I warn you right away that everything below in no way claims to be the name of a real bonsai. Real bonsai has been grown for decades, it's a whole art. But for those who want a miniature plant in a bowl, without the difficulties of formation, it is quite possible to get it.
It so happened that the beloved cordylina grew up, partially the stems below were exposed, which is quite natural for this plant and its appearance has become, not as good as before.
Plants such as dracens, cordylines, diffenbachia, ficus elastica can be renewed or rejuvenated by cutting and rooting the apex .
My cordylina was grown from a piece of stem and had three trunks, so I cut in three directions and got three tip cuttings. The cuttings were put in a can of water for rooting, and I began to think about what to do with hemp.
Cordylina cuttings perfectly give roots in water. Penek, left in the pot, quickly began to grow new greens.
On the thickened part of the stem, I cut off all the dry roots to get a thick, smooth bark-covered trunk.
Young healthy roots are white and juicy. The section marked with an arrow was the subterranean part of the stem.
After planting, the soil in the area was tightly compacted.
Above the soil covered with green moss.
That's what happened in a couple of months.You could leave it in the same pot, but in a large pot, the pruned plant grows poorly. Therefore, I took it out of the pot and, shaking off the ground, saw that the part of the trunk, which was underground, was very thick overgrown, covered with bark - an ideal trunk for imitating bonsai .
The roots were completely healthy, and I boldly cut them off, and the core of the main root, too, sprinkled with crushed coal.
There was no suitable container or container, because I got down to business spontaneously, not assuming that I would want to do bonsai. Therefore, I decided to put cordylina foam in a flat cookie jar.
The subterranean part of the stem, which had a thickening, was covered with thin, sparse roots making their way through the bark. I cut them all off with scissors. And the root lump cut off the plates in height .
Drainage holes were made in the area, but I did not put the drainage, because the area was too low, the soil in it dried out very quickly.
When I was convinced that the cordylina had taken root well, I transplanted it into a special container for bonsai. Pebbles on the surface of the soil replaced moss, which dried in the sun, and they are needed not only for decorativeness, but also for the soil to hold moisture longer.When planting cordylines, the thickened part of the stem was above the ground, strengthened the trunk with large river stones. The soil in the area was covered with green moss taken from the poplar in the park .
The soil in the area was first watered with a solution of "Maxim," a week later with a solution of actara, this was necessary in order to disinfect the soil from pathogenic fungi or bacteria (green moss cannot be scalded with boiling water or warmed up in the oven), as well as possible pests.
After 2 months, all the stumps of cordylines turned green .
The new crown has significantly smaller leaves than on those tops that I cut off, and the plant really looks like a dwarf tree.
I must say that cordylina is easy to care for and any, not even the most experienced flower grower can do such an imitation of bonsai. The only thing worth paying attention to is the susceptibility of this plant to infection with a spider mite, and the drying of the tips with a lack of moisture.
In a flat wide area, the evaporation surface is much larger than in a pot and the plant has to be watered much more often than pot plants in summer every day, in autumn - in winter after 2-3 days.
In addition to cordylina, various varieties of ficus benjamin, and even hibiscus, can be grown in a miniature bowl or low pot. Just periodically trim the crown and the bottom of the root system. Hibiscus has large leaves, and the plant itself grows a small tree at home. But I have been growing in a small pot for many years. Once leaf growth begins in spring, I prune one or two old leaves each week. I trim the shoots and pinch them throughout the summer, i.e. I do not let the crown grow too thick and stretch to growth. But in order to maintain harmony and proportions, you have to replant and trim the roots twice a summer. Here it is important to cut off only the peripheral part of the roots and not to slow down that part of the root coma that is near the trunk.
Rowan in a pot
Above - red-red ripple trunks, intersecting with each other and lying on the surface of the stones.Inspired by the received "pre-bonsai" from cordylina, I began to look closely at all the plants on the street, of course, nothing compares in beauty with a dwarf pine or cedar tree, but you can find something similar in our latitude. And I found it was rowan. I must say that mountain ash very often have flexible roots enough to successfully dig them out of the ground and often bizarre trunks.
