Primary care for Bonsai

You have just received a Bonsai and want to know how to take care of it: you have come to the right place. Bonsai are small samples of the power and determination that trees have.

Creating Bonsai is an ancient art that began from the east of the planet. Mostly on the Asian continent. There they have the belief that we will understand our life purpose as human beings if we carefully observe nature.

They managed to perfect the technique of delaying the growth of the trees to observe them more closely. Bonsai are not plants that were created like this by nature. They are grown from the same seed as a colossal-sized tree only by applying the Bon (tray) Zai (cultivar) technique is basically growing in a plate.

How many types of Bonsai are there? Primary care

Trees are not only cultivated with this technique, but rocks can also be cultivated. And inside the trees are the seasonal and tropical trees.

Season Bonsai are ideal to have them in the patio or on our balcony since they can resist, and it is also essential for their development to go through the 4 seasons.

Tropical Bonsai survive very well inside our homes. Since we can emulate the temperate climate of the tropics inside our houses.

In addition to its location that is different, the rest of the care is the same. It is summarized in 4 aspects to take into account:

Irrigation

The first thing to keep in mind about watering a Bonsai is that it is not periodic. That is, it changes over time. With a tree, you cannot assume that you should water it from time to time. The Bonsai behaves the same as a tree in the forest, and the rain is not routine but appears when other conditions coincide.

At first, you will have to pay attention to how the Bonsai behaves, its leaves, and even its substrate. If it absorbs water quickly or slowly and on what type of days it dries the most and on which days it stays humid.

Ground

Bonsai have 4 elements that make up their substrate:

Akadama is a kind of baked clay that helps with oxygenation, also known as pumice. Then we have the volcanic stone that allows the absorption of water, keeping the soil moist and the organic matter that provides it with nutrients.

A successful substrate has to be balanced to make the water drain and not stagnate; in turn, the amount necessary to keep the moisture is retained. Another essential component is that the substrate cannot be compact. It has to leave air windows to help the roots' oxygenation and the proliferation of good bacteria that help the roots to metabolize their nutritious diet.

Fertilizers

There is no chance in the feeding of Bonsai, they follow a very rigorous diet of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Nitrogen stimulates the branches and leaves, phosphorus the roots, and potassium the flowers.

In spring, it is waking up and needs an extra to strengthen its trunk. For this reason, we will supply it with more nitrogen than the rest. In summer, we balance the three, and in autumn, it has to go to sleep again, so we lower the nitrogen to relax it. In winter it sleeps, we suspend the chemical diet.

Tray Change

Each Bonsai is different, so there are small trees that, if the pot is not changed in a year, will die, and others feel totally comfortable in their pots for up to 5 years.

Once we are watering the Bonsai and we notice that it drains very quickly, it is that the clay began to pulverize. We only have to add one more measure and rebalance the substrate, or it is that ¾ of the space under the Bonsai is being occupied by the roots.

Just by lifting the tree a little, we can check if there is excess root. If there is more root than the substrate, it will not be able to drain, retain and metabolize food and water well. It is time to move to a larger tray.

Bonsai are beings with their own personality, their primary purpose is to encourage the observation of nature. Knowing its primary care will make you have a journey into yourself, reflecting on your miniature tree and spending hours reflecting on the universe.