Previously in Part I we discussed the best way to properly water, fertilize, and give your bonsai plant ample measures of sunlight and humidity. In the following paragraphs we are going to talk about some additional, crucial juniper bonsai care recommendations covering subject areas such as re-potting your juniper bonsai, the best time to prune your juniper, getting rid of unwanted pests, and taking good care of your juniper during the winter.
About Pruning Your Juniper Bonsai
New growth will usually show up on the tips of your juniper bonsai tree branches in the springtime, and occasionally you will see more new growth in the autumn. In the course of these cycles of new growth you will want to nip off these new buds to prevent the branches from developing fast growing shoots and causing your tree to look slightly untamed. You should not start pinching the buds until around four weeks after new growth very first appears in late spring. Older more mature foliage must also be got rid off in the spring which will help reduce the amount of inner growth, and permit the sun’s rays to pass through without difficulty and much more air to circulate. The juniper bonsai will carry on growing through the summer months, producing new buds. Keep pinching these off in order to keep the shoots from growing which will make the tree appear untidy.
Pinching off new growth isn’t going to harm the plant. This is most likely the procedure that you’ll make use of more than any other to miniaturize your juniper for bonsai and to shape it into the style you have picked for it.
Repotting Your Juniper Bonsai
Junipers plants need to be repotted about every two years when they’re juveniles (fewer than five or six years of age) and after that only every three to five years once they reach maturity. A free-draining soil mixture should be used. The spring as well as the fall are the very best times of year to re-pot your juniper bonsai. Junipers are vulnerable to root rot. If you see root rot when you are re-potting, you should cut away all of the affected roots after which you can re-pot working with only sphagnum moss. Ensure that it stays in the moss for a full year or so to give the roots time to recover. Sphagnum moss is bacteria and decay resilient and also is really water absorbent. Right after repotting your juniper be certain to water it completely and then keep the plant in a shady place until the roots have recovered.
What You Need to Know About Pruning Your Juniper’s Roots
You can actually re-pot your juniper plant in either the spring or the fall. And when you do you ought to look to see if the plant is starting to become root-bound. After you have removed the tree from it’s container, with care remove some of the soil from the rootball. Cut away around one-third of the plant’s roots. Return the plant to it’s pot, putting it in a mixture of 3-parts planting medium with 1 part sand to replace the lost soil. Your juniper might be in a little bit of shock right after having it’s roots pruned and being re-potted. To help it recover faster you can include just a little transplant shock supplement to the water can and water completely. Keep the foliage moist by spraying 2-3 times per day for 2 weeks.
Pest Control
Should you be growing your juniper bonsai inside you’ve got to be particularly aware and on the lookout for spider mites. They could cause real damage to your juniper. Incorporate a regularly planned once a month spraying of your junipers using an insecticide designed for household plants. Indoors or out, make sure to spray all your other nearby plants which could also have the spider mites.
Winter Care for Your Juniper Bonsai
To maintain good health, your juniper bonsai tree really should be kept in a cool (under 60 degrees F) throughout the winter months for them to experience a dormancy or rest period. If you keep your juniper outdoors ensure that you safeguard it from harsh drying winds.
Your juniper bonsai tree does best when it has a “Winter” to complete it’s natural cycle. Place it in a cold space in the winter, the chillier the better. A freeze followed by a sudden and quick rise in temperature will damage your bonsai. Which means you would be doing your plant much more harm than good by bringing it inside soon after it’s been subjected to freezing temps. The freeze itself is not going to lead to harm to your juniper. If the temperature remains below 50F in the winter your juniper bonsai will only require indirect light. If the temps remain below 50F degrees during the winter then the plant isn’t going to require much water.
If you can’t simulate winter with a cold room or basement or shed, then try, at least, to keep your bonsai plant away from getting direct sunlight. Whenever your bonsai is kept inside your home at room temperature, make sure you humidify it by misting it maybe once or twice per day.
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It is widely known that the secret of keeping your bonsai both healthy and miniature is to prune not only its branches but the trunk and roots as well. Pruning is a bit scary to newcomers to the hobby of caring for bonsai trees, as pruning roots damages a plant, restricting its ability to take up water and nutrients while pruning branches must be done carefully to ensure that you end up with your desired shape.
The time when your bonsai will need its roots trimmed is usually between one and five years after you bought it. This time frame is only a guide for caring for bonsai, as a number of factors effect the amount of time a tree takes to become rootbound in its pot; different species of tree have different levels of development and the variables such as the size of the pot, the development of the rootball and the age of the tree all have an influence on the growth of the roots.
When you take the tree out of the pot to inspect it each year, usually in the spring, you will be able to see if the roots need pruning. If you find that the roots form a circular ball around the edge of the pot, it’s time to trim or prune the roots. If the roots of the tree are still contained within the soil, the tree can be returned to the pot and pruning can be left for another year.
