Temperatures are dropping these days. Not a lot but freezing it is and this demands some caretaking bringing shohin bonsai into the storage room. After a very wet period, cold can be very destructive. Soil filled with water freezing can both harm not-so-strong pots, and it will often damage the roots. We will look into that in the Live Zoom Q&A on Thursday at 8 PM (UTC +1). Also, topics like balancing the tree in the pot and how to add direction a topics to be put in the spotlight.

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Be careful

Be sure to let your trees adapt to some cold before taking them into shelter. Frost will kill a few bugs hidden in the topsoil surface and under the bark. The cold also helps trees go into dormancy. Fragile trees that don’t like cold must be protected more though, and knowing your trees and their limits is important. With small shohin bonsai, it’s important to add some extra care because the pots are small, root volume is limited and therefore the trees are more tender than larger bonsai.

Bonsai pots should be frostproof. But even expensive pots can be damaged with low temperatures. I have experienced some types of pots with feet attached to the pot bottom, which may easily break when it freezes. Especially porcelain pots are more fragile when it comes to freezing their feet off. If a pot is frozen to the bench and hard to remove, thaw it up with a bit of cold water around the base so it slips.

Live Q&A for members on Thursday at 8 PM (UTC +1)