Bonsai Development

1. Bonsai Gallery

The Bonsai Gallery :- Bonsai is made of two Japanese word - 'bon' meaning small pot and 'sai' meaning plant. When you grow a tree in a small pot, it's growth will reduce. That's is why, a good bonsai should look a scaled down structure of a tree. Bonsai trees development is a Art and not Horticulture. Developing bonsai trees is very easy, but you require some imagination and patience. It's like developing trees in a limited space. If proper care is taken, then the life of bonsai is almost equal to the natural trees. Remember that if you control the growth of the roots and sometime trim the tip of the plant, you can develop a bonsai. Do not allow the wild growth of trees and then cutting it to give shape of a bonsai tree.

Bonsai is a good hobby, which can be used as a small scale business, if need arise. Most of the bonsai trees shown here and in gallery have been developed in our home and I am sure that after going through the contents you will be able to develop your own bonsai tree..

2. Bonsai Material

Tools required for bonsai :- For developing a good collection of bonsai you require various tools, which are available at horticulture stores. We recommend only a few basic tools to start. Once you develop this hobby and comfortable you may procure all fine and specific tools for bonsai. More details .....

3. Bonsai Trees

Plants suitable for bonsai
Their are a lots of trees, which can be developed as bonsai tree. However please select only those trees which has got a long life, small flowers and fruit.
Select a plant, which has got lots of leaves and grows in multi-direction.
We have mentioned a few of them (which are easily available) in our 'Plants suitable for bonsai' list.

4. Bonsai Development

Starting a new - Bonsai development bonsai
A new bonsai can be started in following steps -
1) Selection of Bonsai Pot - Select a suitable pot according to size of the tree and bonsai style and then...
2) Soil Preparation - A good soil is the life line of bonsai development. Take some sweet earth and mix ...
3) Plant -You can develop a new bonsai from- Seed , Branch Cutting , Grafting , Layering etc.. -- Since these plants are newly grown therefore it will require lot of time (few years), before you can give it a Bonsai look. It's a good idea to search for a suitable tree in ...
4) Planting in a Pot -Steps for planting in a pot.
Please go to this section for details.

5. Bonsai Care

Maintenance and care of bonsai
Once you have started a bonsai development, it's very important to maintain. As you know, developing a new tree (against a lost / killed bonsai) will be very disappointing and time consuming. Do the following for maintenance a healthy bonsai. :-
1) Re-potting - It's required because - the pot size is not sufficient for the developed bonsai / pot got damaged / roots are required to be trimmed / a new pot is required to enhance the look of bonsai.
2) Trimming - This is a essential part of bonsai development to control the excess growth and to give the tree a suitable style.
3) Watering - A controlled watering is essential for healthy growth.
4) Manuring - Plants should be provided proper food. Please note that by starving a plant or by excessive feeding, you cannot develop a good and healthy Bonsai
Please go to this section for details.

6. Bonsai Style

Bonsai styles
There is no fix style for bonsai development. Let your imagine go wild and capture the style and shape from the nature. However I recommend only five style :-
1) Straight up
2) Up-side down
3) Parallel bar
4) Forest
5) Cascade
These bonsai development styles are most common and suits all the trees. However you have to decide a style when the tree is young and do the bonsai development accordingly. Once the tree's branches become old and hard, it is difficult. Read details about style technique

7. Bonsai Diseases

Diseases of bonsai
Since bonsai are potted in a pot and generally kept in a safe place, therefore they are less susceptable to disease. However some time you may find ants, bugs, caterpillars, black spot etc. on your plant. Treat it immediately with common medicine like pesticure, Diatef, Malathion etc. Wash your plant with a very diluted solution. You may take advice from your horticulture store for this purpose. Never use a very strong medicine used for curing big trees or to cure a farmer's field. Bonsai is to be treated with diluted medicine as child. Occasionally washing of trees with diluted solution is an important part of bonsai development.