Buxus microphylla is plant of  small leaves bushy plant. Its slow growing . Usually used for hedges and can be given a beautiful shape and challenging plant to grow as a Bonsai tree. Common nursery name of this plant is china box.

Making challenging Plant to a Bonsai is definitely a demanding  work for Bonsai lovers. Plant grows up to 6.5 feet tall. Branches are strong and needs little heavy gauge wire to bend. It is having a strong wood cambium. Good for making shari and Jin on the trunk line and branches. 

The most important point is this plant needs moist little alkane soil and grows well in shady place. Well drained soil is good for proper root growth. It prefers high dose of Nitrogen as fertilizer.

This is a nursery grown plant and is growing from branches. Buxus can be grown from seeds and branches.

Here Buxus is having twin trunk . Main trunk long and thin. Most of the branches were removed ,only one branch is selected and given a shape by wiring.

Then the plant is kept in a shady place with good  nutritious soil which is required for the plant Buxus to have harmonious proper development.

After Six months Lower is kept and allowed to grow. Then top portion of the main trunk is removed.

                                                                                                     

This is proper development after one year. Buxus is having vigorous grow with many fresh new branches and green leaves. The fascinating curves of Buxus makes the plant more stylish with a unique pot. Bends of the second trunk are in harmony with the shape of the pot. 

Styling Thuja Orientalis ( Morpunkhi ) on A rock penjing

 Morpunki it is also called as Thuja orientalis and also called as Platycladus. This is a good Plant for Bonsai. Thuja is of plant  like cypress and ever green. In favorable conditions it can be grown as a indoor Bonsai, otherwise it is a little shade loving plant. it can be grow up to 10 to 12 feet. It is a slow growing medicinal plant. The leaves of the plant grown in flatten manner new leaves will have light fresh green color and old ones will be in dark green color. 

I bought a Thuja plant from a nursery and thought of making it in to a Bonsai. 

                                                             Plant Before Pruning  

It is a nursery plant. just five years old. This plant is growing from branches, Thuja is slow growing plant with small tiny leaves. giving shape to this plant is little demanding job because of many small branches on the main trunk line. First we have to clean and clear the main trunk line by removing all small , tiny branches. then we get a clear view to wiring and styling of the plant. 

After some  cleaning we can see some space between branches and that gives a clear view for further steps of styling.

After Some pruning and cleaning

After Some wiring started styling Plant

By bending Morpunkhi , it was given a shape

After styling , its the time to repot the plant to a selected Bonsai pot. The pot and the plant should be synchronize and co exit in a natural way. 

This time instead of Pot a lawa stone is selected to place the plant as if it is growing from a mountain.

The Surface of stone is having good structure with small groves.

  

Select a best suitable place spot and angle on the rock to place the plant and make a grove by carving a notch to fit the plant in the rock.  

 

  

Plant will be place in this groove. 

Remove  some of soil and cut down the extra roots and place plant on the stone.

Click on this link for  Complete video of making 

How to develop radiating roots on a peepal Bonsai.

Developing Radiating roots on mame /shohin Bonsai 

Peepal as Ficus religiosa is a tropical plant . It is a best loved Bonsai of Bonsai lovers. This plant can be made in to a Big Bonsai or small Bonsai. This plant can be grown from seeds,  branches, air layering also. It is a  deciduous tree sheds its leaves once in a year before spring season. Peepal tree canopy usually grows in umbrella shape giving shade to many animals and people during hot summer months. The life span of a peepal tree is more than 150 years. this tree considered to be largest oxygen provider.

source is google image 

Here we can see clearly the development of Ficus religiosa tree roots. This is we can say radial development of  roots . it gives the tree a great  maturated and older look.

Bonsai is miniature form of a aged plant growing in Nature. Getting a matured look on Bonsai plants takes time, with patience we can develop our Bonsai plant as a Bonsai tree. 

Developing Radiating roots gives the plant a great look with good nebari. 

How to develop these roots is given in detail with photos and video. with patience we can develop these roots on our Bonsai peepal tree.

Peepal plant was already 5 years old. Height of the plant is three and half inches. It is already root bound and roots are coming out of the pot. Plant is taken out of the pot and long roots are reduced in length. leaving roots at the Base. 

            

              Bonsai Peepal is in Bonsai pot                            

 

                                  Most of the roots are reduced to fit the the plant in the pot.

One tile is selected and placed under the root base to make the roots to develop roots in all directions radially around the base of the trunk. By placing the tile the development of the roots will be in all directions. 

                                             Now the plant placed again in the Bonsai pot.

After six months again the repotting has taken is done.

Below photo is the roots are washed and the tile is again  placed back.

