How to Make a Podocarpus macrophyllus Bonsai and Later Care Tips
Podocarpus macrophyllus has a distinctive shape and upright branches, and it stays evergreen all year round. It is a plant well suited to growing in pots. Grown in a home environment, it can add greenery to the household, help you relax, and also has a certain feng shui role. Below, the editor brings you the bonsai-making method and later care for Podocarpus macrophyllus.
Bonsai-Making Methods
1. Tree shape
Podocarpus macrophyllus comes in a wide variety of tree shapes, including the formal upright style, slanting style, curved-trunk style and cascade style, each with its own character. The formal upright style is vigorous, tall and upright, simple and aged; the slanting style is sturdy and forceful; the curved-trunk style is crooked and winding, coiling like a crouching dragon; the cascade style is like a steep high mountain with a dragon poking out its head.
2. Choosing a pot
The specific shape of the pot is not fixed; it can be square or round, and is generally decided by the plant's tree shape, with a rectangular medium-sized pot being the usual default. If the plant's tree shape is the cascade style, choose a deeper tall cylindrical pot; if the tree shape is the curved-trunk style, choose a drum-shaped shallow round pot. Pot materials include purple clay pottery and glazed pottery.
3. Choosing soil
It is not demanding about soil and adapts to many kinds of soil. A fertile, deep, well-drained, slightly acidic soil is suitable, but do not choose saline-alkaline soil for planting.
4. Processing and shaping
When planting Podocarpus macrophyllus into the pot, pay attention to reinforcing its branches and trunk. You can bind the roots with metal wire and then pass it through the round hole in the bottom of the pot, but be sure not to damage its roots. Shaping is mainly done by wiring. Select a young sapling, twist its trunk, prune the side branches, and wire it with metal wire. After the plant has grown for one or two years, the metal wire can be removed and the wiring adjusted again; in this way it can be shaped after a few years.
Later Care
Temperature: The suitable growing temperature is 20-30 degrees. It is not cold-tolerant, and the winter temperature must not be too low, otherwise growth will stop.
Light: It likes a semi-shaded environment and fears direct strong light, so shading is needed in summer, otherwise the leaves will become scorched yellow from lack of water.
Water: It likes a humid environment, and sufficient water should be maintained during the growing season, but waterlogging should be avoided. Too much standing water in the pot will cause the roots to be unable to breathe and die. In winter, water less and just keep the soil moist.
Fertilizing: Fertilizing is mainly with nitrogen fertilizer, supplemented by potassium fertilizer. Generally, fertilizing once a month is fine.
The above is the editor's introduction to the bonsai-making method and later care for Podocarpus macrophyllus. Have you all learned it? I hope it can be helpful to you.