Bonsai Help – The Techniques of Growing
If You Are Interested In Growing Your Own Bonsai – You Can!
Yeddo spruce is an ideal tree to select to create bonsai. Bonsai help is given in this article so that you will be able to grow beautiful trees.
Pinching. In the course of training, pinching of the new growth each year is important and never to be neglected during the whole life of the bonsai. The time for pinching is May and June, when the new growth is 1/3 inch to 1 1/8 inches long. Half to two thirds of the length of the new growth should be pinched off with the fingers; this must be done carefully to prevent the whole of the new growth from coming off.
If the new growth is too hard to be pinched with the fingers, scissors may be used; but finger pinching is better for the plant and has more tendency to keep it dwarf. This is the golden rule of pinching.
When the tree becomes older, deeper pinching should be practiced, leaving only a small portion of the new growth. If it is desired to shorten a long shoot to encourage the. growth of the branch formed at its base, this should be done gradually, in two or more years, so as not to weaken and kill the branch at the base.
Repotting
Time. Repotting during training is best done in the early spring before the buds open. Sometimes it is attempted when the foliage is well matured; but if it is thus delayed, the new roots will not be formed within the year, and so failure results. Only the expert can repot at any other season than early spring.
Repotting should not be needed each year; once in two or three years is enough.
Bonsai help: the soil should be porous loam and peat well mixed with sharp sand; various proportions may be tried and the results watched. Results are noticeable in the growth, luster, and size of the leaves, in the health of the roots, and in the condition of the soil-whether it remains porous and does not pack down hard. Such effects will indicate the right materials and the right proportions for the soil.
Method. The tree is pulled out of the container; the old soil is carefully taken off as far as one-fourth to one-third of the radius of the root ball. The roots that were wound around the inside of the container are cut off first. Then all the roots are pruned: most of them not so far back as at the last pruning, but some of them farther back; this will keep the healthy roots within the dimensions of the container.
If the plants are to be grown in shallower containers, the lower roots should be cut off, and the upper and surface roots encouraged. Gradually the old tree can be grown in a very shallow container in a healthy condition.
The tree should be repotted in the container and new soil filled in. A stick may be used to poke the soil into contact with the roots. Water should be given just until it drops from the hole in the bottom.
With this bonsai help, this tree should give you a lifetime of joy.
Most of the services reviewed by this website are available or may be accessed from Australia (see 