What is the best food for Bonsai and how do you keep trees small?

Question

I was kust wondering what the best food for Bonsai is and how do you keep the trees small if you take a cutting etc do you trim the roots and prune the tree to stunt its growth?

Also if I take a cutting from my Bonsai do I need to seal the wound up with something?

Answer 1

There is no specific food for bonsai, as any plant can be pruned to become bonsai. If it is acid loving plant, acidic fetilizer..etc. Too keep bonsai small, the above ground foliage and the roots must be pruned. There are good books on bonsai maintinence. Good luck to you.

Answer 2

if you are new to bonsai's and have just bought one...then you may notice that the leaves have began or will start to fall off...
this is normal as its just got into a new atmosphere and its preparing itself for the change,

Bonsai tree have special food..which is hard to find, you can try garden shops but chances are they wont have it.
i found some in Robert Dyers but if you cant find any then normal plant food is good enough.
dont over feed it coz it will die - follow the instructions on the box

The key is not to put it into direct sun light...if you put it onto a window ledge then make sure a net curtain is placed between the plant and the window so that it prevents the tree from burning...and turn its position everyday so that all the tree can get light...it will prevent parts of the tree growing lopsided and keep it healthy.

You MUST spray its leaves everyday..it will dry out if you dont.
lightly water it everyday...just moisten the top part of the soil..but give it extra water during the summer-especailly if its on the window ledge.

to keep the tree tiny= the bonsai is actauly a real size tree which its growth has been stumped because of the small container that it grows in..
...you need to re-soil once every 5yrs or so (in special bonsai soil, but again normal soil does work)
and when you do re-soil you can repot it into a slightly larger pot.
you need to chop some of the roots off but make sure that you Dont chop the bolb off the root otherwise it will die.

if you repot it into a realy large pot then it will grow distored and large and could even die - because its needs would have changed.
oh and NEVER put an in door house bonsai out side in your garden...it will die almost instantly.

Answer 3

There are 100's of tree species used for bonsai, so you are asking a very GENERAL question. You might want to start by reading the Bonsai Care page on my website that will give you answers to most of your questions:
http://www.american-bonsai.com

Answer 4

you can get a bonsai feed.

You need to prune the roots to keep the tree small

Answer 5

http://www.wsbonsai.com/growing_japanese_bonsai_for_your_garden.html


http://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basics_Indoor.html