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Old 14-01-2007, 06:48 AM posted to rec.arts.bonsai
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Default Bonsai Newbie question

My wife heard me singing "Just lie there by the Juniper." When she came
back from Chinatown today, she brought me a small Juniper (?) bonsai. How
do I care for/train it?

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Old 18-01-2007, 04:34 AM posted to rec.arts.bonsai
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Default Bonsai Newbie question

"Scooter the Mighty" wrote:
wrote:
My wife heard me singing "Just lie there by the Juniper." When she came
back from Chinatown today, she brought me a small Juniper (?) bonsai.
How do I care for/train it?

The main mistake people make with these is keeping them indoors. The
Juniper is an outdoor plant, it needs a lot of sun and it needs to get
cold in the winter.

A correctly potted bonsai is usually in a very shallow pot with many of
it's roots cut off and a fast draining soil. If this is true of yours,
you'll want to water it a lot more often than you would a house plant
that has soil that holds more water. Most of the small bonsais that
people casually buy in chinatown (i.e. bonsais that don't cost hundreds
of dollars) probably are potted more like house plants and require less
water.

You'll want to repot it every few years.


Thanks, Scooter. It's been below freezing here the last few nights, so I
brought it indoors to avoid root freeze. It's in one of those 2" square
thin black plastic 'pots'. It's now on a west facing windowsill in our
bedroom, which runs around 50°F this time of year. Once the frost danger is
past, I'll move it back outdoors. I don't think the soil is well drained,
as it's still quite moist. I'll repot it into a proper Bonsai pot in the
Spring, if I don't kill it first, as I did with a Bristlecone pine some 20
years ago. It needs a lot of Sun?

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Old 19-01-2007, 03:53 AM posted to rec.arts.bonsai
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Default Bonsai Newbie question


wrote:
"Scooter the Mighty" wrote:
wrote:
My wife heard me singing "Just lie there by the Juniper." When she came
back from Chinatown today, she brought me a small Juniper (?) bonsai.
How do I care for/train it?

The main mistake people make with these is keeping them indoors. The
Juniper is an outdoor plant, it needs a lot of sun and it needs to get
cold in the winter.

A correctly potted bonsai is usually in a very shallow pot with many of
it's roots cut off and a fast draining soil. If this is true of yours,
you'll want to water it a lot more often than you would a house plant
that has soil that holds more water. Most of the small bonsais that
people casually buy in chinatown (i.e. bonsais that don't cost hundreds
of dollars) probably are potted more like house plants and require less
water.

You'll want to repot it every few years.


Thanks, Scooter. It's been below freezing here the last few nights, so I
brought it indoors to avoid root freeze. It's in one of those 2" square
thin black plastic 'pots'. It's now on a west facing windowsill in our
bedroom, which runs around 50°F this time of year. Once the frost danger is
past, I'll move it back outdoors. I don't think the soil is well drained,
as it's still quite moist. I'll repot it into a proper Bonsai pot in the
Spring, if I don't kill it first, as I did with a Bristlecone pine some 20
years ago. It needs a lot of Sun?


50 degrees is too warm, you should move it back outside or it'll break
dormancy.

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Old 07-02-2007, 10:20 AM
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Really quickly, they should be outside. If your weather is especially hot, some mid-day protection may be advisable. Ideally it should be potted in a fairly gritty free draining soil mix. If not be very careful to ensure that the soil is not kept constantly wet. When watering, water thoroughly then wait until the soil approaches dryness before repeating. Frequent, shallow watering is the wrong approach.

As long as you are seeing growth a younger tree, still in the early stages of development, can be fertilized regularly throughout the summer. A balanced (10-10-10 or 20-20-20) water soluble fertilizer mixed according to directions about every two weeks will be fine.

If your weather is damp be on the lookout for small dark spots on juvenile foliage, this is black spot fungus and must be treated quickly.

Unless you have purchased older, well established specimens there won't be a lot to do right now other than your daily routine. Just take some time and learn how to manage them properly.
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Old 29-11-2007, 05:01 PM
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So it is essential to remember that the level of water needs to be monitored regularly on a daily basis. In case there is too much water in the tray or pot, the roots will rot, and if it is left very dry then roots will become weak and fragile. So when you are growing a bonsai, make sure that the soil maintains a constant level of moisture and is replaced
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