How to grow a boxwood bonsai? Detailed care and management methods
Boxwood bonsai is prized as an art treasure for its small evergreen leaves and slow growth that makes it easy to maintain its shape. Generally speaking, boxwood bonsai material is mostly collected from wild old stumps growing by the water. Boxwood bonsai is rather delicate, and achieving successful cultivation has a certain degree of difficulty. Below, the editor introduces the care and management methods for boxwood bonsai.
Watering
Boxwood likes moisture, and bonsai need frequent watering to keep the potting soil moist, but waterlogging must be avoided. During the high-temperature period in summer, water in the morning and evening, and spray water on the leaves.
Fertilizing
During the growing period from May to August, apply 2 to 3 times of decomposed dilute cake fertilizer water, and apply 1 time of base fertilizer in winter, using rotted manure or dried cake fertilizer crumbs, either is fine.
Pruning
During the growing period, cut off leggy branches, overlapping branches and excess branches that affect the tree shape at any time. Boxwood sprouts relatively quickly. Generally, after new shoots appear, cut off the first 1 to 2 nodes at the tip to prevent leggy growth. After boxwood bears fruit, remove it promptly to avoid consuming nutrients and affecting the growth of the tree's vigor.
Repotting
Generally carried out once every 2 to 3 years, with the time before spring sprouting being the best. Along with repotting, cut off some old roots and overly long or dense root systems, replace 1/2 of the old soil, and fill in fertile, loose culture soil to promote root development.
Pest and disease control
The main pests of boxwood are scale insects and boxwood looper caterpillars. Scale insects can be killed by manual brushing, or sprayed with 80% dichlorvos at 1500 times dilution; boxwood loopers can be sprayed with 80% trichlorfon wettable powder, or sprayed with 40% omethoate at 1000 to 2000 times dilution. The main disease is sooty mold, which can cause leaf drop. The key to prevention and control is to remove scale insects, and frequently spray water on the leaves to wash off dust so that they grow well.