Green Workshop: Fertilizing #3 – A Plan We Like

This healthy looking, well-fed Green Island Ficus (Ficus microcarpa ‘Green Island’), by Alan Kieffer, originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 74, in an article by Mary Miller. A fertilizing program we like The following program is one that I like. Feel free to adjust, elaborate, or simplify according to you needs and preferences. Start with pellets in the very late winter Apply about one third the recommended dosage* of Green Dream or other pellet or chunky natural fertilizer in the very late winter (just before the buds begin to swell).

Green Workshop: Feed Your Bonsai – part 2 – NPK

This well fed, healthy Lace leaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum dissectum) is from our Pocket Bonsai Gallery. It originally appeared on the cover of Bonsai Today# 84. N-P-K (Macro nutrients) You will see three numbers on all fertilizer packages—for example 7-9-5 or 15-30-15. These numbers represent the strength and ratios of the three major nutrients (also called macro nutrients) in fertilizers. The three nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium or potash (K). They are critical to any plant’s health. Here’s a more complete explanation.

Green Workshop: Feed Your Bonsai! – Pellets

Your bonsai may never look like this, but they can be this healthy. This magnificently robust Willow leaf ficus (Ficus nerifolia) is by Jim Smith of Dura-Stone in Vero Beach Florida. The photo is from Bonsai Today, issue 61 and was taken by Jim. Your bonsai depend on you Bonsai do not survive on water, light, and love alone. Because most bonsai soil has very low nutritive value (if any), your bonsai depends on you for feeding.

Feed Your Bonsai!

Green Dream is an excellent, well-balanced (6-6-6) slow release pellet fertilizer. Most people underfeed their bonsai. This may be because they want them to stay small, so they don’t feed much, if at all. What you end up with if you don’t feed enough, may or may not be small, but it WILL be unhealthy. Small is achieved primarily by pruning – both top and roots. True, you may not want to pump your bonsai up with artificially high concentrations of NPK and other nutrients, but you do want you bonsai to be at the peak of health, and regular … Continue reading Feed Your Bonsai!