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New to Bonsai
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Posted by
darrbizzare Tampa, FL (
My Page) on
Tue, Dec 5, 06 at 12:51
I recently bought a 6 year old Juniper from a local nursery dedicated to Bonsai. After I brought it home, all the leaves started turning brown, but after about a week they started turning green again, but now they are turning brown again. I've checked a bunch of websites about watering and I've been following those directions about letting the soil dry a little in between waterings, but I am not sure what to do. This isnt my tree, but the pot, gravel and moss is the same on mine:
Any help would be appreciated
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: New to Bonsai
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| First ditch the moss, then pry up the gravel and throw it away, backfill with soil as necessary. Second, put your tree outdoors where it belongs - it's a cold hardy tree and I don't know if it'll survive in Tampa, but I know for sure it won't indoors (and A/C is bad for plants). Thirdly, let the soil dry a lot between waterings. Come back here in a month or so to let us know how it's going. It needs lots of sun (though protect roots by putting a white tile or something reflective against the pot where it faces the sun. Until you learn how to repot (in spring only) into a proper bonsai mix of mostly grit (not off the roadside!) keep your tree out of the rain because what it's in now (mostly peat) will hold water forever and rot the roots. |
RE: New to Bonsai
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| I keep it outside all day, and have only brought it in once, last night when it was in the 40s overnight. The gravel is loose, not glued on or anything like that. What do you mean by backfill with soil? Just fill in the extra part with a specific soil? |
RE: New to Bonsai
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| Oh... I meant that because pebbles are routinely GLUED to the soil(!) in one awful slab, when it comes off, a bunch of soil usually comes with it, so you'd need to replace it, but in your case I guess not. And you don't ever (where you live) need to bring it indoors - it's good to 15-20 F, plus it'll get confused not being able to cool down at night the way most plants do. |
RE: New to Bonsai
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| When you say let it dry out a lot, how much is a lot? Once I get rid of the moss, how often should I water it. Sorry about all the questions, I just dont want it to die on me. |
RE: New to Bonsai
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Ok, Im growing a few junipers very well south of you in Fort Myers. Right now my junipers just started to bud again and had to pinch them back. I use 90% profile for soil. Both Homedepot and Lowes down here carry this product, but it can be a trick to find out where in the store they carry it.
I water every other day now that its cooled down. Dont bother moving it out of the rain, it rains about once a month now, if that. So here is what I would do.
Dont do anything to it. Im guessing since you got the plant at a bonsai nursery that the gravel is not glued to the pot/plant. Put the plant in the sun, let it dry out all the way between waterings this time of year, if it takes over 3-4 days in the sun to dry out with out rain then you might want to change the soil to a better draining one. Call the nursery that sold it to you and if they are friendly, ask them questions.
When the rainy season is about to start transplant the plant into 90%-100% profile. Put it back in the same spot, let it get the rain for the season and it should grow out of control for the spring and summer. This has worked for me for the last 1+ years.
Junipers go dormant for about a week or two at the end of January begining of February in Florida. We have an extreamly long growing season, 11+ months of it! |
RE: New to Bonsai
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| I would never leave a juniper in the rain unless it's been put into a suitable mix, and Profile without any bark in it doesn't sound that great - it does need an organic component and it does need acidifying, which bark usually gives it. |
RE: New to Bonsai
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| Should I still get rid of the moss? It doesnt seem to have a root system, but seems more like turf that they just kind of wrapped around the base of the plant to make it look good |
RE: New to Bonsai
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| You can leave the moss if you like - the bigger challenge will be the condition of the soil. Many of the garden bonsai like the one you have will not have the proper soil mix. You want to make sure the soil is very porous and drains well. If you can water the top of the soil, and the water soaks right in and flows out the bottom of the pot, you are in good shape. If you water the top of the soil, and the water just flows over the top and rolls off the soil and over the lip of the pot, your soil isn't porous enough and I wouldn't recommend moss since it will just compound the problem. If you have nicely draining soil, putting moss on top will help keep the soil moist without trapping water. Alex www.bonsainut.com |
RE: New to Bonsai
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| The problem with moss is that it likes a lot of water and dim light - just the opposite of what most bonsai need, i.e. fast drainage and bright sun. Moss will 'steal' water from your tree, or keep it too wet, and in trying to keep the moss alive, you'll shortchange the tree. As you said, it's not even rooted - just plonked on top for effect (as it mostly is in bonsai books for their 'close-ups') but unless it grows there naturally on a tree that's well established and living outdoors in cool, misty conditions, it's not a good idea at all. |
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