Bonsai Winter Care
Tropical bonsai cannot withstand freezing temperatures.
Bonsai winter care. A camellia japonica bonsai is a living miniature tree and not a house plant. Therefore your bonsai must be maintained in a cool cold environment during the winter season. Overwintering your bonsai trees. Your hardy trees can stay outside at this point.
Another bonsai winter care note is to keep the dirt moist at all times. Special care during winter. Most bonsai can be repotted during the winter but the best period for this is the weeks immediately prior to the early spring revival when you judge that there is no longer a danger of intense cold that could damage the roots. If you have the space a basement set up under lights will work.
Never allow to the bonsai growing medium to dry out. Most importantly are watering fertilization and choosing the right position to place it. Both of these help trigger dormancy in our bonsai. See the page on growing bonsai trees indoors.
A small greenhouse may be ideal. Trees left outside can be over watered by. If you own any tropical trees you are going to want to get them inside or into a greenhouse when the temperature at night starts to hit 50 55 degrees consistently. As a guide around thanksgiving day it is time to prepare your bonsai for its winter dormancy period which should last approximately three 3 months.
If this occurs the tree could die. Winter water consumption is very low but the bonsai tree s roots still need damp not drenched soil. During the autumn in colder areas hardy trees start preparing for the coming winter by hardening up new growth and for deciduous trees dropping leaves to reduce moisture loss. Most hobbyists living in less than tropical climates grow tropical trees outdoors in late spring through the summer and bring them indoors for the winter.
Some bonsai beginners feel that their trees may perish if subject to the harsh conditions of the winter months and bring their trees indoors to protect them. Deciduous bonsai tree species need this winter dormancy so it is best to leave them outside to experience the seasonal cold. Most beginners hold back watering during the winter because they are afraid of the dirt freezing. Being in containers their roots are less insulated and could freeze.
However unlike trees planted in the ground bonsai trees are in containers. Bonsai tree care basics. When the dirt is wet it can freeze and it takes a lot to get ice below 32 degrees.