Four key points for bonsai care in autumn, anyone who keeps bonsai at home should know

Autumn is an important period for the management of tree-stump bonsai, and soil, fertilizer and light should all be strengthened in a targeted way.

Evergreen trees should also be pinched back to prompt the autumn branches to become woody as quickly as possible, creating conditions for overwintering. Conifers and deciduous trees form buds but do not sprout in autumn, so in late autumn they should be prompted to enter dormancy on schedule, so as to avoid wasting nutrients in vain and affecting their smooth overwintering.

Key points of autumn care and management

1. Light:

In autumn, bonsai trees should receive more light; place the pot in a spot with full sun and let the sunlight shine on it, which helps the trees accumulate nutrients, take root and grow leaves, and bloom and bear fruit.

2. Potting soil:

The soil should alternate between dry and wet, watering thoroughly once it has dried out. Loosen the soil regularly so that air seeps in and the air content in the soil increases. With the potting soil alternating between dry and wet, when it is dry there is little water in the soil and air can penetrate into the spaces that were filled with water, so the roots breathe smoothly.

Appropriate drying can promote root growth, benefit the development of autumn shoots, and help form small leaves.

3. Fertilizing:

Fertilizer should be applied at the right time and in the right amount; in early autumn apply light fertilizer promptly and repeatedly, in mid-autumn apply less, and in late autumn control fertilizing so as not to prompt late-autumn shoots.

Using fertilizer this way can prompt the autumn shoots to emerge early and grow vigorously, so that vegetative growth and reproductive growth proceed at the same time, and next year there will surely be lush leaves, abundant flowers and many fruits. If the tree is very vigorous and receives more autumn fertilizer, spring flowers may bloom in autumn.

My Chinese persimmon and Buddhist pine have repeatedly shown spring flowers blooming in autumn and spring fruits setting in autumn. Applying autumn fertilizer early is used quite a lot in fruit-tree production; bonsai tree-stump management is meticulous, so autumn fertilizer should be applied early even more.

4. Pruning:

During the growth period of a tree, apical dominance is obvious. Under good conditions of fertilizer, water, light and air, growth is vigorous, and the outer proportions of the tree stump become distorted and swollen during autumn shoot growth, with leaves concentrating at the edges.

Nutrient distribution is also uneven; old branches and central branches receive insufficient nutrients and are intended to die in winter. In spring the autumn shoots will also sprout at the top shoots, becoming even larger, losing their center of gravity, breaking the compositional proportions of the tree stump, and becoming rather unattractive.

Therefore, before the autumn buds form and grow out, carry out thinning and reduction pruning, and after the autumn shoots grow out, pinch them back, to overcome apical dominance, combining suppression and promotion, distributing nutrients reasonably, and maintaining a good growth posture.

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