Watering your Bonsai
An outdoor bonsai usually requires watering every day when the sun is
shining and drying breezes are stirring. Take it from a voice of
experience, plants will die when they are forgotten for a few days. A
bonsai plant needs tender love and care along with their water everyday
—sometimes twice a day. An indoor bonsai does not require as much water
because it does not get as much air circulation and does not dry out as
fast. Treat indoor bonsai the same way you do your houseplants. Test for
moisture content and when it is needed, simply water. I find that a
shallow tray filled with dampened pebbles is beneficial in keeping the
humidity up and greatly adds to the good health of your plants. If the
tray and pebbles are carefully selected, they can further enhance your
living piece of art. Sometimes sand is used instead of pebbles for
effect but neither do the tree any good unless they are kept moist. I
have seen divided containers that have room for planting on one side and
a small pool on the other that provides a nice setting as well as extra
humidity. Misting will help your indoor and outdoor plants when humidity
is low.
Feeding your Bonsai
Bonsai trees do not present a great feeding chore due to the fact
that you will want them to grow slowly and stay miniature. The practice
that I follow is very simple and I find it quite satisfactory. For
outdoor bonsai that is in developing stages, I feed four times a year.
Once in May, June, July and August. An organic base fertilizer, such as
fish emulsion, is my choice of plant food. I feed the plant one-half the
strength that is recommended for regular houseplant feedings. For
developed bonsai, I feed once in May and again in August with the same
type and application of fertilizer. For indoor developing or developed
bonsai, I feed three times a year; once in March, again in June, and
again in August with the natural fertilizer applied at half-strength.
Feeding should be done when the soil is slightly moist. Saturate the
soil when you feed. Sometimes it might be necessary to feed more often
than what is subscribed here but most often this will be enough. If
plants get a sickly color or if the green is not as lush as it should
be, then it might need more food. If re-potting is done every other year
and fresh soil is added — you should not have underfeeding problems. The
problems of over-feeding are growth that comes too fast and leaves that
develop too large. If you have over-fed, you will notice new growth that
seems to jump out of the tree on long spindly spikes that do nothing to
enhance your bonsai specimen. Over-feeding can also burn roots, which in
turn will do much harm to the plant. |
