I've been studying bonsai now for about seven months and I thought I had this watering bonsai
stuff figured out by now, but now I'm learning I may be overwatering. I use the wood skewer
method of dry one inch down then water, the finger method of dry to the first knuckle then water
and I even use a moisture meter to determine when to water my bonsai. Now I'm thinking that
what I read early on may be true, and that was when the pot was dry half way down to water. If it's
a two inch pot then dry to one inch is right, but if it's a 4 inch pot then 2 inches dry is when to
water. Can someone help us newbies to know exactly when to water? Should the soil be dust dry
one inch down before watering or what? Thanks for any help!

Gary
Zone 7

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Gary Huff wrote:
I've been studying bonsai now for about seven months and I thought I had this watering bonsai
stuff figured out by now, but now I'm learning I may be overwatering. I use the wood skewer
method of dry one inch down then water, the finger method of dry to the first knuckle then water
and I even use a moisture meter to determine when to water my bonsai. Now I'm thinking that
what I read early on may be true, and that was when the pot was dry half way down to water. If it's
a two inch pot then dry to one inch is right, but if it's a 4 inch pot then 2 inches dry is when to
water. Can someone help us newbies to know exactly when to water? Should the soil be dust dry
one inch down before watering or what? Thanks for any help!



Alas, nice as it would be to have one, there isn't a
one-size-fits-all rule. It varies by species, by type of
soil, by pot size (and shape), by time of year, by climate,
ambient temperature, wind speed, and humidity. (ETC.)

The wood skewer/knuckle methods probably are as good as any
for beginners to the sport of bonsai. But basically, you're
going to learn by doing. A notebook is a nice thing to keep
to tell you which trees want what done to (or for) them.

I use a chopstick in the soil for just ONE tree now -- a
recently collected 4-foot Podocarpus in a very large
training pot. Podocarpus tend to just sit there and do
nothing (including transpire) for so long after collecting
it is tough to know when to water. Also, this tree is 100
times larger than anything else I own, and I don't know how
large volumes of soil behave in pots with a large surface
(bottom) area. So I check it every other day and generally
water it once a week.

The rest of my trees are in small pots (13-inches is the
largest) and in my climate need daily watering and the
mame/shohin often need twice-daily watering. In winter, I
water every other day (usually).

I'd donate the moisture meter to someone who raises
gladiolas. If you use the skewer (a wooden chopstick is by
FAR the best kind of skewer to use) keep it jammed to the
BOTTOM of the pot. Let the entire stick feel "pretty dry"
before you water for most conifers; "just damp" for most
broad-leafed trees. It IS subjective! And some trees just
like wetter feet while others can't stand soggy/wet/damp
soil on a constant basis.

Remember too, that all trees will use much less water in
winter, and will use a LOT in spring and early summer. In
very hot climes, (mid 90s and above on a daily basis in the
mid-to late-summer), many trees will have a summer dormancy
where they also use less water. So you have to watch all
year long.

In time, you will be able to lift a pot, assess its weight
(wet soil is heavy) and determine when to water. In the
meantime, you will have times when your trees get watered
too often. That's why you want a soil that, generally
speaking, will "dry out" over the course of a 24-hour period
in which you have no rain.

While you don't ever want to water by a formula, once a day
watering IS a good rule of thumb. If your soil stays soggy,
wet, or damp 24 hours after watering it holds too much
water. What you want is "moist." ;-)

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Gary,

Jim and Steve gave you good advice. However, you will, in time, figure it
out. You are in the same zone as Steve and I are and we water differently
because we have differences in pot sizes, tree sizes, soil composition, etc.. I
think for the most part we all use our own mixes, something we learn as the
bonsai years pass by, so there cannot be a rule of thumb for watering. Some
soils are more draining some less. I water my trees according to how the weather
goes and if it rains...I always thank God for doing me the favor that day, (I
honestly do :-)), but summer comes it could be twice per day. I don't use
any chopsticks, I never really did since I am not the type to go and check all
the chopsticks...that would drive me to madness, lol. I simply check my
trees. I enjoy looking at them and working on them and being that they are all in
the garden I see them often . I also have two men trees, male trees,
tropicals, evergreens, indoor, outdoor trees, fast draining soils, pot bound
trees (need repotting) some mame, some in training and anything in between all of
the above.....so there goes the rule of thumb theory. Bonsai are like
life...one day at the time, you'll get the hang of it and some day you'll have the
experience. That's all. Keep enjoying your trees and while you do so, check
if they need water...have the hose nearby and a watering wand attached to
it...you'll have a gentle rain on standby. Just do NOT submerge your trees,
always water from the top. Eventually, it will become natural to you. I have
mental notes already, in a sense one brainwashes oneself as the bonsai art
progresses, and knows when it's time to water the trees. It may sound crazy...but
you'll see, it's there in the back of your brain, lol, that's why bonsai
people are different people! Right guys? I hate to worry you, but wait 'til you
get to the fertilizers, the pesticides, the jins, the grafts and so on
......Ciao!

