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Buying and Raising a Bonsai

Buying and Raising a Bonsai. Owning a bonsai plant can be daunting for the beginner. There is a lot that you need to keep in mind when raising and training a bonsai plant.

As the bonsai grows in a small pot, they tend to be more delicate than the trees that are found growing naturally outdoors. Because of this, beginners are sometimes overwhelmed by the things they need to do to ensure their bonsai plant survives.

There are only a few things that a beginner to raising a bonsai plant needs to remember. A bonsai plant thrives best outdoors. While they can be brought inside for display, it is best to leave the plants outdoors as frequently as possible.

This will ensure that the bonsai plant can go into dormancy when it is required. Dormancy is a stage where the plant goes into hibernation and recovers from any damage done to it during the growing seasons.

This stage is vital for the survival of a bonsai plant, and many plants will die after several months if they cannot go into dormancy.

Secret techniques of bonsai

Buying and Raising a Bonsai - There is a lot that you need to keep in mind

Once you have ensured your bonsai plant has the right growing environment, it is important that you water it properly. Because the bonsai plant grows in a small, crowded pot, the watering needs are much more specific to the bonsai than they are to the ground grown tree.

You need to be able to mimic the natural conditions of the bonsai plant as it is in the wild without over watering the plant. Letting the bonsai plant dry out too much is also a common problem, which can be as damaging as over watering the plant.

Striking a good balance will take effort for the beginner, but once you have learned how to care for your bonsai plant, it will become easy and automatic.

If you live in a region that is not conducive for the growth of a bonsai plant, there are some varieties of trees that can be grown indoors. These trees tend to be tropical, liking a static temperature and constant amount of sunlight year round.

These trees are good for beginners, as they are typically hardy and will tolerate some errors in learning. If you are interested in growing a bonsai plant for the first time, investing in a tropical tree may be the route for you.

You can learn about your bonsai plant online, or you can inquire for more information from a bonsai nursery. Many hobbyists are social about the care of their plants, and will often share their resources.

Caring for a Bonsai Tree

Caring for a bonsai tree is a good way for plant lovers to see the efforts they put into nurturing a plant turn into a work of art. Through careful maintenance of leaves, branches and roots, a bonsai tree can be shaped to virtually any style that suits the artist.

If you are interested in starting to care for and grow your own bonsai tree, there are several ways you can start. You can start by purchasing a tree that has already been designed.

These trees are typically five to seven years old and have had their basic shape already tended to by a bonsai tree artist. These trees are easier to take care of than shaping and designing your own tree, but are also more restrictive on what can be done with them.

These trees are good for beginners who want to learn how to care for a bonsai tree without investing several years in designing the tree.

Caring for a Bonsai Tree - A plant turn into a work of art

If you are adventurous, or have owned a bonsai tree previously, you can choose to acquire a young seedling and sculpt your bonsai tree yourself. If you are planning to sculpt your own bonsai tree, there are several things that you will want to remember.

First, sculpting a bonsai tree takes years. Many of the trees that can be purchased are somewhere between seven to fifteen years old, gradually sculpted until the bonsai tree has taken the shape that the artist wants.

When you begin sculpting your own tree, you will need to remember that patience is necessary in order to succeed at this art.

When you go to sculpt a bonsai tree, you will need an assortment of tools. Wire pliers, branch cutters and pruning tools are just among a few of the tools you will need.

Most of the tools required for maintaining and growing a bonsai tree can be purchased at most hardware stores or are sold online from stores that specially handle bonsai tree care supplies.

While many of these tools are used in basic maintenance of established trees, there are some tools used for grafting and defoliation that are typically only purchased and used by those who are forming their own bonsai tree designs.

Many bonsai trees are only suitable for outdoor growth in ornamental gardens. However, there is a growing popularity in dwarf bonsai, many of which are built from trees that can flourish indoors.

Before you purchase your established bonsai tree or your seedling, ensure that the tree can survive in the climate you wish to keep it in.

Using Quality Soil for your Bonsai

Using Quality Soil for your Bonsai. Having a good bonsai soil is a vital part of keeping your bonsai healthy. For the beginner, selecting a good bonsai soil is a daunting task.

For the experienced bonsai grower, a good soil makes the difference between a thriving, healthy tree and one that will only survive a few months to a year.

When you are selecting bonsai soil, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind, regardless of whether or not you are an experienced grower. Bonsai trees require quick draining soil that maintains its shape in order to stay alive.

Using Quality Soil for your Bonsai

Due to the small amount of space that a bonsai has to work with, if you do not have good soil, root rot is much more likely to occur. Root rot is a death sentence for a bonsai tree, and can quickly ruin years of growth of your tree. In addition to this, poorly chosen soil has a tendency to break apart, requiring the roots be cleaned yearly.

