Bonsai Trees Take Patience

PATIENCE

Growth curves are different for different species. Be patient with your bonsai. We tend to look for instant results at the expense of optimal health of our bonsai. Appreciation of bonsai doesn’t depend on instant effect or even ending up with a perfect plant. Allow time for your bonsai to self adjust each time you transplant, apply fertilizer, prune, wire or relocate to a different site.

It would be easier on us if a plant would start off with exceptional vitality in the spring and keep on growing robustly until fall. But it doesn’t. Some peak in the summer and others take in several small growth curves. Good bonsai horticulture is giving it what it needs at every stage of the growth curve. And knowing when to back off and give it time, and how to appreciate the work you have done.

All trees have 5 stages in one growth cycle:

• A quiet beginning.
• Foliage development required for
  photosynthates to build up.
• Growing up and out.
• Storing photosynthate reserves necessary for
• Quiet resting. Every organism eventually requires a period of rest. While the tree is resting, enough energy must be in reserve to jump start the next growth cycle.

Become familiar with the natural tolerances of each species you cultivate. Optimal culture practices applying to me in my area may be detrimental to the way you should treat that same species in your own particular micro climate.