Bonsai is the art of modeling a scene from nature in minimum size using various gardening techniques. We also call bonsai the result of carrying out this discipline, that is, the “tree”. If this art has caught you to the point of wanting to get a bonsai, you should know that its care is exhaustive and requires great mastery and skill to preserve it. If what you want is to make a bonsai from scratch, read how to make a bonsai. In this article, we teach you how to take care of a bonsai already grown and shaped.
What do you need to take care of a bonsai?
- A bonsai
- Irrigation water.
- Sprayer.
- Specific payment.
- Specific soil or substrate.
Instructions for caring for a bonsai
- Choose what place your bonsai will occupy in the home, that is, be clear about whether it will be located indoors or outdoors, as this factor will determine much of the care that the plant needs.
- Each species of bonsai requires specific care, so it is important that you learn about the particularities of each species to care for it and keep it in optimal conditions.
- Acquire a bonsai that is in good condition. By this we mean both that it is in good health and that it is being cultivated in optimal conditions.
- Irrigation. In general, the bonsai will need water when the visible (top) layer of soil is drying out. Although, this maxim does not have to always be fulfilled. Irrigation determines it:
- The characteristics of the bonsai species you have chosen. Knowing them beforehand, you will know if your plant requires a little more water -or a little less-.
- The location of the bonsai. The more direct solar radiation it receives, the faster the water will vaporize and, therefore, the more times the bonsai will have to be watered.
- Depending on the time we have, as with the location, in the hot months the bonsai will need to be watered more frequently. Likewise, during spring we must also water abundantly since it is the season of plant activity.
- Obviously, depending on the capacity of the pot, we must water daily and in small quantities or by spacing out the watering if they are of greater quantity of water.
- Pulverized. It is used to clean the leaves and refresh our bonsai.
- We will spray the leaves, without aiming directly, but dispersing the water above and around it. Outdoors it will be optional, depending on the existence of morning dew, rain and temperature. If our bonsai is kept fresh and clean naturally, it will not be necessary.
- Indoors, we must spray it since there is no other source to clean and refresh it.
- Subscriber. The bonsai, just like any other potted plant, needs to be supplied with nutrients from time to time, because sooner or later they will run out. In general, the subscriber will be continued and in small quantities, although, like irrigation, other conditions such as the species, the size of the pot, etc.
- In general, if the characteristics and conditions do not dictate otherwise, the subscriber will be the one indicated above, intensifying in spring, since the bonsai will have more activity, and in autumn, to prepare our plant for the cold months.
- In addition, we must select a fertilizer with beneficial properties for our species.
- Transplant. There will come a point in the life of our bonsai when the earth, deteriorated, prevents the correct development of the bonsai due to the difficulty for water and oxygen to circulate. The transplant of an already mature bonsai will be carried out every three or four years, using fine-grained soil, to maintain it.
- Prune. Once the bonsai has its own shape, pruning only serves so that it does not lose it, that is, we will limit ourselves to cutting the branches and leaves that are modifying the shape of our bonsai.
- To prune, use special tools that favor the healing of the plant.
- After pruning, apply a sealing paste so that the bonsai does not become infected with fungi, bacteria or viruses.
- Diseases. Bonsai diseases are very diverse and difficult to treat. Never act on your own without knowing the opinion of a professional, and follow his instructions.
- If your bonsai is close to a wall, you should rotate it so that all its branches and leaves receive enough light and that it’s modeling is not vitiated.
- Do not let the moss cover the entire surface of the soil as it will prevent the plant from breathing.
Tips for caring for a bonsai
- Choose as large a bonsai as possible as shaping the plant can be difficult until some experience is gained.
- The olive tree and the focus offer good visual results even if they are large.
- If you have selected an indoor bonsai, make sure that it receives enough hours of sunlight daily as it needs the incidence of sunlight to develop.
- Does not use spray as an irrigation method as the water will not filter enough to feed the roots?
- Do not move your bonsai from outside to inside and vice versa, you will be subjecting it to the pressure of having to change and regulate its breathing and photosynthesis rhythms.
