Bonsai help
staceybrandon
Posts: 2
in Plants
Hi, I was hoping someone could please help with my bonsai. I’ve had him for nearly 10 years now but I’m not much of a gardener and have neglected him somewhat and would like some advice on getting him looking his best! I would also like to know what type of bonsai he is as I can’t remember what was on the label when I bought him! Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you!
0
Posts
To repot, if personally remove all existing soil carefully and replant in new soil avoiding large air pockets. I suspect you'll find you don't have much root left due to rot but these things are fairly bullet proof.
Watering should be performed only when the soil has dried out.
After a month or so following the repot start to provide a week liquid feed regularly, or mix in some slow release pellets when you repot. You should start to see it recover, evident by elongation of the stems and retention of more than the current couple of leaves on each stem.
Once the plant is vigorous, cut back stems to a pair of leaves. This will encourage back budding and you should get leaves further back along the bare stems. At this point you can start cutting back to these leaves and start to create a more compact canopy.
I had one of these in its original substrate for about 25 years and repotted a couple of years ago (see image). They will survive a lot of neglect but need some attention to ensure they look good.