GENERAL:
-Some people are not sure if Bonsai is a type of plant or a cultivation technique. The word Bonsai roughly means a plant, a tree, but also a group of plants or trees grown in small pots. So Bonsai is not a plant, but a technique of growing a miniature tree in a small pot. This technique originated in China, then was transferred to Japan where it was developed and where it received its current form.
MAINTENANCE AND CARE:
-All plants that have a solid tree with proper care and maintenance can become bonsai. There are plants that are easy to adapt to a small pot and whose leaves shrink faster, and they are recommended for beginners. These are most often: elm, beech, maple, oak, ficus, pine, azalea, chestnut. Soil mixture for Bonsai may contain fine gravel, peat, loam, compost… The mixture is adapted to the plant species. Bonsai needs to be fertilized from time to time, a fertilizer that contains enough nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Before fertilizing, the plant should be well watered, because you can damage it by fertilizing on dry soil. Fertilization from March to September (every 14 days).
HOW BONSAI IS GROWN:
-Bonsai tree can be grown in several ways:
From seed
From margot or rootstock
By reshaping the pot from the nursery
By extracting a suitable specimen from nature
Each of these ways of growing bonsai trees is specific, and the breeder chooses the way that suits him best.
Most of the time is definitely needed for growing from seed. If you decide on this way of growing bonsai trees, you will see the first results of your work only after ten years. Planting bonsai trees from seeds is done in the fall, and after a while the plant is transplanted.
Another possibility is margoting, ie rooting part of the branch, which is then separated from the tree and further grown as a separate plant.
The technique recommended for beginners is to buy a suitable young plant in the nursery, which you will further prune and reshape and continue to grow as a bonsai.
FORMATION OF SHAPES:
-There are large and small specimens of bonsai trees. A large bonsai tree is usually about 45 to 46 centimeters high, while a small height is less than 13 centimeters. The bonsai tree can be much larger, depending on what the grower wants to achieve. It is very important to choose the right pot or bonsai pot. Plant a tree with the correct trunk a little further from the center of the pot, and if you want a tree that you will shape so that it grows at an angle, plant it in the center of a square or round pot. If you want the bonsai to grow upright, you must stick a stick at an angle of 45 degrees while the plant is very young and tie the plant to it. If you want the plant to be in the shape of a cascade or semi-cascade, it is necessary to wrap the young stem with a piece of wire, bend the top of the plant until it is at ground level, and then fasten the top of the wire with a piece of twine tied around the pot. You must do this very carefully, because the branches must not be damaged, otherwise wire scars will remain on them.
When forming the shape of a bonsai tree, there are different styles, and the bonsaiist decides how to form a tree. Styles can be: upright and strictly upright shape, rocky shape, cascade, free upright style, broom and others.
