Detailed Guide to Making a Firethorn Bonsai, Easy for Beginners Too

  For firethorn bonsai, the best soil is relatively fertile garden soil or surface soil from mountain forests; decomposed base fertilizer, fine sand, and potting soil can also be used. Firethorn is best repotted once a year. Choose late autumn or early spring for repotting, that is, after new shoot growth stops or before new shoots begin to grow. For firethorn that has not borne fruit, the pot and soil can be changed in any season. No matter when the soil is changed, keep some of the old soil, cut off long roots, do not let the roots ball up, and pot it quickly to avoid affecting growth.

  1. Cutting time:

  Firethorn is very particular about its pot. To set off its red fruit, generally use light-colored, cool-colored bonsai pots such as white, light blue, light green, or pale yellow as companion pots. Firethorn likes moisture and fertilizer, and prefers a climate environment with ample sunlight, good ventilation, and warmth and humidity. Firethorn is tolerant of poor soil, and temperatures can drop to 0°C-5°C or lower. Firethorn has a well-developed root system, sprouts branches quickly, grows rapidly, and tolerates pruning and wiring.

  September is best. Some people also think spring cuttings or cuttings during the plum rain period are good. According to our observations, every year in July and August, firethorn differentiates flower buds for the following year, and by September most have completed the flower bud differentiation process. Seedlings obtained from cuttings at this time will surely bloom abundantly the next year. In addition, in September the weather gradually turns cooler while the soil temperature is still high. At this time, cuttings have no risk of cutting rot and suit the habits of firethorn, with a survival rate reaching 100%.

  2. Cutting process:

  1. Cuttings: Select robust current-year branches, cut them into 10—15 cm sections, keep two pairs of leaves at the upper part, and the lower leaves can be removed.

  2. Substrate: River sand or loose, well-drained potting soil. River sand can be rinsed with boiling water for disinfection, and potting soil can be disinfected with a 50-fold formalin solution or by sun exposure.

  3. Cutting: There are two methods. You can first insert cuttings into river sand, keep them moist daily and slightly shaded, and they will root after about 1 month. After rooting, transplant them into nutrient pots filled with potting soil and place them in a cold room to overwinter; or insert them directly into potting soil, one seedling per pot, and they will root in 30 days at 20—25°C.

  3. Styling:

  Firethorn bonsai should adopt the styling method of coarse wiring and fine pruning, generally carried out in autumn. First use wire or palm fiber to coarsely wire the trunk into different forms such as slanting trunk or lying trunk, cultivate it for a period, then prune and shape the layers of the bonsai according to the design, so that the whole tree form has distinct layers and charm.

  After the cuttings survive, plant them in inch pots in March of the following year. More humus soil and organic fertilizer can be added to the potting soil to make them sprout as soon as possible and grow luxuriantly. After flowering in May, they can be moved to 4-inch pots for care, and sufficient water and fertilizer should be supplied to make the branches fully lengthen and thicken. By late August to early September, they can be styled.