Hi,
I have recently moved to Montrose and live in a mobile home. I have bought myself 2 Bonsais and intend getting several more. The 2 that I have at the moment are Ligustrum & Carmona. I have a few questions about these and perhaps general questions also. They were both bought from the local supermarket and looked in excellent condition. However, the Ligustrum has been starting to wilt quite badly and I have been looking on the net to find out what I am doing wrong.
Watering seems to be a main factor as I thought this tree should be kept fairly dry. I have since taken the tree out of the dish and immersed it into a sink with about 2" of water. Previously, the top 3mm was the only part of the roots that appeared moist. Since the immersion, the tree seems to have picked up somewhat. The Carmona looks like a more tollerant tree and has not wilted nearly as much but I still did the same thing and immersed that too.
My questions are.....
Do you think the Ligustrum will survive and grow?
Is it ok to keep them both indoors?
The trees are about 6" high right now, What height should they be before repotting to a bigger tray and what time of year should I do this?
The trees are in a SE facing window, is this ok?
When should pruning be started?
With the Ligustrum, in particular the soil is level with the top of the tray and goes upwards as it gets closer to the tree. This makes it hard to water as water just seems to roll down the soil and stops when it gets to the tray edges. Is that ok or should I use the immersion techneque most of the time?
My general questions are what food and when to feed?
Will it be a good idea to close the curtains if the sun is directly on them?
I hope that is not too many questions
Thanks for reading this,
Nigel.
Do you think the Ligustrum will survive and grow?
Depends, got a picture?
Is it ok to keep them both indoors?
for the winter, Carmona gets kept indoors. The ligustrum can handle outdoor temperature down to 20degree F but it has to come indoors if it's colder than that
The trees are about 6" high right now, What height should they be before repotting to a bigger tray and what time of year should I do this?
That depends on the final size of the bonsai you are satisfy with. There's a general rule of thumb for the height from soil line to the top to be about 5 times the width of the trunk just above the soil line to be considered proportional. If you want your bonsai to develop size or girth, then don't restrict it in a small pot. Unless you have good draining bonsai soil, avoid pots that are too big due to risks of root rot in high volume of soil. Also repotting best done in the Spring.
The trees are in a SE facing window, is this ok?
should be
When should pruning be started?
during active growing seasin
With the Ligustrum, in particular the soil is level with the top of the tray and goes upwards as it gets closer to the tree. This makes it hard to water as water just seems to roll down the soil and stops when it gets to the tray edges. Is that ok or should I use the immersion techneque most of the time?
immersion is a good way to get around this or you can spray the top of soil 1st to help soil absorb water.
My general questions are what food and when to feed?
I feed mine with general liquid plant food diluted to half strength
Will it be a good idea to close the curtains if the sun is directly on them?
carmona likes direct sun. not sure about ligustrum
Depends, got a picture?
Is it ok to keep them both indoors?
for the winter, Carmona gets kept indoors. The ligustrum can handle outdoor temperature down to 20degree F but it has to come indoors if it's colder than that
The trees are about 6" high right now, What height should they be before repotting to a bigger tray and what time of year should I do this?
That depends on the final size of the bonsai you are satisfy with. There's a general rule of thumb for the height from soil line to the top to be about 5 times the width of the trunk just above the soil line to be considered proportional. If you want your bonsai to develop size or girth, then don't restrict it in a small pot. Unless you have good draining bonsai soil, avoid pots that are too big due to risks of root rot in high volume of soil. Also repotting best done in the Spring.
The trees are in a SE facing window, is this ok?
should be
When should pruning be started?
during active growing seasin
With the Ligustrum, in particular the soil is level with the top of the tray and goes upwards as it gets closer to the tree. This makes it hard to water as water just seems to roll down the soil and stops when it gets to the tray edges. Is that ok or should I use the immersion techneque most of the time?
immersion is a good way to get around this or you can spray the top of soil 1st to help soil absorb water.
My general questions are what food and when to feed?
I feed mine with general liquid plant food diluted to half strength
Will it be a good idea to close the curtains if the sun is directly on them?
carmona likes direct sun. not sure about ligustrum
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Nigalius
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:54 pm
- Location: St Cyrus, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Hi Linlaoboo...
Thanks for such a full reply, I now feel that I can bring up these trees to a decent size thanks for your informative info.
I have only been here for a few weeks and am a plant lover but certainly not a plant expert. My main interest lies in Bonsai and Cacti. I will be buying cacti in the next week or so. But first need to put up a couple of shelves to take the pots.
The Ligustrum has picked up well now after the wilting and that is due to me giving the correct amount of water. Beforehand, I was barely touching the top. I would have posted a photo of both the trees and will do when I sit down and work out how to do so.
Once again, thanks for the info, its much obliged
Cheers
Nigel.
Thanks for such a full reply, I now feel that I can bring up these trees to a decent size thanks for your informative info.
I have only been here for a few weeks and am a plant lover but certainly not a plant expert. My main interest lies in Bonsai and Cacti. I will be buying cacti in the next week or so. But first need to put up a couple of shelves to take the pots.
The Ligustrum has picked up well now after the wilting and that is due to me giving the correct amount of water. Beforehand, I was barely touching the top. I would have posted a photo of both the trees and will do when I sit down and work out how to do so.
Once again, thanks for the info, its much obliged
Cheers
Nigel.
I have started putting 7 drops of indoor liquid plant food per quart of water every time I water the plants. This is instead of doing 14 drops per quart of water every 10 to 14 days. The regular "mini feeding" seems to work exceedingly well but some plants which do not like to be fed often should be investigated before regularly applying plant food at any rate. One is sheffeleria (or unbrella plant as it is sometimes called), a good bonsai plant as well as larger plant. It reacts negatively to feeding as regularly as do other plants. Always investigate the species of plant before feeding by going to books or, easier, the internet and you will find the infor you need. Good luck.linlaoboo wrote:Do you think the Ligustrum will survive and grow?
Depends, got a picture?
Is it ok to keep them both indoors?
for the winter, Carmona gets kept indoors. The ligustrum can handle outdoor temperature down to 20degree F but it has to come indoors if it's colder than that
The trees are about 6" high right now, What height should they be before repotting to a bigger tray and what time of year should I do this?
That depends on the final size of the bonsai you are satisfy with. There's a general rule of thumb for the height from soil line to the top to be about 5 times the width of the trunk just above the soil line to be considered proportional. If you want your bonsai to develop size or girth, then don't restrict it in a small pot. Unless you have good draining bonsai soil, avoid pots that are too big due to risks of root rot in high volume of soil. Also repotting best done in the Spring.
The trees are in a SE facing window, is this ok?
should be
When should pruning be started?
during active growing seasin
With the Ligustrum, in particular the soil is level with the top of the tray and goes upwards as it gets closer to the tree. This makes it hard to water as water just seems to roll down the soil and stops when it gets to the tray edges. Is that ok or should I use the immersion techneque most of the time?
immersion is a good way to get around this or you can spray the top of soil 1st to help soil absorb water.
My general questions are what food and when to feed?
I feed mine with general liquid plant food diluted to half strength
Will it be a good idea to close the curtains if the sun is directly on them?
carmona likes direct sun. not sure about ligustrum