Taking Care Of Your Bonsai

Tree After Care

Light

  • Placement:

    • South or West facing window, within 6 inches of the window, with about 4-7 DIRECT sunlight hours each day MINIMUM.

    • It requires a lot of light, preferably full sunlight, so be sure NOT to place it in a shady location or away from the window.

    • DO NOT MOVE YOUR TREE. Place it in a good spot and leave it there. Moving it every day will kill it. If you must move it, at most do it twice a year, but no more or it will die from trying to adapt repeatedly to a different location.

    • You can rotate your tree twice a year to even out the growth.

  • This is an indoor tree:

    • It does not endure frosty conditions.

    • It can be kept outside in the summer when temperatures are above 60°F all night (15°C).

    • The temperature should be kept relatively constant.

  • Humidity:

    • They can endure low humidity, but they prefer higher humidity (if it is a ficus then it needs extremely high humidity to develop aerial roots, if it is a jade it doesn’t need humidity at all).

Water - For all tree types from Bonsai Bai Me

  • The day you take your tree home from Bonsai Bai Me:

    • Water generously until all of the soil in the pot is saturated and wet. This may cause water to overfill and spill out of your tray so we recommend watering it in the sink. For small pots this will require 4 cups of water, for medium pots 6 cups of water, and large pots will require 8 cups of water.

      • Place the tree in the sink and turn the setting onto a light rain/sprinkle, once water begins to run out the bottom of the pot, leave the water running for 4-5 more minutes. We really want to ensure we are getting the soil fully saturated in water the first time we water it after repotting.

    • NOTE: if you used sand to decorate, make sure your stream is extremely gentle as to not disrupt the sand decoration.

  • After the first night you water it:

    • Your tree does not need water every day, only enough to maintain moist soil.

    • Water your tree once every 3-5 days (3 for small pots, 4 for medium pots, 5 for large pots).

    • Maintain MOIST soil always. If the soil dries out for 1 day or longer your tree will suffer and if left longer than that it will likely die.

    • If the soil ever gets dry then give it a generous watering like you did the night you got it.

    • It prefers room temperature water, poured in a soft stream and it can tolerate occasional over, or underwatering (it is more difficult to over-water, so if in doubt, water your tree!).

  • A Couple of Notes:

    • We advise daily misting to maintain humidity, but too much misting can create fungal problems (however, it is VERY hard to over-mist).

    • The warmer the placement of the tree, the more water it needs as the water will evaporate quicker.

    • If the tray beneath your tree is dry, water your tree!

Fertilizer

  • Purchase Osmocote Slow Release Fertilizer (it comes in a pink bottle and can be purchased at Lowes or Homedepot)

    • Apply generously on the top of your soil and under your decorations (sprinkle like you are salting a steak or place beads on the soil around the base of the tree)

    • Do this once a year in April and you are all set!

    • If you want your tree to grow extra fast, you can fertilize it in April and July.

    • If you purchased one of the small vials of fertilizer from Bonsai Bai Me, use half of the vial each time you fertilize your tree.

Trimming:

  • Your tree will need to be trimmed once every 3-4 months depending on quickness of growth. As your tree grows longer strands, through trimming the tops of the long branches off every few months you will start to encourage lower growth and a more full tree.

Wiring:

  • If you wired branches of your tree during your session for shape, make sure to check the wire after 3-4 months by beginning to unwrap the wire from the branch. If the branch stays where it was bent to, you can remove the wire fully, it is all done being shaped. If the branch starts to bend back to the original shape, place the wire back on the branch and re-bend it to the desired shape. Check again in 1-2 more months.

  • If you wired your tree around the base to keep it stable, remove the wires after 4-6 months by unwrapping them and cutting them or tucking them into the soil.

Repotting

  • Your tree will need to be repotted every 1-2 years, at which point you can either trim the roots back and keep it in the same pot, or not trim any roots and upgrade to a larger pot. If you trim the roots, your tree will likely stay the same size. If you upgrade to a larger pot, your tree will continue to get bigger.

  • We have Long-Term Care Kits available for purchase with everything needed to repot your tree at home once this time comes, please see our Take Home Kits tab for more information.

More individual Tree Instructions:

Ficus:

  • This tree requires at least 4 hours of direct sunlight each day, but it can handle as much sun as you can throw at it! 

  • Water the soil and then wait for the soil to go from wet to moist, then you can water it again. Make sure the soil never dries out completely but always stays moist! 

  • This tree likes to be misted, but misting does not replace watering, it is more like giving it a treat! 

Jade:

  • This tree requires at least 5-7 hours of direct sunlight each day, but can handle as much sun as you can throw at it!

  • Water the soil and then wait for the soil to go from wet to moist, then you can water it again.

  • Misting does not do anything for this tree because it has a thick wax coating on its leaves.   

Hawaiian Umbrella:

  • This tree requires 3-6 direct sunlight hours each day, but can handle as much sun as you can throw at it!

  • Water the soil and then wait for the soil to go from wet to moist-dry, then you can water it again. Make sure the soil never dries out completely but always stays moist. 

  • This tree likes to be misted, but misting does not replace watering, it is more like giving it a treat!

Grow Lights:

  • Grow lights are not as strong as the sunlight is, so make sure to:

    • Visit our Amazon Links page to get the links to the best grow lights on Amazon (Not all grow lights are the same! Some are notorious Bonsai killers!)

    • Shine your light directly down onto your tree, not from the side or below, but above the tree shining down.

    • Place your light about 3-6 inches above the top of your tree.

    • Have your light on during daylight hours and for 10-12 hours a day. Do not turn your grow light on during the night as this will confuse the tree and likely harm it.

Insects:

Getting pests is an inevitable part of owning live plants. Common bugs that infest plants here in Utah are mealybugs, aphids, spider mites and fungus gnats. If you discover bugs on your tree:

  • Treat with pesticide - we recommend “Sevin” powder, you can purchase it at Lowes or Homedepot and follow the application instructions.

  • Do NOT regularly treat your tree if there are no bugs on it, occasional pesticide treatments likely won’t harm your tree but frequent treatments when it is not infested can harm the tree.

  • A non-chemical treatment we recommend is purchasing live ladybugs (can be bought on Amazon) and releasing them onto your tree. They are lovely helpers and usually quickly eat up the bugs!

For more instructions on your individual tree, visit bonsaiempire.com and look up your tree species. There will be thorough directions there about caring for your tree. 

Thank you for coming in! Please reach out if you have any questions!

~ Bonsai Bai Me