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Articles
Watering and nutrients
Shohin-bonsais are very small trees, with a
very spare some amount of roots, to consume and transport the
necessary water, and nutrients for growth.
Placement of trees
In order to keep
the trees from drying out on a windy or warm day, it is
important to take care of the placement of the trees.
I place my
Shohin-bonsais in semi shade most of the time, except Pines
that is very tolerant in order to deal with dry periods. A pine
actually loves to dry out between every watering, and they
fully need the sun to shine on them without any shading.
Take care, and
find a good place where the trees benefits from the sun but are
apple to keep moist until next watering session.
Shohin-bonsai is
of course demanding a very high degree of discipline from their
owners. A single day of laziness’ can cost years of training
and commitment, when a tree dies.
If you are
unsure if the tree will be apple to keep moist for the whole
day, please keep it safe in the shade. It is always better to
be safe than sorry.
Watering
The simplest,
and most effective way to secure that the soil in the tiny pots
are totally wet, and without any dry spots, is to soak the pot
in a bowl of water.
Dry spots in the
soil, will harm roots growing there, and damage the health of
the tree.
It is difficult
to use a can for watering, because the risk of dry spots is
bigger.
Nutrients
As other bonsais
living in a pot, with no natural adding of minerals or
nutrients at all, it is necessary to provide them with their
food. They want it served, and they
want
it to be
well done.
A tree as small
as a shohin-bonsai needs to grow. Exactly as their bigger
bonsai family. Else they will die.
Therefore it is
important to feed them, in order to keep a healthy but slow
growing tree in good shape. They don’t eat much when they grow
slow, but they need both the NPK, and Vitamin B´s.
When you dose
nutrients to use for bonsai, a ground rule is to blend it with
twice the amount of water than the description tells you on the
bottle. When it comes to shohin-bonsai, the same blend is fine.
But water with nutrients shouldn’t be as frequent as normal.
Organic fertilizers
I always use
organic fertilizers for my bonsai. If the pills are too big, I
simply divide them into smaller parts.
The pills
are placed on top of the soil. When watered the pills will
slowly sieve down in the earth, and feed the roots.
Biogold, or
other organic nutrients, don’t have the risk to harm the
roots with to high dozes. In a small pot as the ones used
for Shohin, the risk of damage is much bigger than with a
bigger tree. So extra care is to be taken.
0-10-10 in autumn
In autumn
(September-October) I use a fluid NPK 0-10-10 to improve
fall colours, and the strength of new shoots for the
winter. This is to be recommended for both deciduous trees,
and for conifers.
As earlier
mentioned, it is important only to use half the amount that
is described on the bottle. Also when it is a special
product for bonsais, because this is very small bonsais.
Therefore the balance will easily be tipped, and the damage
can be crucial.
Use the water
from the air
Collect the water
from air, to keep a good natural soft water for your trees. Water from the
tap, can in some areas easily contain different chemical
addicts that will harm the trees.
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