How to grow bonsai at home

Bonsai is a special technique for growing dwarf trees in indoor conditions. In essence, bonsai is the art of creating the tree you want to see. For the plant, you can choose the most ordinary cuttings of aspen, birch, pine, oak or juniper. With the help of various tricks, a strong large tree is forced to grow in small indoor pots, due to which a very beautiful small tree grows, wonderfully fitting into the modern interior.

In the East, bonsai technique is equated with the art of creating sculptures or paintings. The history of bonsai began from the time of the samurai. When the soldiers went on campaigns, they would certainly take with them small trees, personifying eternal youth and life.

How to plant a bonsai

Adult bonsai is an expensive pleasure. In addition, grown by others' hands, a bonsai will not bring you due satisfaction and joy. Old-timers of the East say that growing bonsai from scratch gives a person strength, teaches wisdom and patience.

To grow a dwarf tree at home, you need to go to the nearest park and find a small shoot of any tree. Remember that a bonsai is a prototype of a large tree, so you need to choose the varieties that you like. That is, if you do not want to see leaves falling in autumn and bare branches in winter, you need to choose evergreen tree species. Also pay attention to which trees take root well in your strip. Do not plant a palm tree or banana tree if they do not have enough sunlight.

Take a walk in the park and decide on the choice of tree. It can be ficus, oak, elm, birch and any other plants. Dig up a small stalk of a tree. Usually viable processes huddle near the roots of a large tree. In the same place, in the park, it is necessary to collect land for planting. This is done so that the tree falls into the "familiar", that is, into the soil familiar to it.

To plant a plant, you need to prepare a pot. Bonsai grows very well and takes the desired shape in wide and shallow pots of ceramics. The pot should be so shallow that it only covers the roots of the tree. Ceramics, in turn, perfectly retain moisture, which is so necessary with a shallow planting. However, for the first time, until the tree has matured and gained strength, it can be planted in an ordinary pot for indoor plants.

At the bottom of the pot you need to make a drain - sprinkle expanded clay pebbles or just brick shards. To prepare the soil, you need to mix three parts of the earth brought from the park with one part of sand and one part of peat. Mix the soil and put it in a pot. Plant a tree in it, after trimming the long roots. This is another important part of growing a tree. At each transplant, you need to trim the roots of the tree, leaving no more than 10 cm. This allows the plant to grow not in height, but in breadth.

Bonsai Tree Care

Growing a bonsai is easy enough. Most trees do not need any special conditions. Immediately after planting a tree, it must be abundantly watered and put in fresh air - for example, on a balcony or on a windowsill on the outside of the window.

Fertilizers
Since there is not much soil in the pot, the bonsai needs to be fertilized regularly. You need to feed the plant once every three weeks during the period of active growth. In winter, top dressing can be canceled. Usually bonsai is fertilized from a mixture of minerals, which include nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.Some crops, such as pine and maple, do not fertilize with nitrogen, otherwise it can provoke the active growth of these trees, which is unacceptable to us.

Watering a bonsai tree
Watering a bonsai should be moderate, the amount of water required for the plant depends on its type. However, do not allow the soil to completely dry out, since a shallow pot does not allow the tree to accumulate moisture. It is best to water the plant as soon as the topsoil dries. In winter, watering is reduced to a minimum. If the room is very hot and dry, you need to place the pot with the plant in a water tray. Bonsai also needs regular spraying - so it looks more fresh.

Temperature and amount of sunlight
Most crops are quite unpretentious regarding the temperature in the room where they grow. Try to regularly take your "pet" out into the fresh air - put him on the balcony. Most trees grow normally at temperatures from -10 degrees to +40 degrees Celsius.

But the sunshine should be a lot all year round. Place bonsai on the windows on the sunny side of the house. And only in the middle of summer the tree needs to be protected from direct sunlight, otherwise the crown will simply turn yellow.

Pruning bonsai
Pruning is one of the main conditions for growing an aesthetically beautiful plant. At the very beginning of growing a tree, you need to decide on the shape that you would like to see in your pot. Trees can be cut so that they are straight and tall, sprawling and low, asymmetrical, spherical, etc.

When trimming, it is important to consider some features. If you want to accelerate and improve plant growth in a certain direction, you need to cut off only the tops of the branches that grow in this direction. When you remove only the upper leaves, the growth of the plant in this direction is accelerated. If you want, on the contrary, to stop the growth of branches in a certain direction, you need to “pinch” the branches, that is, remove them from the very base of the trunk. Most likely, new shoots will no longer grow from this place.

From the very beginning of seedling growth, it is necessary to constantly form the crown of the plant. This accelerates the growth of leaves, while at the same time making them small and decorative. Typically, the tree is pruned in spring and summer, using small secateurs or scissors. It is not necessary to prune the tree during flowering, otherwise it will never bloom again.

How to shape a bonsai tree

Many flower growers who are just starting to grow bonsai do not understand how such a dwarf type of plant can be obtained from a large viable tree. Here are a few secrets to help you figure out bonsai molding.

1. Small capacity. If you plant a seedling in a large container, you will get a real garden tree. The small size of the processes is achieved due to the shallow pot for planting a bonsai. There is not much soil to “roam” in growth. And in order to replenish the strength of the plant, you need to transplant the tree every few years into fresh soil saturated with minerals and fertilizers.
2. Minimum fertilizer. To slow the growth of a tree, you need to fertilize it, but at a minimum. You must not allow the active growth and development of the crown.
3. Frequent pruning of young shoots. If you constantly prune young branches, the entire growth of the tree will go to the thickness of the trunk, which is what we want to achieve.
4. Pruning roots. For each transplant, you need to ruthlessly cut the roots of the tree, leaving only small branches no more than 12 cm long.
5. Cuts of tree bark. If a tree stubbornly seeks to grow up, it is necessary to stop sap flow under its bark. To do this, cuts are made on the bark or the trunk is simply pulled by wire for several months.

All these methods can be carried out only after the final strengthening of the seedling, otherwise it can lead to the death of a fragile tree.

What is sick bonsai

Bonsai can usually get all the diseases and pests that infect large trees of this type. The main pests of the bonsai tree are spider mites, aphids, and mealybugs. Like other indoor plants, bonsai can suffer from mold and mildew. You can recover from pests using medicinal formulations for indoor plants, which are sold in specialized stores. You can also wipe the tree trunk with garlic tincture, which kills insects. If your plant is sick, then you did not observe the temperature regime, the amount of watering and other living conditions of the plant.

Growing a beautiful, elegant and sophisticated bonsai tree is a real hobby that requires patience and endurance. Bonsai is not just floriculture, it is the real art of creating beauty.

Video: how to grow a do-it-yourself bonsai tree