Bonsai art - an exact copy of a tree grown in miniature - is a complex process and requires considerable time, as well as experience and attention. You need to choose a plant taking into account the climate, before making a bonsai. Avocados, lemon, fir are not suitable for the climate of the middle zone.
DIY bonsai
Specialists and landscape designers recommend bonsai growing with their own hands from both coniferous and deciduous trees, the most common representatives of which are pine and maple, lilac, rose, and wisteria are a little less common. Growing bonsai from such crops is a simple matter, minimal care.
Money Tree Bonsai is Great for Growing in the Middle Strip
Seed selection
Many plant growers are interested in how to grow and form a bonsai from seeds at home to get a beautiful tree. The cultivation process takes several years, at first proper care is provided for seeds, seedlings and only then for a tree, and it is far from always the first time to grow it from seeds.
Growing bonsai on the balcony, you should choose tropical plants: coffee tree, laurel, dracaena. Without experience, getting a bonsai from ficus will still turn out in view of the unpretentiousness of the plant. If there is even the slightest idea of the essence of the procedure, you can plant a pine tree that grows slowly, but in the end a beautiful tree is obtained.
Pot selection
Any container can serve as a pot for a bonsai plant - wooden, stones with a depression, clay, but it is better to give preference to ceramic pots. The basic rule when choosing a container form for a bonsai is that it should not be more beautiful than a plant. For woody cultures, pottery with various shades is suitable, for flowering - ceramics or clay of the appropriate color.
Note! Watering depends on the material of the pot, for example, in a pottery a plant needs to be watered more often than in a ceramic one.
A bonsai pot made of any material should be spacious. The diameter of the round container should exceed the diameter of the trunk by 3 times, and the depth should be about half the height of the tree. Custom-shaped pots have a width of about 2/3 of the crown of the tree. Moreover, strict adherence to the size of the pot is required only for adult plants.
Priming
For coniferous trees, the soil is prepared drier with the content of sand, flowering and indoor varieties - an organic substrate. In any case, the soil for bonsai varieties should easily pass moisture and have a drainage system.
Well suited sand from the shores of reservoirs, fine and crumbly. Building sand with a high content of lime is not suitable to plant a bonsai.
Important! To neutralize the soil from the fungus, you need to warm it in the microwave for about 5 minutes.
Do I need to fertilize a bonsai
In view of growing trees in relatively small pots, they need top dressing, especially during the growing season. The optimal fertilizer for bonsai should contain nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, which are found in almost all fertilizers, but for different plants it is worth considering their proportions.
Fertilizing with fertilizers begins in early spring and lasts until mid-autumn. Indoor species can be fertilized year-round.
Step-by-step algorithm for applying dry dressing:
- Sprinkle on the surface of the soil around the plant.
- Pour plenty of water from above.
Important!Fertilizing a bonsai is necessary, but, given the limited amount of soil, strictly in the recommended doses, so as not to harm the plant.
Where to begin
Growing begins with the need to sprout seeds for bonsai, which should be treated from pests and diseases. The term depends on the plant, some will need more than five years. Germination time can be reduced by breaking the seed coat to facilitate seedlings.
Crown shapes
Forms (styles) of crowns for bonsai:
- fan;
- formal vertical;
- informal vertical;
- inclined;
- cascading;
- half cascade;
- Bohemian;
- tree bent by the wind;
- double barrel;
- multi-barreled;
- grove or group landing;
- roots on the rock;
- a tree on a stone;
- fallen tree;
- dead wood.
When a plant needs to be transplanted
If a bonsai grows in open ground, you can not transplant it, but a limited amount of transplantation is necessary so that the roots do not intertwine. Such a procedure is considered planned, that is, it occurs regularly at the scheduled time and depends on the age, size of the tree and pot, as well as the type of plant and nutrient soil.
For your information! Young plants, not older than 4 years old, are transplanted every spring when the vegetation begins, an adult - once every 10 years. The signal for transplantation is the roots sticking out of the drainage hole and starting to fall off the leaves.
There is another type of transplant - emergency, it is carried out when the plant is sick or rotted roots.
