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Watering and nutrients Text and photos: Morten Albek
Shohin-bonsais are very small trees, with a very spare some amount of roots, to consume and transport the necessary water, and nutrients for growth.
Placement of trees In order to keep the trees from drying out on a windy or warm day, it is important to take care of the placement of the trees. I place my Shohin-bonsais in semi shade most of the time, except Pines that is very tolerant in order to deal with dry periods. A pine actually loves to dry out between every watering, and they fully need the sun to shine on them without any shading. Take care, and find a good place where the trees benefits from the sun but are apple to keep moist until next watering session. Shohin-bonsai is of course demanding a very high degree of discipline from their owners. A single day of laziness’ can cost years of training and commitment, when a tree dies. If you are unsure if the tree will be apple to keep moist for the whole day, please keep it safe in the shade. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
Watering The simplest, and most effective way to secure that the soil in the tiny pots are totally wet, and without any dry spots, is to soak the pot in a bowl of water. Dry spots in the soil, will harm roots growing there, and damage the health of the tree. It is difficult to use a can for watering, because the risk of dry spots is bigger.
Nutrients As other bonsais living in a pot, with no natural adding of minerals or nutrients at all, it is necessary to provide them with their food. They want it served, and they want it to be well done. A tree as small as a shohin-bonsai needs to grow. Exactly as their bigger bonsai family. Else they will die. Therefore it is important to feed them, in order to keep a healthy but slow growing tree in good shape. They don’t eat much when they grow slow, but they need both the NPK, and Vitamin B´s. When you dose nutrients to use for bonsai, a ground rule is to blend it with twice the amount of water than the description tells you on the bottle. When it comes to shohin-bonsai, the same blend is fine. But water with nutrients shouldn’t be as frequent as normal.
Organic fertilizers I always use organic fertilizers for my bonsai. If the pills are too big, I simply divide them into smaller parts. The pills are placed on top of the soil. When watered the pills will slowly sieve down in the earth, and feed the roots. Biogold, or other organic nutrients, don’t have the risk to harm the roots with to high dozes. In a small pot as the ones used for Shohin, the risk of damage is much bigger than with a bigger tree. So extra care is to be taken.
0-10-10 in autumn In autumn (September-October) I use a fluid NPK 0-10-10 to improve fall colours, and the strength of new shoots for the winter. This is to be recommended for both deciduous trees, and for conifers. As earlier mentioned, it is important only to use half the amount that is described on the bottle. Also when it is a special product for bonsais, because this is very small bonsais. Therefore the balance will easily be tipped, and the damage can be crucial.
Vitamins Plants needs vitamins. Especially B-vitamins will be of benefit for the vigour of the trees. B-vitamins can be added when you water the trees. Superthrive is a product that contains some good vitamins for bonsais. Another solution is to use a low-alcoholic beer, and blend it with water 1:1. Beer contains a big amount of B-vitamins. It can with good results be sprayed on the leaves, where it is easily taken by the plant. There is an ongoing discussion in the bonsai community about the need of vitamins. I use it frequently, and my trees are very healthy.
Use the water from the air Collect the water from air, to keep a good natural soft water for your trees. Water from the tap, can in some areas easily contain different chemical addicts that will harm the trees.
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