In my life I have unwilllingly assisted three bonsai trees in letting go of their tenous grip on life; two of them were gifts. Perhaps it is a popular gift for gardeners? I read somewhere that the amount of gifted bonsais quickly dying is astounding. I now occasionally specify 'no bonsai' please if there is an inkling of an inkling. These plants hover between life and death. The advice to not keep them in a heated house is solid; also I believe they are quite fussy in their water requirements, for example will much sooner succumb to drought. At the same time, their few delicate roots should not rot. The moist-dry/wet cycle is much more challenging and something I completely failed at. In winter who knows what to do with temperature and watering/humidity. To be honest, I was not sufficiently motivated. In theory I like the look of bonsai trees a lot. In practice the dark arts that make them tick do not appeal to me. Hopefully this is a wild exaggeration and taking care of bonsai is actually easy if you care enough. Very much hope that yours will flourish and stay small!
@A lot of sense @micearguers. I loved mine,several of which I had grown from cuttings of small leafed shrubs etc. I bought a very comprehensive book on the subject,plus a pair of Bonsai scissors. I used to take the whole thing out on a once yearly basis,remove the compost and snip the roots shorter,then repot. But as you said,very difficult to judge exactly how damp they should be. I found the compost quite expensive also the pots and tiny chinese looking ornaments,which enhanced the whole look. Not a present to receive in old age either!!😁 For me that is😁
The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
@Valley Gardener, i had missed your comment on the demise of your bonsai trees whilst in care of your daughter. As a fellow bonsai brutaliser, I sympathise with her ! With plants like these it helps if you have built an understanding relationship.
This reminds me that I did grow small trees from seeds many years ago. They were, I think, Robinia pseudoacacia. I kept them going for over ten years using simple principles (I still have a book about bonsai trees that I bought 35 years ago). The trunk and root structure looked gnarly and wonderful; the foliage was difficult for me to really control, but it had wonderfully fresh robinia leaves. One holiday we came back to find that the neighbours hadn't watered them sufficiently and they had died. (It's a bit of a worry for me when people need to water my outdoor
plants in pots. People don't realise that rain does very little for
potted plants in summer).
The point is that I grew these small trees in a pot, as a standard pot-grown plant. This made them easier to care for. The specimens of proper/standard bonsai that I was given had much less growth medium. In my case the roots were trained using copper wire; when I tried to revive the last patient and transplanted it I was a bit shocked at the state of the root system.
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explore the site ... there are videos and lots of tips to help you care for your bonsai.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.