Juniper Bonsai
Available for cultivation for both experienced growers and beginners. Such a bonsai in winter does not need frequent watering, and there are no special requirements for humidity, temperature and lighting. Unpretentiousness is its advantage.
In winter, the tree needs more rest than watering, and therefore the soil should dry out during this period. Despite the unpretentiousness of the content of juniper bonsai, a tree requires a little attention and minimal watering.
For your information! Checking the soil every day with toothpicks. Dipping the stick into the ground by 1.5 cm and holding it for 10 minutes, you can determine how dry the ground is. If the extracted stick became wet, watering should not be carried out, dry says that it is time to water the plant.
Juniper soil for bonsai is no different from soil for other breeds, but the plant, even in the winter period of inactivity, can not do without sunlight. In winter, 4 hours will be enough for the juniper to be in the sun.
Juniper top dressing
Juniper, like many representatives of the Kiparisovs, is unpretentious to the soil, but in some cases it needs top dressing. Young trees, as well as transplanted trees due to their weakness and susceptibility to diseases, need fertilizer that is applied all season, starting a month after transplanting. Different types of juniper require different types of soil. Peat and sand with an admixture of wood shavings are added to the acidic medium, and slaked lime to the alkaline environment.
Fertilizer application
How to make bonsai from juniper: crown formation
The formation of the crown is made using wire. The main rule is not to get carried away and remember that the tree is constantly growing, therefore, you need to safely remove the interfering shoots and monitor the wire on the soft structure of the trunk.
Ficus Bonsai
The choice of ficus is quite justified, because it is distinguished by branched roots, a massive trunk with a bend or ornate, beautiful smooth or textured bark and rapid growth, and therefore is well suited for growing in miniature and is easy to shape. Ficus is not demanding on sunlight, it is more suitable for morning sunlight, while daylight can cause leaf burns.
Ficus Benjamin Bonsai
What types of ficus are suitable for bonsai
Of the varieties of ficus, Bengali, rusty-red, blunt and Benjamin are suitable for such cultivation. It is best to grow a bonsai from the last species, which has all the characteristics for obtaining a dwarf tree: small leaves, fast growth, beautiful roots and bark.
Shape selection
Bonsai differs from ordinary plants not only in miniature size, but also in the shape of its trunk, giving the impression of a century-old tree. The classical form, without branches at the bottom and bends, grows up. The incorrect upright style is distinguished by a small crown that does not extend beyond the limits of the pot and a curved trunk. The inclined shape can be inclined at any angle and have roots on the surface. The bifurcated form of bonsai involves the growth of two trunks from one root.
Ficus Tutorial
The shaping process for ficus bonsai consists of treating the roots, crown and trunk. In order for the tree to grow in width, the roots of a young plant need to be trimmed until a thickening of the trunk is noticeable. Then, armed with sharp scissors, you need to trim the leaves along with the stems. Pruning is carried out in spring and summer, and in winter, when the plant is gaining strength, it is better not to disturb it.
Further, a barrel is formed using wire. The garter is suitable for tilting the tree, and the winding in the form of a frame helps strengthen the branches for the desired shape.
Note!Making a frame that lasts for two months, you can not wind the wire very tightly to avoid its ingrowth into the trunk. It is not recommended to wear the frame immediately after planting, you need to wait a few weeks.
Money Tree Bonsai, or Crassula
You can make bonsai from a fat girl, which is large in size, even in small rooms. This plant is well suited for the bonsai technique, with which you can get a compact plant of its original form.
Description of Crassula and types for bonsai
Crassula, or money tree, reaches 1.5 m in height. She has thick stems about 20 cm in diameter. The plant is valued for its low demand for care and the decorativeness of gray-green leaves of various shapes.
On the entire surface of the sheet there are guides. There are 350 species of Crassula in nature, indoor trees are divided into tree-like and creeping. In the technique of miniature trees, treelike trees are used.
Preparing planting material
Trees in height do not exceed 200 cm and have a thick trunk, like an adult tree, with curvatures, therefore, before planting, the money tree must be correctly trimmed, and then maintain the shape of the crown.
Planting a plant in a prepared substrate
For a money tree bonsai, the land must be well-drained, contain peat and fertilizers to quickly grow leaves. You can buy ready-made soil, the substrate for cacti is perfect.