There is a tool specially designed to help you expose the roots. This is called a “root hook” but it doesn’t have to be this specific tool. You could try either chopsticks, screwdrivers, or a crochet needle as what you are trying to do is to gently work in between the roots to loosen the soil surrounding them.
While you have got the roots exposed, this is an good time to inspect the roots for early signs of decay and rot. It is vital when caring for bonsai trees, that we remove these dead roots as they will cause trouble in the future if we do not get rid of them.
You need to know how much root to cut off and how to select the right roots to be ‘cut back’ to a degree to keep them healthy and small enough for the pot.
Look for the long large roots that dominate the pot and trim them back. In particular, look at the downward growing roots. These need to be removed as they will eventually begin to ‘lift’ the tree out of the pot.
What we are trying to achieve here is to make way for the smaller feeder roots that will continue to sustain the growth of the tree while keeping the root system small enough to survive in the small pot.
You want the root system to spread laterally, from the trunk base or nebari rather than downwards, like anchors.
It is best to use a sharp knife or shears when cutting the roots and try to cut them with a downward slant. When you do this, there is less chance of water gathering in the exposed part of the newly cut root which in turn lessens the chance of infection setting in.
It is important when caring for bonsai trees that you do not remove more than 30% of the roots in any one year. This is important as you don’t want to reduce the root mass to the stage where it can’t support the tree so, generally aim to only remove about 1/3 of it.
Although there is a lot of information available on caring for bonsai trees, the pruning element still seemed to be rather daunting to me. It was difficult to have the confidence to do actually cut the roots for the first time.
I found that the best thing to do was to find a person experienced in caring for bonsai trees and watch them before I attempted to do it myself. Once I had seen it done, I had the knowledge on what to trim and what to leave and I could get on with the task of pruning my bonsai, confident that I was doing the right thing for my tree.
It is important to get the proper knowledge so that you don’t end up killing your tree. To find out more on caring for bonsai trees bonsai tree care
Bonsai tree care is the art of growing trees in miniature and it is originally from the countries of China and Japan. This is done by manipulating the trees environment by keeping it in conditions that make it small, such as growing it in a miniature sized bowel. This restricts the trees growth from reaching it’s full height and it doesn’t damage your plant as you are only preventing it from reaching its normal size. The results from this can appear very beautiful however, however there are many other techniques that need to be learned if you truely want to master the art of growing miniature trees. Wiring, clamping, watering, fertilizing, cutting and pruning all need to be considered and mastered.
If you’re just starting out then the best way to learn about bonsai tree growing is to go out to the shops and buy one. Alternatively, you can instead buy some seedlings or take a cutting from another plant, however it’s usually easier if instead you purchase a young, premade plant from your local gardening center. Young bonsai trees still have many years of growth and potential ahead of them and you’ll be able to avoid having to go through the time consuming stages of growing a seedling or cutting.
New bonsai owners should also think about the different styles you’ll want your future tree to grow into. There are many forms to choose from and you should look up information on the species of your plant so you can identify which style which will suit it best. A couple of the styles that you might want to use include: semi-cascading/ cascading styles – this is when the plant hangs over the side of the pot or droops beneath the level of the bowel; lot’s of wiring and clamped is required to achieve this look. There are formal and informal upright postions – this is when the tree is grown vertically upright just as it does in the wild, however with the informal style some curvature of the trunk is encouraged. Others styles to mention include the windswept look – where the tree grows to one side and appears to have been blown by the wind over the years, plus also the coiled look – where the tree is turned many times upon itself.
The great thing about this hobby is that if your tree is looked after properly it can live with you for the rest of your life. Some bonsai trees are so old generations of people have been looking after the tree. Bonsai’s which are hundreds of years old exist. To achieve such an old age with your plant you really need to know the correct bonsai techniques and instructions and it’s important to avoid any diseases or pests which might attack the tree at any time. The best way to avoid these problems is by making sure the tree is growing in a healthy environment in the first place.
Tim Green has been a bonsai enthusiast for many years and is passionate about helping others achieve beauty and excellence with their bonsai trees. For more great information on bonsai tree plants visit Tim’s website at http://www.bonsaitreecarecenter.com/.
When it comes to selecting a bonsai pot, it’s a matter of choosing a style and setting your future expectations straight. I assume you already grasp that to properly grow beautiful bonsai trees you’ve got to set aside some effort in choosing not just the plant you prefer, but additionally the correct pot it will grow into. The connection between the plant and its pot is a durable one, that sometimes gets described as an image, the tree, framed by the pot. And this can only be a match you make when you initially plant the bonsai, with no second thoughts. A pot is forever, like diamonds and marriages. Well, like diamonds for sure.
If you would like to cut the plant into a explicit form, opt for a pot of the suitable size. Don’t even try moving your bonsai to a completely different pot as you modify your furnitures. There’s a significant risk of harming your tree and this is not the proper way to think about Bonsai Tree Growing. Recall how a real size plant grows: ever noticed how its roots travel underground and through concrete slabs and even marble? The identical process applies for a miniature bonsai tree, even if it can not have the strength necessary to break a pot.
