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CARE INFORMATION, PART II This Page Last Updated: October 3, 2011 This is just a summary of the information we all more-or-less eventually learn in order to keep our plants alive and healthy. There will not be a written or oral exam -- only your plants' survival will demonstrate your on-going grasp of this. WATERING "Water as often as each particular plant needs to be watered." THAT is where the art of bonsai starts. Once you get your tree home, the instructions that came with it -- "water every three days," "mist frequently," "water once a week," etc. -- don't really apply. You need to learn what your tree needs in its new location. Study the tree; study the way the soil mix absorbs water and then dries out over a couple of days. "Major" changes in siting heat and light will require watering adjustment. Water preferably needs to be room temperature or a little cooler. If you can notice a slight bouquet of chlorine out of the tap, let the water sit in a container up to a day before using it on your plants. As with all indoor plants, overwatering is the #1 killer of indoor bonsai -- and outdoor ones as well. You need to give water only when it is needed. Variables include ambient temperature, amount of air movement around the plant, type and amount of light (sun vs. growlight, for instance), type of soil mix, time of year/growth cycle of plant, age and health of plant. When you water, be sure you water thoroughly -- if watering from the top, water until excess water runs out the bottom drainage hole(s) of the pot. "Rule of finger" is if the soil is dry up to your first joint past your fingernail when you stick your finger into the soil, it is time to water again -- unless further deep into the soil it is still soggy. Another tool is to stick one or more toothpicks or bamboo skewers into the pot and use these as mini-dipsticks. Study how the wood is dark or lightens with moisture in the soil over a period of time. It is quite possible that with a collection of different size and types of plants you will NOT water them all at once or with the same amount. If the soil mix ever does completely dry out for a short time, move the pot temporarily out of direct sunlight and wind and give the soil mix a "moderate" amount of water based on the size of the pot. Wait perhaps a half hour to an hour or more before giving more water, whose excess will then come out the bottom drainage hole(s). You don't want to drown/suffocate the plant roots by full-watering all at once. FERTILIZING "Fertilize weakly weekly." From about late April through August, give a diluted dose of fertilizer to your established trees about once a week. Do not fertilize newly repotted or transplanted specimens. It is O.K. to either use a single brand/kind of fertilizer, or to rotate between inorganic brands such as Miracle-Gro, MirAcid, Peter's, Dyna-Gro, Jobe's, Osmocote, etc. and organic kinds such as fish emulsion, seaweed, agricultural meal blends, etc. As with watering, you'll need to learn what works with your trees in their locations. A little bone meal and/or blood meal blended in with the soil mix at repotting can be helpful. (Be sure that the meal is blended in or else it can make a water-impermeable layer in/on the soil.) Organic fertilizers are slower to act, but less likely to "burn" roots -- pull out large amounts of moisture -- if accidentally over-applied. Have at least a passing familiarity with what every one of your trees, accessory plants, and groundcovers needs. In combination with a certain quantity of relatively pure water at a narrow range of temperatures and pH level (acidity/alkalinity), carbon dioxide in the presence of particular duration EM (solar) radiation is required along with the following recognized substances for a plant's life and well-being. The three primary macronutrients: nitrogen (N, a major component of proteins, hormones, chlorophyll, vitamins and enzymes essential for plant life, nitrogen metabolism is a major factor in stem and leaf growth); phosphorus (P, necessary for seed germination, photosynthesis, protein formation and almost all aspects of growth and metabolism in plants, it is essential for flower and fruit formation); and potassium (K, necessary for formation of sugars, starches, carbohydrates, protein synthesis and cell division in roots and other parts of the plant, it helps to adjust water balance, and improves stem rigidity and cold hardiness). The three secondary macronutrients: calcium (Ca, activates enzymes, is a structural component of cell walls, influences water movement in cells and is necessary for cell growth and division); sulfur (S, is a structural component of amino acids, proteins, vitamins and enzymes and is essential to produce chlorophyll); and magnesium (Mg, is a critical structural component of the chlorophyll molecule and is necessary for functioning of plant enzymes to produce carbohydrates, sugars and fats, it is used for fruit and nut formation and essential for germination of seeds); and the micronutrients or trace minerals: boron (B, is necessary for cell wall formation, membrane integrity, calcium uptake and may aid in the translocation of sugars, it affects flowering, pollen germination, fruiting, cell division, water relationships and the movement of hormones); chlorine (Cl, is involved in osmosis -- the movement of water or solutes in cells -- the ionic balance necessary for plants to take up mineral elements and in photosynthesis); manganese (Mn, is involved in enzyme activity for photosynthesis, respiration, and nitrogen metabolism); iron (Fe, is necessary for many enzyme functions and as a catalyst for the synthesis of chlorophyll, it is essential for the young growing parts of plants); zinc (Zn, is a component of enzymes or a functional cofactor of a large number of enzymes including auxins (plant growth hormones), it is essential to carbohydrate metabolism, protein synthesis and internodal elongation -- stem growth); copper (Cu, is concentrated in roots of plants and plays a part in nitrogen metabolism, it is a component of several enzymes and may be part of the enzyme systems that use carbohydrates and proteins); and molybdenum (Mo, is a structural component of the enzyme that reduces nitrates to ammonia, root nodule (nitrogen-fixing) bacteria also require it). Selenium (Se) is not essential for forage growth but is essential to the health of animals that graze the forages -- something we really don't need to be concerned about. Nickel (Ni) is the latest recognized essential trace element for plants, and is required for the enzyme urease to break down urea to liberate the nitrogen into a usable form for plants, it is also required for iron absorption, and seeds need nickel in order to germinate. Additionally, the beneficial mineral elements of silicon (Si, found as a component of cell walls -- plants with supplies of soluble silicon produce stronger, tougher cell walls making them a mechanical barrier to piercing and sucking insects, and this significantly enhances plant heat and drought tolerance) and cobalt (Co, required for nitrogen fixation in legumes and in root nodules of nonlegumes) have not been deemed essential for all plants but may be essential for some. The distinction between beneficial and essential is often difficult in the case of some trace elements. (Much of this information is from "What is Plant Nutrition?" by Dorothy Morgan, http://retirees.uwaterloo.ca/~jerry/orchids/nutri.html.) TRANSPLANTING / REPOTTNG In the right season, as often and with proper root-pruning as needed for each particular plant. Learn about the different types and shapes of pots available. Under Construction |