The trunk of the plant - "bonsai" is one of the most important - it distinguishes bonsai from a simple indoor or outdoor plant. It is much easier to bizarrely bend branches with wire than to find or grow a plant with a thickened and/or curved trunk at the base .
My rowan turned out to be two gentle at the base of the trunk, crossed among themselves. In order to painlessly get it out of the ground, I had to dig the ground around it in a diameter of about 70 cm. I did not cut off the roots that did not give in and did not pull out of the ground (you cannot pull much, since there is not just a rupture, but deformation of the root on a long length), but cut off with scissors.
After that, I dusted off the whole earth, which easily separated and redeemed the remaining root lump with the earth in the basin, until the earth was cleared as much as possible, and it became clear how to cut the roots .
She planted ryabinka in a plastic bowl. And she took the soil from the same hole where the ryabinka grew. After transplantation, I did not water for 2 days, but placed a bowl of mountain ash under the bag for about a month. That rowan had taken root became clear as young leaves began to appear. In the fall, I gave the ryabinka to a friend, she wintered in a box, on the balcony, wrapped in a blanket. Leaves, naturally, dropped everything. Oddly enough, the ryabinka survived, grew over the next year, but had to be transplanted into a regular pot. They put it in the coolest place - in the foyer of the kindergarten .
Ploshka plant
Growing real bonsai from seeds is a very long time, it will take many years, and patience. Seeds require special treatment and care. It is much easier to take traditional plants that have been grown as bonsai for many years. One of them is azalea.
I got a small, blooming azalea and I immediately decided that its place in the area. But transplanting flowering azalea, and even with pruning the roots, is disastrous for the plant. Therefore, it was necessary to wait for the end of flowering. When the last flower wilted, I shook the plant out of the pot, but did not get rid of the old earth, I just stirred the dense interweaving of the roots from below, I had to make literally one cut and spread the lower part of the roots to the sides.
At the same time, the upper part of the roots, together with the earth, was untouched .
I needed a gentle bush shape, so I bent the young shoots a little to the ground with stationery paper clips.
Here's what happened :
Initially, azalea bloomed in bright pink flowers in a small but tall pot.
View from above - in the second flowering, the flowers were distinguished by a lighter color.
Side view. But a bright pink cantic along the edge of the petals remained.I will add that I regularly feed azaleas (once every 2-3 weeks) with Kemira-Lux fertilizer, at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 5 liters of water. But this is not a complete component of success, it is equally important not to pour it, and to keep it in a cool place from the end of summer. Now my azaleas are gaining all new color, being on the windowsill under the constantly open window. As soon as the temperature drops to -5 ° C, the first leaf of the window will close, and the flowers will be fenced off from the heat of the room with transparent plastic wrap .
I have more than one azalea, the second, blooming with white flowers, appeared by chance and is also now formed as an imitation of bonsai. In June, walking past the school, I saw dying azalea on the south windowsill. The branches had already drooped, but the last white flower still held its head proudly. I just went to school, found a teacher and said that I would try to reanimate the plant.
I brought such azalea from school, the leaves still perked up after 2 days spent on a cool balcony.
For a sick plant, it is necessary to preserve the roots as much as possible without disturbing the earthen lump.
So the azalea turned green and bloomed six months after the transplant.I suffered for a long time, until about September the azalea was in the bag. I processed it several times with iron vitriol, trying to get rid of chlorosis on the leaves - I did not dare to transplant it. And at the end of the summer, finally, she shook out the chlorous, but alive and giving new leaves from the pot. The roots did not have to be cut off - they were with a handful. They fit perfectly in a bonsai container .
4 months have passed, and it is blooming again - with white flowers, as you can see, the crown is green and again pleases the eye.
Author of the article Natalie (2003)