Thus reserve some time to have a look around and shop on-line, looking for the pot that matches your budget and is in harmony with your plant, then stick to it. Despite the fact that plastic pots are sturdy and will shield your tree a lot more than a ceramic one, I might avoid them. I feel there is one factor wrong concerning plastic pots, the same way fake flowers do decorate but don’t warm the heart. To me they simply don’t fit. I am not talking about a physical match, obviously, more a psychological one. Bonsais represent nature, life and also the passionate act of caring for life. Plastic has no such qualities, it’s a rational man made material. To me it is not the kind of material your bonsai’s roots would expect to be protected by.
Now, a lot of people growing bonsai trees do not live in a country where Japanese Maple Bonsai Trees feel easily at home. Be sure to assess the climate and do not be shocked if you discover yellow leaves even once watering and fertilizing the plants as you were instructed to do by a manual or the gardener. The amount of water and minerals required varies with sunlight, moisture and be cautious if you love air conditioners! Your sub-zero confort zone can be deadly for your precious bonsai. You can select some ready made solutions that would make this task easier, particularly the humidity trays that guarantee the smaller roots a correct growth and sub-sized spray cans that may supply some moisture to the leaves, several times a day, and not harm them with too large water drops. Water ought to never be taken and used, let it rest for an hour at house temperature before spraying.
If you went for a pot built out of a noble material such as wood, water twice. The first for the tree, and the second for the wood pot that’s sure to take possession of its share of that water. The same is true for some pots made of ceramic. Namely, those built with an external polished surface and a rough internal one. However dispersed water in those pots would be not as significant as wood made pots so don’t over water your bonsai tree. Pots made out of concrete are best suited to urban decoration, however there are some pretty nice concrete pots, which may appeal the creative bonsai gardener with a passion for contrast and minimalism. Again, if you do choose one of them, don’t be concerned by water loss as it would be so small it can not hurt your tree.
Henry Culver is a passionate writer and internet marketer, with interests spanning from gardening to technology to video games. He’s fond of World of Warcraft, the online multiplayer fantasy game. He likes playing in the Arena the most, and Arena Point Calculator is his mandatory first stop every time he needs to compute arena ratings, and plan the arena season matches for his team. The free WoW articles and gold guides found there helped him in more than one arena match.
When my mother-in-law said that she was going away for six months,and that she needed someone to care for her bonsais, I thought, how difficult could bonsai trees care be? And I naively offered to care for her collection of Bonsai trees in her absence.
I thought it would be simply a matter of watering them once a week then leaving them to their own devices. It did not take long and many of them started to turn brown and looked quite seedy. I needed to do something in a hurry. It would never do to have my mother-in-law return to find them all dead! How could I explain that I knew nothing about bonsai trees care? But what was I doing wrong?
Was I giving them too much water?
Should I keep them outside or inside?
Did I need to repot any of them? If I did need to repot any, what sort of pot did I need?
I had no idea where to begin the pruning………….
Bonsai can sometimes succumb to insects and diseases – maybe this was my problem.
I also thought, if the worst came to the worst and I actually killed one or two, then maybe I could buy some seedlings and make a bonsai of my own to replace it. I was finding out that bonsai trees are very sensitive to their conditions and you need to learn how to look after these beautiful plants – otherwise they will die, quickly!!
I did find help – and not only did I manage to rescue by mother-in-laws bonsai trees, I discovered a soothing hobby which provides hours of enjoyment and an aesthetic and interesting focal point in my home.
I’m sure you know bonsai trees are miniature, natural trees grown as an art form. Their roots are clipped to hinder growth. Trees can grow healthily and beautifully for decades, and as they mature, they change shape. The technique originated in China then Japan and has been practiced for centuries. They are grown in pots and, sometimes with pruning and sometimes without, form sculptured, often windswept shapes that speak to me of mystical places.
There are some secrets to keeping a bonsai healthy but I have discovered that bonsai trees care is actually quite easy, if you know what you are doing in regard to the watering, fertilizing and pruning. With just a little knowledge you will be able to trim and pinch your miniature tree to train it to grow into interesting, aesthetically pleasing shapes that will amaze your family and friends.
And the next time you are asked to be responsible for caring for bonsai trees , you will be able to say with confidence, of course I know about bonsai trees care. And you know that you will!!
www.bonsaiseedsshoppe.com Bonsai plants, the result of an age old tradition, are an attractive addition to any home. Bonsais are highly attractive, so many people proudly display them in their houses. However, indoor bonsai trees require some extra maintenance. The reason for this is that they aren’t getting the advantages that come from exposure to outdoor weather conditions and natural sunlight. They may look to be quite hardy. But there are some bonsais that are quite delicate with regard to water and light.
