bonsai is winter hardy, it is best to place bonsai in a deep cold frame where the soil will not freeze. Even if kept in such a cold frame, the soil should be moist throughout the winter.

Where to keep the bonsai: Bonsai plant care means knowing where to keep your plant. The bonsai should be kept outdoors where it is shaded from direct sunlight in the summer and protected from drying winds in the winter.

Maple, wisteria, ginkgo, juniper and cryptomeria should be kept in partial shade the entire year for good color. The maples (Acer palmatum and Acer pal-matum dissectum) should be kept well protected from winds to prevent leaf burn. These maples are also adversely affected by long exposure to direct sun light (especially afternoon sun).

Bonsais can be brought inside to be admired for two or three days out of the week under normal conditions found inside an average home, but can be kept inside for longer periods if the temperatures inside do not exceed 50F at night and the tree is kept watered during the day.

However, one should not hope to keep the trees inside as permanent indoor plants. The best scheme is to bring the tree inside on special occasions and leave it outside at all other times.

In areas which have extremely high summer temperatures, it is mandatory that the tree be placed where it does not receive the direct rays of the sun (morning or afternoon). The best type of shelter from the sun is a lath house or something similar which can filter the sunlight.

A bench placed under a shade tree is an excellent spot for the bonsai during hot weather.

Most bonsai can withstand temperatures down to freezing and colder. The danger in bonsai plant care is that prolonged exposure to freezing weather will turn moisture in the soil to ice and in freezing will expand and break the container. If the tree is to be left outside in winter, one must take measures to protect and shelter it.

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