What is the difference between fruit tree bonsai and fruit tree potted plants? Bonsai must meet these conditions
Introduction: Nowadays many families like to place some bonsai or potted plants at home; on one hand they can decorate the room, and on the other hand they can beautify the environment and bring vitality to the home. But many people cannot tell bonsai and potted plants apart, or the difference between them. Here the editor will popularize this knowledge for everyone.
The difference between bonsai and potted plants:
Potted plants are the predecessor of bonsai; bonsai was derived from potted plants and is an ornamental form of potted plant. Simply put, the fundamental difference between potted plants and bonsai is that a potted plant undergoes a series of human manipulations and ultimately becomes an ornamental potted plant. A potted plant is simply a plant or flower grown in a pot for people to appreciate. A bonsai, in addition to having the ornamental value of a potted plant, further embodies the artistic flavor and poetic quality expressed through the careful carving and design of professionals. Through the processing of the bonsai, the creator's finest yearning and pursuit of nature is expressed, and it is the repository of the author's feelings.
Conditions that a bonsai must meet:
1) Root form: The quality of a bonsai is determined by the root base, which plays a very important role in the entire production of the bonsai. What people often call beautiful coiled roots are roots that develop and extend in all directions, sometimes stretching and sometimes bending, sometimes emerging from the soil surface and sometimes hidden underground, ensuring that the entire bonsai stands firm and does not fall.
2) Swelling base: Under normal growth conditions, the point where the trunk extends toward the top of the tree and finally meets the roots mostly belongs to the swelling base. Trees used to create bonsai generally come from mountain forests; due to the influence of the natural environment, the trunk will have a certain degree of curvature, but this does not affect the swelling base. Appropriate curvature will bring beauty to the bonsai, so sometimes, as needed, the curvature of the swelling base is changed to a certain extent to achieve a certain beauty.
3) Trunk: Relative to a tree, the trunk is like the body to a person; it is an indispensable part and also the basic condition for shaping a beautiful tree form. The trunk of a naturally growing tree becomes thinner and thinner from bottom to top, and this kind of trunk is most suitable for making bonsai. Only when the various parts of the tree are coordinated can balance be brought into full play.
4) Branches: The most prominent advantage of branches in expressing the beauty of a bonsai is that they provide beauty of form. Good branches have the conditions of appropriate thickness and good strength. Large branches grow from the trunk and continuously extend into small branches; the intricate branches coordinate with one another to fully bring out the beauty of the bonsai.
5) Leaves: With the changes of the four seasons, the color and shape of the leaves also change, and it is precisely this natural force that gives the bonsai ornamental value throughout all four seasons of the year.
Placing a few bonsai at home brings a sense of artistry and vitality to the home. I believe that with the editor's introduction, everyone will choose good-looking bonsai.
Dwarfing measures for fruit tree potted plants and bonsai
Fruit tree potted plants and bonsai involve planting field fruit trees into pots and placing the orchard indoors, on a balcony, or in a courtyard for appreciation. Therefore, in the production of potted fruit trees, in order to effectively inhibit branch growth, promote tree dwarfing, maintain a robust tree vigor and excellent tree shape, and achieve the artistic effect of "shrinking a dragon into an inch," the following methods are often adopted to inhibit the vigorous growth of the aboveground part.
Use mature growing and developing branches as scions. From field fruit trees with good growth and fruiting, cut 2-year-old to 3-year-old fruiting branch groups, and use these fruiting branch groups as scions to graft potted trees. This can not only effectively inhibit the vigorous growth of potted trees, but is also a shortcut to promoting rapid production of fruit tree potted plants and bonsai. This is because such branch groups have fruiting branches (flower branches), renewal branches, vegetative branches, and central branches. After the graft survives, the fruiting branch group grows and develops, flowers, and fruits on its original basis. This irreversibility at the developmental stage prevents it from returning to the vigorous vegetative growth stage.
Use rootstocks with strong dwarfing ability as the base rootstock. When beginners care for fruit tree potted plants and bonsai, they can use dwarfing rootstocks that have been selected and bred in field fruit tree production and are already widely used to graft cultivated varieties, so that the grafted trees become dwarfed and flower and fruit earlier. This method is relatively effective. The dwarfing degree of the dwarf rootstocks used varies; some dwarf rootstocks can make the tree body of the grafted variety only 2/3, or even 1/2, of the original tree body. For example, the dwarfing rootstocks for pear are quince and Oxystigma, the dwarfing rootstock for citrus is Poncirus trifoliata, the dwarfing rootstock for plum is Nanking cherry, and the dwarfing rootstock for peach is the Dwarf Peach.
Use growth inhibitors. There are many types of growth inhibitors that can be applied to potted fruit trees, such as daminozide, paclobutrazol, chlormequat, PBO, etc. Because the young and tender tissues of potted fruit trees absorb more of these substances, the dwarfing effect will be relatively obvious only after they are used on the young and tender tissues of the potted tree. The author believes that generally, the first spray should be applied when the new shoots of the potted tree grow to about 15 cm, and another spray should be applied at an interval of 20 days to 30 days; this can noticeably control the elongation growth of new shoots, promote tree dwarfing, and increase the number of flower buds.