The capacity for the bonsai must be selected wide and shallow in view of the preliminary pruning of the roots in the shape of the pot. When planting, do not deepen the root neck. At the end of the transplant, the plant must be properly watered.
Crown formation
In order for the tree from the fat to become a real decoration, it is necessary to properly pinch, protect from sunburn and form the trunk in a timely manner. A hoodie for a miniature is better grown from a sprout, then it will be easier to create the desired style. But in any case, the plant is subject to certain rules for the formation of the crown, giving it the necessary harmony, combined with a natural look.
Fat crown crown formation
Carmona Bonsai - The Most Popular Plant
Carmona gained the greatest distribution among plants formed using the technique of miniature trees. The popularity of this tropical plant contributes to the lack of specific methods of keeping at home and an attractive appearance.
Why Carmona is suitable for beginners
Carmona Bonsai - an evergreen bush or tree with shiny leaves of dark green color, blooming several times a year, bringing bright small berries, great for beginner bonsai thanks to its unpretentiousness and ease of cultivation.
Unpretentious bonsai plant
Carmona can grow in shady places, it only takes a few hours of sunlight a day, and with proper lighting blooms all year round. Due to its resemblance to a tree, many Bonsaists choose Carmona.
Temperature and lighting
Carmona is a tropical plant, and therefore is thermophilic, but can withstand temperatures up to 10 ° C. In winter, the pocket must provide at least an hour of sunlight.
Growth rate
Along with azalea bonsai, carmona will grow for several years and, with proper care, it will be possible to get a beautiful bush.
Bonsai Carmona
Earth mix
You can transplant the carmona into the soil for bonsai by choosing a clay substrate made independently from garden loam, and also use heather, turf, leafy soil or buy ready-made.
Note! Carmona is able to grow in an inorganic substrate, but subject to constant feeding. It is important that the earth does not contain lime, which can lead to plant diseases.
Types of pockets for indoor breeding
For miniature equipment, breeding of highly branched small trees, reaching a height of up to 4 m and growing up to 70 years, of which the most popular is small-leaved pockets or pockets with large leaves, is excellent. The content of such plants, blooming year-round at room temperature, does not differ from caring for myrtle bonsai.
Ammania - Aquarium Bonsai
Ammania, or rotala indica - a plant with green leaves with pink tops. The aquarium serves as a pot for bonsai - a mix of breeding indoor fish and house plants. Both normal and nano-aquariums are suitable for cultivation. Often, Ammania Bonsai looks like a thick carpet and is a favorite among plants for aquarium design.
Conditions of detention and care for ammonia
Ammania is a fragile plant that is not recommended for planting in an aquarium with large fish, otherwise they can damage the bonsai. How to accelerate growth? The solution is to supply more carbon dioxide.
Bottom substrate
As a soil for ammonia, fine and light sand of not more than 3 mm with a nutrient substrate, which is ideally fertilized with iron, is suitable. You can take ready-made nutritious soil for bonsai. Ammonia will bloom singly with four tiny cups.
Water temperature, hardness and lighting
The annual plant is adapted to the usual parameters of fresh water, where the pH is 6.0-7.5, and the hardness is from 3 to 8. The ideal water temperature is not more than 28 ° C, but not lower than 22 ° C. For normal growth, it is necessary to organize lighting with a full spectrum, and with weak light, the stem and leaves will stretch. The bonsai shoot needs to provide strong light from 1 V per 1 liter of water.
Cuttings of Ammania
Seeds bonsai from Ammania is not grown due to the special growing conditions, so it requires special care and reproduction. Further growth depends on competent grafting, therefore, it is necessary to pinch off the fleshy main trunk of the plant with narrow leaves located on it. Carefully cutting the stalk and placing it on a substrate, roots will appear on it, after which it can be planted in prepared soil. Planting occurs with compaction in the substrate, but without pressing the roots.
Cuttings of Ammania
Cultivating living decor is an exciting but challenging task. Sometimes it takes several years. That is why in the first couple it is important to determine the type of plant and the features of its care, so as not to ruin many years of work by incorrect actions overnight.
