The Latest Detailed Guide to Making and Caring for Vitex Bonsai

Vitex negundo, also known as five-finger citrus, five-finger wind, cloth vitex, etc., is a perennial deciduous shrub or small tree of the genus Vitex in the Verbenaceae family. It is mainly produced in the provinces south of the Yangtze River in China, reaching as far north as the Qinling Mountains and Huaihe River. It grows on hillsides, roadsides or in thickets, has extremely high ornamental value, and is often cultivated as garden bonsai. Its management is relatively extensive, and it is also very suitable for home potted ornamental cultivation. Now let us take a look at how to make and care for Vitex bonsai!

How is material selected for Vitex bonsai?

1. Artificial propagation: Vitex can be propagated by sowing, division, layering and other methods. However, because artificially propagated Vitex seedlings have thin roots and stems, large leaves and sparse branches, and poor form, they are generally not suitable for making bonsai. At present, Vitex bonsai materials are all selected from old root stumps collected in the wild and formed through cultivation and processing.

2. Wild collection: Vitex mostly grows beside gullies and at forest edges in low mountains and hills. Old stumps that have sprouted after many years of cutting, with aged, twisted and wild-looking forms, can be selected and dug up in spring from February to March. Pay attention to protecting the root system, cut off excessively long main roots, and prune the branches and trunk according to the needs of the design. After pruning, plant the stump in the ground promptly for “cultivation of the embryo”.

How to make Vitex bonsai

1. Pot selection: For Vitex stump bonsai, purple clay ceramic pots are generally preferred, and relatively attractive glazed ceramic pots can also be used. The shape of the pot can be determined according to the tree shape, with rectangular pots being the most common. For pot color, darker cinnabar purple or dark green is preferable.

2. Soil: Vitex has strong adaptability and is not choosy about soil. For potted growing medium, loose, fertile, well-aerated and well-draining mature garden soil is best. It is best to also mix in an appropriate amount of rice husk ash and sandy soil, which is beneficial to root growth and development, making the stump bonsai lush with leaves and branches and improving its ornamental effect.

3. Planting: Planting is usually carried out in spring from February to March before budding. When planting, first cut off excessively long main roots, retain more lateral roots and fibrous roots, mound with fertile, loose soil, and leave the bottom of the pot hollow to facilitate drainage.

Vitex bonsai care techniques

1. Management: Vitex is easy to keep alive. Some old stumps sprout relatively late, but as long as the bark is green, watering and management should continue as usual, and in the plum rain season tender green new shoots will sprout. After surviving, the Vitex stump is best placed in a shaded place for about half a month, then moved to a ventilated, sunny place, with abundant water, abundant fertilizer and abundant light to let it grow vigorously.

2. Processing: For processing and styling Vitex, the method of coarse wiring and fine pruning should be used, taking the form according to the material. The main branches and trunk are bent by wiring, while small branches and leaves are carefully pruned. In order to coordinate the proportions of the trunk and side branches, collected old Vitex stumps can be appropriately carved and processed, trying to leave no artificial traces. Metal wire is best for wiring, as it can be used freely.

3. Styling: Old Vitex stumps are very aged and antique-looking, with natural deadwood trunks and hard ossified surfaces that are especially eye-catching. However, their shortcoming is long internodes and large leaves. In order to enhance the strengths and avoid the weaknesses, it is necessary to start from the following aspects.

① Wiring and pruning: The styling principle for Vitex bonsai is coarse wiring and fine pruning. Before wiring and pruning, decide on the concept according to the different forms of the stump, cut off all useless branches (overlapping branches, crossing branches, front-facing branches, whorled branches, etc.), and train the retained branches by wiring according to different directions of branch growth.

② Leaf removal: Leaf removal is generally carried out in early summer, early autumn or before exhibition. When removing leaves, do not leave a single leaf (be careful not to remove the leaf buds at the base of the leaf stalks). After leaf removal, appropriately strengthen fertilizer and water management. Shading is not necessary. In about half a month, new leaves will emerge, and the new leaves are only half the size of the original leaves.

③ Pinching: Pinching means removing the new buds on the main branches and trunk. During the growing period of Vitex bonsai, pinching and tip removal should be done frequently.

④ Fertilizer control: So-called fertilizer control means that for a finished Vitex bonsai before exhibition or during the viewing period, only water is given, not “soup”, and watering should also be controlled, keeping the pot soil half wet and half dry, preferably on the dry side.