Liquid fertilizer is a great way to provide nutrition for your bonsai. I’ve been using fish-based fertilizers for years and although it’s smelly, it’s effective and offers control when I want to limit how much fertilizer each tree gets. Fish emulsion While it’s easy to dilute concentrated fertilizer and apply it to your bonsai, there […]
Fertilizer
The effect of fertilizer on water pH
A hidden benefit of many fertilizers is their ability to lower the pH of the water. Had I kept this in mind this past spring, my trees would be a lot greener today. Looking back on my fertilizing habits, I shouldn’t have been surprised that my pines remained yellow despite repeated fertilizer applications. I changed […]
Summer fertilizing
There are a number of good reasons to fertilize bonsai in summer: The tree is young and the goal is to thicken the trunk The tree requires nutrition to recover from – or prepare for – defoliation and decandling The growing season is short and waiting until fall to fertilize is too late As I have […]
How to fertilize black pine bonsai
Fertilizing black pine bonsai is pretty straight forward. For any given black or red pine, I first determine the tree’s stage of development. If a tree is young and I’m focusing on increasing the size of the trunk, I follow one path. If the trunk has reached the desired size and I’m focusing on increasing branch […]
How to fertilize bonsai
Before jumping into the topic of fertilizing bonsai, I’ll share a tip. Bonsai can roughly be lumped into two categories – trees in development and trees in refinement. A tree is in development when: The trunk has yet to reach the desired size Primary and secondary branches have yet to reach the desired size or […]