My new bonsai

This is part of my Challenge to make 26 things before 2017 ends.

Finally, after some consideration and procrastination, I decided to get a plant (and care for living beings). Fortunately, my current company has a great policy about office plants for employees.

Enter “Ligu”

I got the bonsai from Exotenherz, an on-line shop specialized in plants, with an awesome shipping time and great care to transport plants.

Here are the specs:

* Common Name: Chinese privet 
* Botanical Name: Ligustrum sinensis
* Age: 6 years
* Pot size : about 13x8cms, including matching saucer
* Total height: 20-30cm
* Preferred Location: bright, not too warm place near a window - enjoys being placed outdoors during summer
* Water: in summer it needs plenty of water, at least 2-3 times.  When the shoot tips and leaves hang limply, it is urgent to re-water.
* Tip: Instead of watering give your bonsai a water bath for about 10 minutes once or twice a week.
* Fertilization: every 2-3 weeks in the summer, in winter every 4-6 weeks

Surprisingly, it does not requires too much care… but I decided go investigate a bit more.

About the Ligustrum (Privet) species

To my surprise, there are a lot of bonsai species.

From the Bonsai Empire site:

The Ligustrum (Privet) botanical family consists of many subspecies and cultivars (>50) with a diversity of leaf colors and forms. The Ligustrum is often used for hedging, which can be a source of great (thick trunked) Bonsai material. The tree is very strong and makes for a popular beginner’s Bonsai. The most common species of privet include the Ovalifoliu (oval leaved), Sinense (Sinensus), Japonicum, Lucidum and the Vulgare (common privet).

Specific care for this type of Bonsai:

* Position: The privet prefers a bright position, with direct sunlight at least part of the day. Although the Ligustrum Bonsai is an outdoor species (it only needs some protection when temperatures drop below -10°C), it is also sold as indoor tree (in this case the tree should be placed inside during the winter).
* Watering: Normal watering is fine.
* Feeding: Use a normal Bonsai fertilizer about once every three weeks during the growth season.
* Pruning: Style the tree in early spring, before it starts growing. Normal maintenance pruning can be done anywhere in the growth season.
* Re-potting: Re-pot Privet Bonsai trees every one or two years using a basic Bonsai soil mixture.
* Propagation: Use cuttings during the summer or plant seeds.

Now a question, what and where is the growth season?

Seasonal changes and yearly cycle

The Bonsais have a defined yearly cycle (as other plants), the following stages are expected:

  • winter dormancy
  • revival and flowering
  • producing new growth and fruit
  • a short period of summer dormancy
  • consolidation of the new growth
  • preparation for the winter dormancy

Coinciding of course with seasonal changes:

  • in winter, the tree is dormant because of very cold weather
  • in early spring, growth begins again
  • in spring and early summer, there is major growth
  • in high summer, the tree is dormant due to the heat
  • in early autumn, fruit is produced and growth stabilises
  • in late autumn, the tree prepares for the winter dormancy.

The Bonsai Empire has a great guide and recommendations about what work to do in each stage, i.e. when is the best moment to prune and groom, re-pot, etc.

How to water a Bonsai

Water when the soil gets slightly dry. When the tree does require water though, it needs thorough soaking so the entire root system is wetted. To do so, keep watering until water runs out of the drainage holes, and possibly repeat the process a few minutes later. Water a tree from above using a watering can with a fine nozzle; this will prevent the soil from being washed away. Using collected rain water is better (as it doesn’t contain added chemicals), but when this is not readily available there is no problem in using normal tap water. There are also automated watering systems, but these are often quite costly

The part about the automated watering system got my attention :-)

Such system would basically be a dripping system around the trunk of the Bonsai:

And a sprinkler/nozzle to water from above:

At the moment, while I build this in-office system to keep the Bonsai happy even when away on vacations, I’ll just use a regular nozzle.

Wrap up

I have never take care of a plant before, and even though my original idea was to automate as much as I can to avoid manual work (and kill the plant due to lack of care), the more I read about Bonsai actually inspires me to be more involved in its care.

One of my fondest youth memories actually comes from the Karate Kid movie, and how Mr. Miyagi took great care and respect of his Bonsais

This journey might take a more interesting turn in later weeks.