Beginner help with my Fukien tea tree

[Samber]

Hello, I have had this Fukien tea tree for 6 years now, but it has always been a stick and not really a “bonsai.” I have to water it daily or every other day or the leaves fall off, and I don’t think the trunk has thickened at all since I bought it. It used to have way more leaves and was more “full” when I bought it. I have only repotted it once since I bought it and I occasionally do a massive pruning of the branches because I thought that was how to make the trunk thicker (this photo is right after I pruned it and you can see how few leaves it has and how small the trunk is.) I have just now learned that my bonsai would probably grow a thicker trunk in a bigger pot and if I stopped pruning it.

My question is—what size and type of pot should I move this plant to? It is currently in a 8x5x3 pot but I am willing to move it to a regular plant pot if that will help speed along this process and make this plant healthier. I can’t move it outside, I live in Maryland. Thank you in advance for any advice! I am open to any help, I don’t know anything about how to successfully grow bonsai and have been doing the bare minimum keeping this plant alive.

 

[brainfree]

Fukien tea trees need LOTS of sunlight and warm temperatures.
You’re absolutely right that if you stop pruning it, it will get bigger.
It needs energy to grow and it can only get energy from the sun which means it needs a LOT more leaves.
Your tree looks like it’s about 3 years old. Stop pruning it and let it grow. Make sure it’s in a south facing window. If not, it will need supplemental lighting. Put it outside in full sun when the temp gets above 50.
Also, have you ever fertilized it?
My advice would be to look at a lot of videos about growing FTT’s and learn how to prune for vigour and shape.
The pot it’s in is big enough for now. - Just let it grow.
And mostly be patient. If you keep forcing it to look like a bonsai it never will.
Learn to take care of it properly and get to know it’s growing pattern.

 

[Samber]

Fukien tea trees need LOTS of sunlight and warm temperatures.
You’re absolutely right that if you stop pruning it, it will get bigger.
It needs energy to grow and it can only get energy from the sun which means it needs a LOT more leaves.
Your tree looks like it’s about 3 years old. Stop pruning it and let it grow. Make sure it’s in a south facing window. If not, it will need supplemental lighting. Put it outside in full sun when the temp gets above 50.
Also, have you ever fertilized it?
My advice would be to look at a lot of videos about growing FTT’s and learn how to prune for vigour and shape.
The pot it’s in is big enough for now. - Just let it grow.
And mostly be patient. If you keep forcing it to look like a bonsai it never will.
Learn to take care of it properly and get to know it’s growing pattern.

Okay, thank you for the advice! It is currently in an east facing window so I should probably get it a light and I will definitely move it outside once it is hot enough. I have never fertilized it before so I’m sure that would help also. Is there specific fertilizer that they like or does it not matter? Thank you so much!

 

[brainfree]

I use a 20-20-20 liquid fertiliser that seems to work pretty well for mine. Other folks might recommend something else.