A Bonsai is a living miniature tree that represents a tree in its natural form. They are planted in a bonsai pot which increase its beauty and value as an art piece as they mature over the years. In the simplest terms Bonsai translates as “tree in a pot”.

Bonsai is an outside hobby. Trees are placed outside to absorb natural sunlight and experience all types of weather conditions. How ever there are exceptions to this such as tropical trees. Your new Juniper bonsai that was gifted to you or that you picked up to get started needs to be outside.

Below are some tips of things to do in the fall, but if you are wondering how to care for your bonsai in the winter, please see How to Provide Bonsai Winter Care.

Things to do in Fall

• Tropical trees are moved inside when the night temperatures are consistently 50-55 degrees.
• Hardy trees are left unprotected until temperatures are consistently in the upper 20’s.  No lower than 15 degrees.
• Clean remaining dead leaves off of the trees.
• Remove all of the dead, diseased and deformed needles from your bonsai.
• Remove any debris from the top of the soil.
• If going into a cold frame or other storage you will probably want to spray with a 3 in 1 product.

I usually have to water my bonsai every day or every other day. But really, you want to water your bonsai when the “soil” is almost dry. This depends on weather conditions and your local environment. I like to use rain water for my bonsai.

To learn how I water my bonsai please see How To Water Bonsai.

Bonsai are not house plants and should not be treated as such. Bonsai do not do well in the dirt from your backyard or name brand potting soil that you find at the big box store.

What do we use for bonsai soil? We use Akadama, Lava, Pumice. These three ingredients give us the things that we are looking for in a soil for our bonsai.

1. Bonsai soil needs to hold Water and give it back to the tree when it is needed.
2. We need soil that allows the free flow of Oxygen throughout our container.
3. Our soil needs to allow Nutrition to bind to it or make it available when it is needed.

To learn more about bonsai soil please see How to Repot a Bonsai.

There is no such thing as bonsai fertilizer. There are a few fertilizers that are made for bonsai, but there is nothing different about those fertilizers than any other fertilizer that you would find in your big box store. We know. We make and sell Sumo Cakes fertilizer. You can use our fertilizer on your plants and shrubs just as you can with your bonsai.

But you do want to find a fertilizer that has a balanced N-P-K rating. Balanced just means as close to the same rating for all three N-P-K.

You can find better, more detailed information about bonsai fertilizers here. Learn the Basics About Bonsai Fertilizer