Dwarfing measures for fruit tree potted plants and bonsai
Fruit tree potted plants and bonsai involve planting field fruit trees into pots and placing the orchard indoors, on a balcony, or in a courtyard for appreciation. Therefore, in the production of potted fruit trees, in order to effectively inhibit branch growth, promote tree dwarfing, maintain a robust tree vigor and excellent tree shape, and achieve the artistic effect of "shrinking a dragon into an inch," the following measures are often adopted to inhibit the vigorous growth of the aboveground part.
Use mature growing and developing branches as scions From field fruit trees with good growth and fruiting, cut 2-year-old to 3-year-old fruiting branch groups, and use these fruiting branch groups as scions to graft potted trees. This can not only effectively inhibit the vigorous growth of potted trees, but is also a shortcut to promoting rapid production of fruit tree potted plants and bonsai. This is because such branch groups have fruiting branches (flower branches), renewal branches, vegetative branches, and intermediate branches. After the graft survives, the fruiting branch group grows and develops, flowers, and fruits on its original basis. This irreversibility at the developmental stage prevents it from returning to the vigorous vegetative growth stage.
Use rootstocks with strong dwarfing ability as the base rootstock When beginners care for fruit tree potted plants and bonsai, they can use dwarfing rootstocks that have been selected and bred in field fruit tree production and are already widely used to graft cultivated varieties, so that the grafted trees become dwarfed and flower and fruit earlier. This method is relatively effective. The dwarfing degree of the dwarf rootstocks used varies; some dwarf rootstocks can make the tree body of the grafted variety only 2/3, or even 1/2, of the original tree body. For example, the dwarfing rootstocks for pear are quince and Oxystigma, the dwarfing rootstock for citrus is Poncirus trifoliata, the dwarfing rootstock for plum is Nanking cherry, and the dwarfing rootstock for peach is the Dwarf Peach.
Use growth inhibitors There are many types of growth inhibitors that can be applied to potted fruit trees, such as daminozide, paclobutrazol, chlormequat, PBO, etc. Because the young and tender tissues of potted fruit trees absorb more of these substances, the dwarfing effect will be relatively obvious only after they are used on the young and tender tissues of the potted tree. The author believes that generally, the first spray should be applied when the new shoots of the potted tree grow to about 15 cm, and another spray should be applied at an interval of 20 days to 30 days; this can noticeably control the elongation growth of new shoots, promote tree dwarfing, and increase the number of flower buds.
For example, foliar spraying of PBO can effectively inhibit excessive branch growth and promote flower bud formation. However, the residual effect period of PBO is shorter than that of paclobutrazol, and it needs to be used 2 to 3 times within a year. Generally, for moderately vigorous trees, spray a 300-fold solution once each in late May to early June and late July to early August; for excessively vigorous trees, spray a 200-fold solution once each in mid-May to early June, mid-July to early August, and early September. To facilitate leaf absorption, each spraying should preferably be done before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on sunny days. Regardless of whether the spraying concentration is high or low, it must be sprayed evenly and thoroughly.
Use flower pots to restrict the root system Use smaller flower pots to restrict root growth; this method is also called "root binding growth." There is a growth balance relationship between the aboveground part and the underground part of a fruit tree. In the practical production of fruit tree potted plants and bonsai, some tree species and varieties with relatively vigorous growth are intentionally planted in smaller or shallower flower pots to restrict the activity range of the root system, which in turn affects the vigorous growth of the aboveground part. This is one of the effective means.
Use dwarf-type varieties In field fruit tree production, because nature is affected by multiple physical or chemical environmental factors, more bud and branch gene mutations have occurred, and through observation, many dwarf-type varieties (also called spur types) have been selected and bred. The common characteristics of this kind of fruit tree are a small tree body, compact branches, shorter internodes, thick and strong branches, and very small elongation growth (annual elongation growth is 1/3 to 1/2 that of a standard tree), and dense and thick leaves. For example, among apples there are 'New Red Star', 'Shouhong', 'Yanfu 6', 'Yanqing', etc.; among pears there are 'Woli', 'Dwarf Fragrant Pear'; among peaches there is the Large-fruited Dwarf Peach, etc.
Use pruning to control tree growth As is well known, "winter pruning grows the tree, summer pruning brings fruit." This is an empirical summary of fruit tree management and can be referenced and used to guide the production of fruit tree potted plants and bonsai. Because summer pruning thins out the overly dense part of the vegetative branches on the outer periphery of the canopy, this has an inhibitory effect on the potted tree as a whole. At the same time, repeatedly pinching the new shoots during the growing season not only inhibits vegetative growth and reduces nutrient consumption, but also improves the ventilation and light transmission conditions of the potted tree, and is beneficial to flower bud formation and earlier fruiting of branches inside the canopy.
(The author is a professor at the Science and Education Center for Agriculture of Hebei Agricultural University)