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February Bonsai Advice

Yes, December 21, 2005, was the shortest day of this winter season, but from our years of experience, this is the month of most Bonsai fatalities. Why? Well, we think it’s just the accumulation of all the bad stuff that finally does your Bonsai in. Low light is extremely difficult for your Bonsai to tolerate and with months and months of this it just may say to you….”enough! I’ve had it!” And make the journey to Bonsai Heaven. Extremely dry atmosphere. You’ve had your heat on for months and months and this desert dryness may just be the proverbial straw that takes your Bonsai down. Watering/sanitary surroundings/insects/pests…. They can all contribute to your Bonsai’s downfall. Your Bonsai has been under stress for a number of months and it just may not have any resistance or strength left to fight all these problems that under better circumstances would not be such a problem.

What can you do this month to help your bonsai cope with these stressful conditions?

1.	Light – As bright as possible under the circumstances.
2.	Dry Atmosphere – Use a humidity tray with or without gravel to add humidity to your Bonsai’s immediate surroundings.
3.	Watering – This is a difficult regimen this time of year because you do have dry conditions in the Bonsai’s surroundings, but your Bonsai is more than likely not needing very much moisture in the soil to slide through this period. You must keep the Bonsai’s soil evenly moist, but certainly not soggy wet. Check daily.
4.	Sanitary surroundings. Remember fallen leaves, castoff bark, etc., make for very unsanitary surroundings that foster fungus, is a haven for pests and other varmints.
5.	Insects/Pests – They’re a constant threat to your Bonsai. Always be vigilant!

Now what can Dallas Bonsai Garden offer you in the way of assisting you through this time of the year?

Fertilizers for this time of the year. These fertilizers are great for the winter months because they have no Nitrogen in their formula – thus they do not cause any growth this time of year:

	A.	0-10-10
	B.	GreenKing365

Chemicals for this time of the year. Two of these – Menedael and our Bonsai Vitamin are root stimulators which will assist your Bonsai, but won’t make it grow. The Bio-Elite and Rainbow are like vitamins also – The help your Bonsai along without causing any growth:

	A.	Menedael
	B.	Bio-Elite
	C.	Our own Bonsai Vitamin
	D.	Rainbow Liquid Stimulator

Humidity Trays – These will assist you in adding extra humidity surrounding your Bonsai and also catch the excess runoff of any water during your watering ritual.

	A.	Plastic trays
	B.	Ceramic trays

Aggregate to add to your Humidity Tray. This will add 10 or 20 times as much surface area for the water which will evaporate and surround your Bonsai.

	A.	Grit
	B.	Nachi Rocks from Japan

what’s in store for you at Dallas Bonsai Garden within the next few weeks?

Lots of new and exciting things will be arriving here during March – Just in time for your repotting.

A ton of new and exciting Tokoname Japanese Pottery.
A passel of new and exciting Japanese Bonsai Tools.
New Books – Kokufu books, Conifer books, Juniper books….books that just aren’t available in the English language.
Some exciting new Bonsai Soil Mixes.
New Soil Sifters that sift 3 soils sizes at Once!
AND…WE WILL HAVE THE MOST COMPLETE ASSORTMENT OF MASAKUNI BONSAI TOOLS…EVERYTHING IN MASAKUNI’S CATALOG!!! THERE WILL BE NO LARGER SELECTION FROM ANYBODY…
We found some new long tweezers, 2 new leaf trimmers, about a dozen new gravers, a new tool holder, 2 new wire cutters, 2 new giant trunk splitters, some new brass bristle brushes, 2 new tool cleaners, 2 new tool sharpeners and some other stuff that we know will excite you as much as it has us.

Revisiting an Old Friend - By Thomas J.

Thomas J. has another article for us this month. In it, he describes his thought process and steps he took while performing winter maintenance on an elm group.

View the article here

Bonsai Channel update - of sorts...

I promised we would update the Bonsai Channel this month and we will. Unfortunately, not this week. We hope to have a couple films up by the end of next week. We will announce them and more fresh content with our March email. Stay tuned...