A common wild fruit from the mountains, planted in a flower pot: easy to grow, beautiful, and it can bear ten thousand fruits

When I was a child, a kind of wild fruit grew everywhere on the mountains; we called it "yangzaizai" locally. Back then I did not know it was the firethorn (Pyracantha). The firethorn tree blooms in spring and summer and only bears fruit in autumn and winter. There is a saying, "one firethorn plant, ten thousand fruits." Viewing firethorn in winter, each plant is covered all over with bright red fruits, truly stunning.

Firethorn fruits are not only very beautiful, they are also edible. When the winter fruits are red and plump, you can pick them and put them straight in your mouth; bite down and you crunch into many small seeds inside. The taste is sweet and sour, though not very juicy, and mealy-soft.

Now probably no one eats them anymore, but in the old days they were a life-saving food. In the era of scarce clothing and food, firethorn fruits picked from the mountains could be dried in the sun and ground into powder, then boiled as food to eat. In rural areas, those who picked them to eat were all children; it was a common snack for rural kids when they were little.

Now the firethorn is very famous and popular, because it is now planted in flower pots and appreciated as a bonsai. When many flowers rest their eyes in winter and do not bloom, the firethorn, in the coldest winter, bears fruits that are red and bright, and its fruiting period is long, able to hang on the branches for several months, especially beautiful.

Firethorn fruit bonsai is also very easy to care for. The firethorn has strong adaptability, likes a sunny, warm and ventilated environment, and is very tolerant of drought and poor soil. It can be planted directly in ordinary garden soil, without needing soil mixes like nutrient soil, and still grows well at temperatures of minus 8 to 10°C.

The firethorn likes moisture and hates waterlogging. When watering, generally keep the pot soil moist, and it is best not to let water accumulate. During the vigorous growth period, water frequently; in summer, often spray water on the leaves to help evaporation and cooling. It also very much likes fertilizer. Fertilizing is generally mainly done in spring, applying diluted cake fertilizer water 2 times a month; do not fertilize in summer; in autumn and winter, apply cake fertilizer water once a month as a top dressing.

If you want a good shape, firethorn grown as bonsai needs attention to pruning, such as water sprouts and newly sprouted branches, so that when it bears fruit it looks better.