Help me understand my Bonsai.

[TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

Actually it’s dd’s 14, but l seem to have custody over care and watering

Anyway, l do the little water bath thingy and it seems happy because it’s growing. But the shoots are massive, really long. Some bigger than the tree itself. I’ve been pulling them off.

How do l make it grow little Bonsai size shoots?

Bump

Long shoots are low light levels coupled with warmth stimulating it to grow. It's much easier to cope with outdoor bonsai, it sounds as if your is indoors? Without knowing what it is, I couldn't advise putting it outside - it might not be hardy

Instead of pulling the shoots off, try cutting them just above the first bud.

@yamadori - your help is needed!

Hi there @TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince - before we can advise, the first thing we need to do is identify the species. Did it have a label on it, or if not, can you post a close-up photo of the leaves please?

The advice will be entirely different depending on what sort of tree it is. Some are happy indoors, others are better outside.

Yeah, just nipping out. I’ll do it when l come back.

Thanks for your help. I’ll name you so you know it’s been posted. Lots of leaves keep falling off, but it looks healthy

Yamadori.

It’s here!! Lots of little long shoots at the bottom.

My eyesight isn't what it was. Are the leaves thickish, like a miniature rubber plant, or are they soft, flimsy and delicate?

No not rubber plant.

They’re not soft, quite brittle, not really flimsy or delicate. Quite sturdy. Would a close up help?

It's a ficus I think

Close up

I suspect that it is Ligustrum sinense - Chinese Privet. The growth habit and colour of the bark is wrong for ficus. However, the following would apply for both anyway.

The reason you are getting the long leggy growth is due to a lack of light and the ambient temperature being too high. So what it really needs is a bright spot that isn't too warm. In the winter months a bright windowsill would be good, but not with a radiator undermeath (!) or where it would be susceptible to freezing draughts if the window is open.

Don't fertilise it at this time of year, you need to wait until spring now. It will be shedding old leaves at the moment because it is autumn.

You can cut the long branches back to buds nearer the trunk. Buds form where the leaf joins the twig so cut just above that. Hopefully, that will induce bushier growth and backbudding. Snip off any that are growing in the wrong place. In summer it can be kept outdoors in a shady spot.

Perhaps you could invest in a second-hand cheap copy of 'Bonsai Basics' by Colin Lewis - loads on Ebay. That goes into pruning, repotting, shaping, pests etc in much more depth.

Thank you Yamadori, that’s is so helpful😊

It’s next to a boiling radiator in a teenage crypt. I will rescue it, although it’s neglectful owner won’t give up without a fight.

Yes, it’s very much like privet.

Thank you again.

Boiling radiator in a teenage crypt eh? It's lucky it has you to worry about its welfare then

Might I suggest a succulent instead of a bonsai in the teencrypt? A jade plant or a portulacaria. Both are readily available at garden centres and, funnily enough, can be trained as bonsai trees...

Jade plants need light! They grow leggy and pale green if they don't have light. Succulents have succulent leaves to store water, which they need to do because of frequent droughts, which usually happens because they're growing somewhere that's seriously sunny ...

Yes, I know they do - but they take a lot longer to die in a teenager's bedroom than a deciduous outdoor tree

I don't know anything about gardening but this thread came up in Active Convos and is the most charming thread title ever

😁it came from a place of total confusion!!!!

She nagged and nagged for one. Eventually l gave in, but they are NOT cheap.

She is a neglectful parent. But l seemed to have assumed parental responsibility. And she now asks me if l’ve ‘bathed’ it every day!🤨

I’m crap with houseplants, but this sort of took my fancy in a protective manner. I’m quite attached to it now😁

If you think that's expensive, my friend has one worth upwards of thirty grand.

They are cheap if you plant an acorn, or find a hawthorn seedling in the flower bed, or buy a cotoneaster from the garden centre for £2.99.

Most bonsai enthusiasts in the UK grow outdoor species that are hardy in our climate. Buy that book OP - you're gonna get hooked You can join the UK Bonsai Association for free, by the way.

30k😲

Do the Cottoneasters grow miniature berries?❤️

Some of the very old (and famous) bonsai trees in Japan and elsewhere are worth megabucks.

Cotoneasters have small berries and leaves to start with so there's no issue - they look in proportion. They are lovely as bonsai, as you get flowers earlier in the year, and then the berries later on. Pyracantha is good too, but can be prickly customers.

Bonsai trees can be persuaded to grow smaller and smaller leaves over time, but flowers and fruits will always remain the 'normal' size for the species. Which can sometimes give comical results with bonsai apple trees, for instance

There is no such thing as a special magic breed of 'bonsai' tree - they are all bog-standard normal tree and shrub species which have been trained using bonsai techniques.