Watering - The most important part of Bonsai care

This is the crux of the art of bonsai. Most trees that die (I prefer the phrase “permanent dormancy”) are lost to dehydration, either from lack of watering or from being kept in a low humidity environment (indoors) too long.

Different soils dry at different rates, trees differ from species to species in water requirements and even different styles of pots dry out at varying rates, so each pot must be checked regularly until you become more familiar with the plant in question. The other end of the spectrum, over-watering can damage plants nearly as quickly; it is in finding the proper balance of soil, water and air that you will develop a healthy root system and thus a healthy bonsai.

Watering accomplishes three things for your bonsai.

• First, and most obviously, it provides H²O for your tree.
• Secondly, the water that flows through the soil carries nutrients your plant needs and washes out the excess salts that might otherwise build up.
• Third, and least obvious, the flow of water pushes out the old, spent gasses in the soil and pulls in new, fresh atmosphere.

People are conditioned to believe all the plants transpiration takes place in the leaves, but if that was true, how would a plant that was totally cut down spring back from the roots? The first few inches of soil are crucial to all of a plant’s functions; even a mighty oak does most of its feeding and drinking and much of it’s “breathing” in the top foot of soil. It is this reliance on a shallow soil profile that allows us to grow trees in such shallow pots in the first place. The porous quality of bonsai soil allows for quicker water flows and better gas exchange; this is why bonsai soil is so granular; it helps develop a dense mat of roots to support a dense mass of foliage.