Patrizia G. Kane
zone 7 - NYC

In a message dated 5/21/2005 5:16:39 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:

I've been studying bonsai now for about seven months and I thought I had
this watering bonsai
stuff figured out by now, but now I'm learning I may be overwatering. I use
the wood skewer
method of dry one inch down then water, the finger method of dry to the
first knuckle then water
and I even use a moisture meter to determine when to water my bonsai.


snipped

Can someone help us newbies to know exactly when to water? Should the soil
be dust dry
one inch down before watering or what? Thanks for any help!

Gary
Zone 7



************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

An article from British Bonsai magazine:

WATERING YOUR BONSAI: AN ART AND A SCIENCE


Bad watering practices can kill plants, but when you ask for advice,
how many times has someone said "watering is an art"? It may seem
like an art to people who know it's time to water but can't explain
why, but it's a science, too. You can do a better job caring for
your plants by trying to understand how plants absorb water.

We can think of a plant as a machine moving water out of the soil and
into the atmosphere. A schematic diagram of this machine would show a
root, a stem containing water-conducting tubes (called xylem elements)
and a leaf . The driving force is the loss of water from the leaf
pores (stomata); just as we perspire from pores in our skin, plants
transpire from pores in theirs. As water vapor escapes by
transpiration, leaf tissue dehydrates, and cell sap becoming more
concentrated in salts (ions). These salts cannot move out of the cell,
but cause water to move in (just as salt in your salt shaker will
=D2cake=D3 in humid weather; the salt can=D5t move out of the shaker, but
water vapor can condense on the salt). Because of the high ion
concentration in leaf cell sap, water in the veins of the leaf moves
into leaf cells. This creates suction in the xylem elements, pulling
more water up the stem from the roots. Water can be =D2pulled=D3 only
when it forms an unbroken strand (this is why you're supposed to cut
rose stems under water; if an air bubble enters a xylem element, the
transpiration pump stops working). As a healthy plant transpires and
water is pulled up the stem, the roots then become dehydrated, and
absorb water from the soil. Water moves from the soil to the roots up
the stem to the leaf, to the air, to the clouds, and then falls as rain
onto the soil to start the cycle over again.

Plants can control the rate of water loss through transpiration by
opening and closing leaf pores, by sinking the leaf pores in small pits
that keep water vapor from moving away too rapidly, by reducing leaf
area (the reason conifers have thin needles is to reduce
transpiration), or by developing white, wooly leaves like lamb's ears
and dusty miller.

So, what causes a plant to wilt? First, a plant will wilt if the soil
is too dry. This is easily remedied by watering the plant, but one
must make sure that all the soil surrounding the roots is moistened.
Outside, plants should be watered gently for long periods of time
rather than doused for a minute or two. Indoors, this means making
sure the soil in a pot gets wet to the core. Often, if a poorly
draining soil is used, water will run down the inside of the pot and
out the drainage hole without penetrating to the center of the root
ball. To make potting mix drain better, it is helpful to mix it with
sand, fine bark mulch, vermiculite, or perlite. Another reason for
poor water absorption in newly-repotted plants is the use of dry peat
moss as a component of soil mix; dry peat repels water. It is better
to wet peat thoroughly, kneading it with your hands, before adding it
to a potting mix. That way, it will wetten the first time you water.

Plants will wilt if there is too much salt in the soil, making the
water hard to extract. Remember, water goes into the plant only if the
plants cells have more dissolved ions than the soil water. The "salt"
in the soil can be excess fertilizer. Flushing the soil with excess
water will remove salt buildup.

Finally, a plant will wilt if the suction caused by transpiration
exceeds the water-pumping ability of the roots. This can occur if
plants are grown in a sunny, windy location. Full sun encourages high
rates of photosynthesis and wind blows water vapor away from the
vicinity of the leaf, both increasing transpiration. Evergreen plants
are in danger even in winter; a warm spell will cause the leaves to
photosynthesize and transpire even though the soil water is frozen and
unavailable to the roots. Indoor plants may suffer because the air in
most houses is very dry causing a plant to transpire heavily and wilt
even when the soil is moist.

Plants may suddenly wilt even when none of the aforementioned things
have happened. A one-time drought may kill enough roots to damage a
plant for the rest of the season. Root rot fungi may kill roots.
Certain root rotting fungi have spores that are so tiny that they can
spread through a plant by traveling in the xylem tubes. They will
eventually clog vessels. One sign of fungus wilt is the drooping of
leaves on one side of a plant, caused by the plugging up of a portion
of the xylem.

Besides suction, there is another way plants move water. Although
transpiration "pulls" water up the tree, that doesn't explain how maple
trees produce the "sap" that drips out in early spring, before leaves
are out, which is collected to make maple syrup. Some plants dump
sugars and salts into the water in the xylem elements. The presence of
these excess ions causes more water to enter the root xylem. This
excess water has nowhere to go but "up", so it is "pushed" up the plant
stem. So why don't all plants do this all the time? Root pressure can
only push water up about 20 feet. Trees could never grow very tall if
they used only this method. Root pressure, unlike transpiration pull,
is an active process that uses up a plant's energy. Prolonged bleeding
may weaken a sugar maple, so they are not tapped every year.

You may notice root pressure in action in your houseplants. Far from
wilting, your plants may be dripping water from the leaves (a condition
known as guttation) because they are using root pressure to get water.
This may mean that conditions are unfavorable for transpiration. You
might want to put these plants in a sunnier better ventilated location.