Ahh Spring!

Every plant and animal is coming out of the deep freeze of Winter. This is the time of new life, new growth and abundance!

The grass is greening up, there are new buds on the trees, and the pines are showering us with a never ending supply of yellow dust!

Yes, this means it’s time to start getting back into the swing of things with your bonsai!

First things first, has your last freeze taken place for this year? If so, it’s time to start thinking about fertilizing! Remember, after the last freeze, you go back to a full mix of fertilizer. This year, you might want to think about adding in micro nutrients and other soil amendments that will increase your plants ability to grow and be healthy.

We have several add-ins for your fertilizer, like Bio-Elite and Rainbow Liquid. These are important to your Bonsai because your bonsai are only going to get the nutrients that you give them in your fertilizer.

Plants, like humans, have a genetic potential that can be reached if all of the environmental conditions are ideal for their growth. This means the climate, the amount of sun, the amount of water and the nutrients available to the plant are all within a range called “ideal.” Now each of these factors can be less than ideal and this is how some plants of the same species can turn out to be so different from one another.

Because your bonsai are in a pot, they are in a controlled environment. All of the factors affecting the growth of your bonsai are controlled by you. With the fertilizing element of bonsai horticulture, there are ways to buffer your plant in order to get the most from them. This is where Bio-Elite comes in.

Bio-Elite is a type of fungus that has a symbiotic relationship with plants. It helps break down the nutrients in fertilizer into a more readily absorbed state. This means your plant doesn’t have to work as hard to “digest” the food, it just has to use it for growing big, fat, and healthy.

Bio-Elite helps keep your plants in that optimal zone and makes it much more resistant to stress and disease, caused by poor watering, insects and other environmental conditions. I can’t say too much about these little fungi “critters” because they give your bonsai and the soil it is in the ability to hold water and nutrients in a form that is easily absorbed by your bonsai.

Since it’s spring, now is also a good time to add to your collection of bonsai. We have gathered quite an incredible assortment of bonsai and pre-bonsai for you. We are adding to this selection all of the time, so be sure to check out our bonsai tree page often. That said, remember you can still find pre-bonsai at your local nursery. Now, they are few and far between, but sometimes you can find really nice trees and shrubs that are perfect for bonsai. What you are looking for is a plant that has been kicked around and maybe even been broken a year ago or longer.

What you will get with a plant like this is an increased tolerance to stress and, more importantly, a plant with character. Mike, the guy who asked me the questions in our Conversations with a Master,  just found this lace leaf Japanese maple at his local nursery.

Notice how the top was broken off of it a year or so ago?

And half of the soil had been washed, or dumped out as it grew?


Also, notice how the graft is very low on this plant?

These are all good things to look for when selecting pre-bonsai material at a nursery. The only problem with using a nursery is, there isn’t much selection. Our plants are looking incredible right now and we have many varieties to choose from. Pictures can’t do them justice!

Well, hopefully I have given you enough information to help you along this month in this wonderful hobby! If you just remember that the plants need you just as much as they need sun and water and fertilizer, then you will grow beautiful bonsai.