Cultivation Methods and Care Techniques for Palm-Sized Flower Bonsai

Palm-sized flower bonsai is a fashionable artistic bonsai ornament. Whether it is a crafted flower bonsai or a crafted stump bonsai, it possesses the characteristics of an artwork that spans vast distances in a tiny space, full of wit and charm, with a distinctive style and strong ornamental appeal. This is because the pot body is generally no larger than a person's palm, pocket-sized and exquisitely compact, appearing exceptionally delicate and beautiful while also embodying the myriad graceful charms of nature. When actually making a palm-sized flower bonsai, one must pay attention to the consistency between the characteristics of the pot container and the suitability of the flower plant. This is because bonsai pots of various exotic shapes and colors are themselves ornamental artworks. If the flower plants planted in the pot are in harmony with the pot body, the artistic enhancement can be more fully displayed; otherwise, the artistic beauty will be greatly diminished. Generally speaking, multi-angled pot bodies and square bucket-shaped pot bodies are suitable for planting trailing-branch type plants, shallow long pot bodies are suitable for planting slanted-trunk or upright straight-trunk plants, waist-round pots are suitable for planting cascade or semi-cascade plants, and small open-mouthed shallow pots are suitable for planting some perennial root and bulbous flower plants.

(1) Selection of bonsai plant varieties.

Due to the small size of the bonsai pot body, plants are generally required to have small leaves, strong shade tolerance, high sprouting rate, and branches that are easy to bend and wire, such as Rhododendron, hawthorn, Serissa japonica, winter jasmine, goji berry, Caragana, Japanese apricot, kumquat, etc. Vine varieties include creeping boxwood, ivy, Parthenocissus, etc., and herbaceous varieties include Acorus calamus, Portulaca grandiflora, and cloud mist cypress. Some plant varieties with thick root systems are most suitable for making stump bonsai, such as Serissa japonica, Podocarpus macrophyllus, true cypress, dawn redwood, five-needle pine, Tianzhu, Pinus thunbergii, and pine-cypress.

For crafted stump bonsai, if we simply collect saplings and go through planting, pruning and shaping, until wiring and shaping to finished product for sale, it takes a very long time. To effectively shorten the time and quickly and conveniently make miniature crafted stump bonsai, we can go to some mountain crevices and rocky cliff slopes in nature to extensively collect and dig, looking for those small tree stumps with short trunks and gnarled branches formed by natural erosion and artificial cutting and damage, making full use of their naturally twisted and winding multi-faceted forms, and carrying out appropriate pruning and shaping along the tree's growth tendency. At the same time, technical means and artistic treatment can be combined, such as exposing the stump root system on the pot surface, making branches and roots intertwined, and making suspended roots form claw-like shapes, so as to fully reflect the rustic, peculiar, ancient and picturesque quality of the entire stump landscape. When going out to collect and dig wild plants, attention should be paid to choosing late autumn or early winter, or just before plant sprouting the following spring. During digging, try not to damage the main root system, so that after transplanting and management, the survival rate can be fully guaranteed.

(2) Preparation of bonsai soil.

In view of the small volume of miniature bonsai pots and the small amount of soil filled in, stump bonsai generally uses a mixture of leaf mold, fine sand, and garden soil evenly prepared, or uses leaf mold soil as the main component, mixed with an appropriate amount of sandy soil and plant ash. When potting flower varieties such as spider plant, asparagus fern, and Chinese rose, it is only necessary to mix a little fine sand into the leaf mold soil. When cultivating flower varieties that prefer acidic soil, such as jasmine, Rhododendron, and Aglaia odorata, it is best to use soft acidic peat soil and mix in a little black soil.

(3) Daily cultivation and management of bonsai.

Since there is only a tiny amount of soil in a small flower pot, the small trees and flowers in the pot cannot withstand too much sunlight exposure, and should be placed in a ventilated and shaded environment in daily care. Usually, watering should not be excessive; just keep the soil moist. In late winter and early spring, an appropriate amount of diluted decomposed liquid fertilizer can be applied to ensure the sprouting and growth of the plants. The pot should be repotted once a year. In addition to replacing with new leaf mold soil, during repotting, some residual old roots and diseased or dead branches and trunks should also be properly pruned to promote the growth of new roots. At the same time, attention should be paid to adjusting and correcting the growth posture of the plant branches and trunks, carrying out appropriate pruning of branches, leaves, and buds, so as to maintain the perfection of the plant's shape and posture.