Dogbane family....most interesting. Not familiar with these.
Is there any type of bonsai that only requires watering once a week or so?
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Dogbane family....most interesting. Not familiar with these.
Desert Rose. Can pretty much go all winter with out much water. In the summer outside I water more regularly. It bloomed for the first time last year, I think it knew I was going to ditch it.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Fukien tea is a tree that for some people is very easy to grow, and for others, even fairly experienced growers, just fails to thrive. It is a touchy plant. If you are going to get another one, I suggest Weigert's in Fort Meyer's Florida. Well grown stock, and they pack and ship nice plants.
I am a fan of somewhat over potting your bonsai. I frequently am out of town for a day or two or three, I split my time between my home and a farm the family owns. Just like any houseplant, the size of the pot and the water retention of the media will determine how often it will need to be watered. This applies whether you are growing indoor bonsai or outdoor bonsai.
Interesting category - outdoor bonsai. If you are in an area, suburban or rural enough that you get heavy dew most nights of the week, a number of trees, like Thuja (eastern white cedar), Picea (spruce), Jack Pines and Ponderosa pines, and blueberries, when the dew settles on the foliage the trees drink in the dew, and they can go longer between watering than you might expect because they absorb moisture through their leaves. My list is just trees I have left on the farm, and have to leave for several days to a week sometimes. The farm gets heavy dew most months, except July. I really need to water daily in July. If you live in an urban area, forget this entire paragraph, you fog & or dew at night is simply not enough. The urban heat dome effect prevents this from happening.
Another method, besides over potting is to use small pots, and set them on trays of sand, or pumice or what ever you choose, keep the tray filled with water to just below the surface. In time roots will grow out the drain holes & into the tray. This can be your reservoir of water for the long weekends.
Lastly there are some bonsai that do really well with drought.
Operculicarya, Boswellia, Comphora Bursera, all like to go from wet, to dry, to staying dry a day or two or three to then getting watered. Similar also are the Baobab trees. Bursera is a favorite of mine. It is a genus with members from Florida, Texas, NM, & Arizona & California, south through Central America. More than a dozen species. Nice desert shrub or small tree. Peeling bark, fragrant sap. I give mine a bone dry rest from November through April. Then I go back to watering once a week. Baobabs want a 3 to 4 month dry spell too.
Pomegranate - likes to go from wet to dry, then wet, If you dry it out hard, it will drop 100% of its foliage, BUT if you only dry it out hard once every year or two, it can sit bone dry for as much as 10 days, and when you water, it will sprout again. But don't repeat the drought in less than 10 months, it won't come back a second time. This works for large Pomegranate, small cuttings don't tolerate the drought. I have done this with mine.
Bougainvillea with trunk diameters over 3 inches can survive a winter drought. They will also bounce back from shorter summer droughts. Drop leaves, but then grow again. Small plants are less tolerant of drought. Similar for a number of acacia. Desert dwelling acacia will tolerate a drought.
If you explore, there are quite a number of trees that either prefer regular short dry spells, the water, let it get dry, wait 2 or 3 days then water again. Most of these are Pachycauls, trees with a layer of spongy tissue that holds water between their bark and their cambium, or is it between the Cambium and the Xylem. I'm not sure, these are the trees to explore for the irregular watering plan.
Bonsai Trees, Pots, and Supplies - Wigert's Bonsai
We are your source for beautiful one-of-a-kind pre-bonsai trees, finished bonsai trees, bonsai pots and bonsai supplies - shipped directly to you!
www.wigertsbonsai.com
I am a fan of somewhat over potting your bonsai. I frequently am out of town for a day or two or three, I split my time between my home and a farm the family owns. Just like any houseplant, the size of the pot and the water retention of the media will determine how often it will need to be watered. This applies whether you are growing indoor bonsai or outdoor bonsai.
Interesting category - outdoor bonsai. If you are in an area, suburban or rural enough that you get heavy dew most nights of the week, a number of trees, like Thuja (eastern white cedar), Picea (spruce), Jack Pines and Ponderosa pines, and blueberries, when the dew settles on the foliage the trees drink in the dew, and they can go longer between watering than you might expect because they absorb moisture through their leaves. My list is just trees I have left on the farm, and have to leave for several days to a week sometimes. The farm gets heavy dew most months, except July. I really need to water daily in July. If you live in an urban area, forget this entire paragraph, you fog & or dew at night is simply not enough. The urban heat dome effect prevents this from happening.
Another method, besides over potting is to use small pots, and set them on trays of sand, or pumice or what ever you choose, keep the tray filled with water to just below the surface. In time roots will grow out the drain holes & into the tray. This can be your reservoir of water for the long weekends.
Lastly there are some bonsai that do really well with drought.
Operculicarya, Boswellia, Comphora Bursera, all like to go from wet, to dry, to staying dry a day or two or three to then getting watered. Similar also are the Baobab trees. Bursera is a favorite of mine. It is a genus with members from Florida, Texas, NM, & Arizona & California, south through Central America. More than a dozen species. Nice desert shrub or small tree. Peeling bark, fragrant sap. I give mine a bone dry rest from November through April. Then I go back to watering once a week. Baobabs want a 3 to 4 month dry spell too.
Pomegranate - likes to go from wet to dry, then wet, If you dry it out hard, it will drop 100% of its foliage, BUT if you only dry it out hard once every year or two, it can sit bone dry for as much as 10 days, and when you water, it will sprout again. But don't repeat the drought in less than 10 months, it won't come back a second time. This works for large Pomegranate, small cuttings don't tolerate the drought. I have done this with mine.
Bougainvillea with trunk diameters over 3 inches can survive a winter drought. They will also bounce back from shorter summer droughts. Drop leaves, but then grow again. Small plants are less tolerant of drought. Similar for a number of acacia. Desert dwelling acacia will tolerate a drought.
If you explore, there are quite a number of trees that either prefer regular short dry spells, the water, let it get dry, wait 2 or 3 days then water again. Most of these are Pachycauls, trees with a layer of spongy tissue that holds water between their bark and their cambium, or is it between the Cambium and the Xylem. I'm not sure, these are the trees to explore for the irregular watering plan.
I cover. Only two times last year. We had more freezes but they were not severe.
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
You're thinking right.
Thanks for all that info! I bookmarked Wigert's. Always nice to have some sound advice on where to buy.
In that case, it's either stay away from trying to do this or continue to transport the bonsai to whomever is willing to take it during a vacation. Don't bonsai owners travel for more than a few days at a time?!
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
I am guessing most of us have jobs and vacation time is limited to a week at a time, where an automatic watering system takes care of it while they are away.
or take those sorts of trips when the trees are buried under snow and dont need us for a while
I am lucky to have an awesome friend/neighbor that takes better care of my trees when I'm away than I do when I'm home. The first year I asked her, she came over with a pen and a pad of paper to take notes, lol. Of course, I always bring her back a nice gift.
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