This can be particularly damaging to pine bonsai trees, as well as junipers. If you want to use soils prone to breaking apart or decomposing, such as organic soils, you will need to make certain that the tree you use this soil type with is able to handle root bearing at least once or twice a year.

One of the most popular types of bonsai soil available on the market is inorganic soils. These are fired clays that hold their shape and absorb moisture well, which the roots can then feed off of.

This is important as these soils have good drainage, which prevents root rot from occurring.

As high quality fired clay tends to be absorbent, there is enough moisture to allow the roots to get what they need while the excess water drains away. This type of inorganic soil is acceptable for many varieties of bonsai trees.

Acquiring good bonsai soil can be difficult if you do not know where to look. Bonsai soil can be found in the most unusual of places, including hardware stores, auto parts stores and pet supply stores.

Bonsai resellers online will typically acquire their soils from these types of places and make blends suitable for certain types of trees.

When you purchase bonsai soil, it is important that you test the soil prior to use. Good quality soils will not break down easily. You should not be able to crush it in your hand easily, or break it when doused in water and then frozen.

Bonsai soil that breaks down like this will typically not last a long time and can cause some problems with certain varieties of trees.

Essential Bonsai Supplies

Essential Bonsai Supplies. There are some bonsai supplies that are required in order for your plant to be as healthy as possible. Caring for a bonsai involves a lot more than just watering your tree every now and then and watching it grow.

Bonsais are works of art that require careful pruning and management in order for the tree to take the shape that you desire. When you first buy a bonsai, there are a few tools that you will want to keep on hand to ensure it is properly cared for.

These include shears, a rake, tweezers and a small broom. While the shears and rake are obvious in their gardening uses, many people do not realize the importance of both the tweezers and the broom.

Unlike standard trees, a vital part of the survival of a bonsai tree is that they are kept clean. Brooming off the surface of the tree will keep the leaves and bark healthy, as well as help reveal any potential problems with the tree.

If a bonsai is to have any rot on the branches or trunk, the broom can reveal this. By quick action, you can rescue a bonsai from certain death.

Essential Bonsai Supplies

The tweezers are often looked at oddly by those who are not familiar with bonsai care. Of the bonsai supplies, the tweezers are vital for the removal of grass and weeds.

Unlike large trees, bonsais grow in small pots, and any amount of weeds or grass can strip the tree of the nutrients it needs for survival.

Because of this, the tweezers are vital for the complete removal of damaging weeds. As the bonsais are typically small, tweezers are the only tool realistic for use as weed and grass removers.

In addition to the four basic bonsai supplies, there are many other tools that are used in the care of bonsai. While most beginners only work with the four basic bonsai supplies, advanced users will use wire pliers, and special concave clippers to help shape and grow their bonsai.

As you become more skilled with your bonsai, you will find you need more of these bonsai supplies in order to get the style of bonsai you desire.

When purchase bonsai supplies, it is important that you buy high quality supplies. While lower quality supplies will function, high quality bonsai supplies are designed to last a long time. You can purchase your bonsai supplies from online stores or from your local retailer.

Vital Tools to Care for Your Bonsai

Vital Tools to Care for Your Bonsai. There are many bonsai tools that are used when designing and caring for your bonsai trees.

These tools are vital to encourage the good health of your tree, and should be used as frequently as needed to prune any dead or dying branches, care for the roots, and maintain the soil for your tree. For the novice, selecting which tools you need can be difficult.

There are many basic bonsai tools used to care for a tree, and these are typically sold as beginner sets.

The four basic tools include a bonsai shear/scissor, a broom, a rake and tweezers. Typically, the highest quality tools for bonsai care are from Japan, where there are companies dedicated to the building of these tools.

When selecting your bonsai tools, there are a few things that you will want to keep in mind.

First, the quality of the tools you purchase may affect how well your bonsai turns out. Low quality tools run risk of damaging your tree and leaving unpleasant looking scars on the bark of the tee. Low quality bonsai tools tend to be duller, lacking the ability to cleanly shear when needed.


A clean cut is required when you’re wanting to hide evidence that the tree has had branches removed unnaturally.

When setting wires, good tweezers can make the difference between a good placement and your branch being scarred from bad placement of wires.

You can buy bonsai tools from all across the world, although the vast majority of high quality, recommended bonsai tools come from Japan. When you are purchasing your bonsai tools, you can purchase low quality tools that are extremely inexpensive, or you can purchase high end tools that are designed to last for years.

The primary difference in these tools is how well they do the job, and how long they last. With proper care, high quality tools will never need replaced, as they will hold their edge for years. Low quality tools tend to go dull quickly, and run risk of breaking while being used.

For advanced users, it is recommended that high quality bonsai tools are exclusively used.

For those who have worked with bonsai for many years, their tool set will be far more extensive, ranging from eight to twenty or more different tools for working with the various types of bonsai.

Bonsai tools can be purchased online, imported from Japan, or found at local garden and hardware stores.