How to fertilize a firethorn (Pyracantha) bonsai? A detailed guide to the correct method

  When the firethorn bears fruit, the whole tree looks like a bright red torch, so calling it "torch fruit" is the most vivid name! The fruit of the torch fruit stays on the tree for a long time, coral-like and covering the whole tree, brilliant and eye-catching; it is an excellent material for fruit-viewing bonsai. When winter comes, it is exactly the time when the fruit of the torch fruit, planted on lawns and dotted in the depths of courtyards, ripens. The bright red torch fruit gives people a warm feeling in the cold winter, so some people also regard the firethorn as an auspicious red fruit!

  Fertilization methods for firethorn bonsai:

  Because the space in a pot is limited, with little soil and insufficient nutrients, fertilizer is indispensable if potted firethorn is to grow vigorously, but the timing and amount of fertilization must be well controlled.

  In order to give full play to the effectiveness of fertilizer and meet the growth needs of the firethorn stump, generally no fertilizer is applied to new stumps from March to April; from May to June, a 0.2% urea solution is applied once every 10 days to the pot soil and foliage; from July to September, rapeseed cake water is applied once every 10 days; from October to December, 10% diluted chicken manure is applied once every 15 days; and fertilization is stopped from January to February of the following year.

  With the above fertilization method, new branches can thicken by 1 cm to 1.5 cm in the same year, and a already-formed firethorn bonsai will also bloom and bear fruit every year, with abundant, large and glossy fruit, fully showing its ornamental effect.