Again the plant is repotted in to the same Bonsai pot.

For more development of the roots Mame bonsai is placed in a big pot with soil. watering will be done regularly. The cool soil gives more moisture to Bonsai plant. makes more development of fibrous roots and root thickening takes place.
Video gives in detail step by step of  making

 

Penjing How to Make your Rock Penjing more beautiful

Bonsai and Penjing. Bonsai is a creation of artists reflection, usually single tree with detailed Beautiful expression of a huge tree of nature in miniature form. Penjing is a Cinese version of Bonsai with one or more trees in land scape showing rocks, water, with land covering plants, figurines . Entire creation will be a pleasing piece of Nature.

This is last year picture just planted trees on the rock. First one on the top is planted inside the whole of rock. the specialty of this stone is it contains more holes and rock is soft, with chisel or saw on e can give a shape. Here this rock base is not stable so to make it stable two more other small rocks were fixed with glue to sit in the pot firmly. then the plants are arranged on the rock on three sides . here plants are three different varieties , but the leaves size is small and and of same size. when you are selecting plants to place on rock selection of same variety or same size leaves are preferable, usually we select small size leaves, that goes in harmony with the rock. if they are big they wont be a balance between rocks and the plants and your creation wont go well. These plants are pre Bonsai which were already in shape by cutting and pruning and wiring.

Placing plants in cervices of the rock and covered roots with sphagnum moss to keep moisture and to avoid roots from getting dry. 

This year the side plant was dried completely leaving empty space there. 

Then for restoration new plants are added and base of the rock was covered with some land covering plants like sedum.

The entire arrangement can be viewed in below video link 

Easy Home Made Insecticides for our Bonsai Plants

Dear friends, now the weather is changing . It is going to be winter now in the next few months that is December and January. There are many chances of insects and flies attacking the plants. We have to keep our plants away from insects. today we speak about common insects which attack our Bonsai plants.

Small home remedies for our small Bonsai gardens makes a lot of difference to keep all the pests away and our Bonsai will  be Happy with a big smile.

Many of our friends are having Ficus nuda/ benjamina as a bonsai.First we will see the insects that attack our ficus plant. The most common insect which attacks the leaves of this plant is thrips. It is transparent. This insect attacks the new leaves of the plant, then the leaves of the plant will be sticky and will be folded inside.

If leave them like tat it effects the entire plant and plant can die back completely. First and foremost thing is to remove infected leaves  and branches.

To get rid off these thrips spray insecticide oil or the smell of lasun (Garlic) juice made from grinded lasun cloves keep these insects away from the leaves, they cant survive. This juice can be sprayed above the leaves and below the leaves twice in a week  for two weeks depending on the spread of the disease and to be controlled completely.

Second option is neem oil insecticide. This can be used in dilute quantity when we are using for the first time. check the plant response by spraying only on infected areas not on complete plant, if the plant is responding well after one week, second time spray can be done. we can continue till the bugs can disappeared from the plant. Neem oil insecticide can be made by mixing one table spoon neem oil , half table spoon mild liquid detergent mix them in one liter water and spray it on the leaves and below the leaves.

Second one insect is White flies and mealy bugs, they look like cotton balls spreading mostly at the nodes of the leaves and below the leaves. But White flies. Mealy bugs stays on plant .  They Mostly attacks fruiting and flowering plants and sucks juice from the plant. and the plant becomes weak. One more danger is if ants are there on the plant they start spreading white flies on the entire plant.

White Flies     

The best remedy is mild liquid detergent .water. When we spray on it, the outer body of the insect which white fluffy like a cotton ball will be damaged with soap water. The insect becomes dehydrated and dies because of soap water. First clean white flies affected area of the plant with a brush. and spray soap water twice in a week.

Red spider is very minute and hosts underneath the leaves and destroys the leaves by sucking juice leaf and mostly chlorophyll. 

  Red Spider

The first Home remedy is separate the plant and give a bath to the plant like jet spray and remove topsoil and fill with fresh garden soil. They lay eggs in soil, that is the reason we have to remove top soil and fill with fresh soil Then spray neem oil mixed with water. Neem oil prevents the insect eggs  from maturing and it closes the breathing holes of the spider and makes them die..

Some other homemade pesticides are take neem leaves, adarak and lasun mix them in grider and spray juice on the leaves of the plants and below the leaves. twice in a week. it helps the plant to keep away most of the insects.

Still some crawling insects and some fugus are there , we can talk about them in next chapter. we follow these methods nothing can damage our Bonsai plant.

Normal other Home made insecticides are water made with turmeric powder or spraying pepper powder also keeps all the bugs beyond our Bonsai plants.

Happy Bonsai Growing.