Learn the Versatile Methods of Bonsai Watering

If you are looking forward to growing a healthy bonsai, you must practice the proper bonsai watering techniques. Just like any other tree, a bonsai needs just the right amount of moisture at its roots for survival. If you pour excessive water into the soil, you may end up rotting the roots of the bonsai. Similarly, too little watering is going to dry out its roots causing excessive shedding of leaves or needles.

What is important then is to keep the soil moist all the time and ensuring that the entire amount of water has been soaked up by the soil. Although there is really no fixed time formula for watering a bonsai, the amount of water required by the bonsai depends on the soil condition and varies with the seasonal changes. For example, you might have to water the bonsai twice or thrice daily during the summer months while during winter it might not require watering more than once in a month.

Things you need to know about bonsai watering and airing

Along with supplying the roots with water, you must take special care about allowing adequate supply of air. For this, you must let a sufficient amount of time lapse between two sessions of bonsai watering so that the soil becomes a bit dry. This helps a fresh gush of air to enter and reach the root mass, which having shrunk from the lack of moisture get space enough to breathe.

However, you must take caution that this temporary drying out of the soil for air penetration must not go to the extreme. Excessive dryness of the soil could prove detrimental for the bonsai because after a time, the root mass of a potted bonsai spreads to cover the available space. In the case of over dried soil, the compact root-ball begins to shrink at an alarming rate so that the root hairs are completely pulled out from the pot causing long term damage to the tree, like retarded growth of the tree and leaf shedding.

How to revive bonsai from problematic situations

In case the bonsai has already dried out, you can restore it by proper and adequate watering. This means that light watering might not prove beneficial because the water tends to flow into the vacuum space opened up in the soil due to root shrinkage and drains through hole at the base of the pot. Hence, a better way of bonsai watering would be to stand the plant in a bowl filled with water. After a couple of hours when it has been thoroughly soaked, you can take out the bonsai and keep it in the shade for one day.

Another problem could be caused due to the growth of moss on the soil of the potted bonsai. A thick coat of moss is the sign of poor drainage and it tends to act like a raincoat, which prevents the water from seeping through the water and reaching the roots of the bonsai. Instead, the water flows over the surface of the soil and falls off the pot’s edge. Therefore, you should keep scrapping off the moss growth from time to time.

The growth of Liverwort in the soil of your bonsai could cause similar problems. The Liverwort is a small flat plant, the seeds of which remains spread in the water container. Therefore, whenever you are soaking the bonsai in a container of water, chances are that it could affect the plant. The real problem crops when the umbrellas shaped flowers of the Liverwort show up, they effectively block the water supply. The best way to handle this is to dab these Liverwort growths with malt vinegar that kills the parasite and its seeds.

Some quick tips for bonsai watering

A good bonsai-watering tactic is to fill a large container with rainwater and using this every time you water the plant with a watering can. This is a better option because rainwater contains useful minerals and is free from the chemicals that are added to tap water. It is always better to use a watering hose in preference to an automatic watering system since the latter often tends to malfunction.

In case you are going for a holiday, you may have to rely on an automatic bonsai watering system. Alternatively, if you have just a handful of bonsai trees, you could use a piece of old cloth or capillary matting for giving your trees a bath. For this, you simply need to leave the tap dripping on the matting until it is filled with the necessary moisture that the bonsai can thrive upon while you are away for a couple of weeks.

Remember that proper bonsai watering is one of the most essential features for caring and maintaining your tree. Improper watering may result in the death of the tree, so make sure that you always keep a tab of the last time you watered your precious bonsai.