Category: Bonsai Tools & Accessories

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Bonsai Pots

Bonsai Pots of Different Materials

Mica and Plastic Bonsai Pot

Mica bonsai pots are made of 80% mica, 15% polyethylene, and 5% graphite. Mica is a material with a natural ability to stabilize the temperature of the potting soil in the pot. This protects the roots of our bonsai trees from damages caused by cold temperature, as well as promotes healthy root activity during growing season. Because the polyethylene bonds the raw materials together and makes the bonsai pots tough and durable, the bonsai pots made of mica seldom break. And with 5% graphite, mica pots have the appearance of high quality unglazed ceramic potsBonsai-Pot-Clay.

Due to their lightweight and durable nature, bonsai pots made of both mica and plastic are great for bonsai training, as a step towards a smaller pot.

Clay Bonsai Pot

Clay bonsai pots are good for our bonsai trees because of their ability to retain temperatures and release moisture at a constant rate. Clay bonsai pot also allows oxygen to get to the roots of the bonsai tree which is vital for healthy growth.

Here is an article about Yixing zisha bonsai pot.

Porcelain Bonsai Pot

Porcelain pots are not used very often as they are usually fairly expensive. In addition, porcelain pot holds water as they are nonporous. Hence, bonsai artists pot their bonsai trees in porcelain pots more for show than for grow.

bonsai-pot-porcelain

Here are a few more articles on how to choose bonsai pots for our bonsai trees.
What Bonsai Pots for What Bonsai Trees?
Bonsai Pot – Get the Right Size for Our Tree
Bonsai Pots for Different Bonsai Styles
Bonsai Pots of Different Shapes and Sizes
Is Your Bonsai Tree Ready for a Bonsai Pot?
Choosing Your Bonsai Pots

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Bonsai Pots

Bonsai Pot Drainage – A Must for All Bonsai Trees

bonsai-pot-drainage-hole

No matter what type of bonsai pot we choose, we should make sure that our bonsai pots have adequate drainage holes.  Bonsai pots made in China and Japan usually have large drainage holes, so that excess water can drain away.  Cover each drainage hole inside the bonsai pot with a piece of plastic drainage mesh to prevent any soil falling through the holes.

Some bonsai pots may have small holes around the side of the base.  There holes can be very handy sometimes.  We can use these holes to tie the bonsai tree into the pot, or tie a branch of the bonsai tree to a downward position for training.  I also use these holes on my bonsai pots to tie and secure the pots on my bonsai rack.

Pots and containers are often available from garden centers that are massively produced, yet not necessarily for bonsai.  Usually these pots and containers only have one small drainage hole, or sometimes, none at all.  Do not try to use a pot with only one drainage hole, as drainage hole is a major factor in growing healthy bonsai trees, and one small drainage hole is definitely not enough.

In addition, we should also check if the base of the bonsai pot is flat so to make sure there is no area where water can become trapped and cause root rot.

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Bonsai Pots

Bonsai Pots and Containers – Just as Essential as Our Bonsai Trees

Bonsai-tree-Carmona

A bonsai is a tree in pot. Hence, the bonsai pot that we choose for our bonsai tree is an integral and vital part of the entire bonsai composition. Without a well-matching bonsai pot, the bonsai is incomplete. The bonsai pot is not just a container in which we grow our bonsai tree. It is also the most important element that must match well with our bonsai tree so that the final composition integrates well as a complementary unit.

Most bonsai pots are made of stoneware, ceramic, terracotta, mica, or plastic. Some bonsai pots are collector items in themselves, being hundreds of years old and worth thousands of dollars. But even put aside these antiques, bonsai pots are still fairly expensive.

Having all these said, we should keep in mind that the bonsai pot is no more and no less than an essential complementary unit of our bonsai tree. Our bonsai tree is always the lead character, while its bonsai pot is the number one sidekick who can brighten up and emphasize the beauty of the bonsai tree.

Here are a few more articles on how to choose bonsai pots for our bonsai trees.
What Bonsai Pots for What Bonsai Trees?
Bonsai Pot – Get the Right Size for Our Tree
Bonsai Pots for Different Bonsai Styles
Bonsai Pots of Different Materials
Bonsai Pots of Different Shapes and Sizes
Is Your Bonsai Tree Ready for a Bonsai Pot?
Choosing Your Bonsai Pots

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Bonsai Pots Featured Articles

Is Your Bonsai Tree Ready for a Bonsai Pot?

Bonsai-tree-potBefore a bonsai tree is potted into its final bonsai pot, it first should be potted in a training pot, where there are more space and resources for the bonsai tree to grow and develop its root system and new branches.  During this period, ramification and final branch placement will begin.

When we get a new bonsai tree, if it is a juvenile bonsai tree that is still growing quite rapidly, we should use bonsai training pots before we decide on a final show pot to exhibit our bonsai tree.   While old bonsai trees, which do not need to be trained anymore and have been repotted and root-pruned many times already, are adapted to living in small bonsai pots, young bonsai trees need much more room to grow.  Young bonsai trees need to be trained step-by-step to adept to living in smaller pots, by pruning their roots every time they are being repotted.  These young bonsai trees can be potted in less expensive bonsai pots or in plastic containers which are widely available at many online bonsai supply shops.

When we repot our bonsai tree from the bonsai training pot to its final bonsai pot, the shape of the bonsai tree should already been decided and formed.  Most of the shaping and forming should have been done by this time.  During the training phase, a lot of work is going on.  The bonsai training pots are like a workhouse of the bonsai pot.  Most of the shaping and pruning, as well as wiring and rewiring, are done when the bonsai tree is potted in the training pot.

Therefore, bonsai training pots need not to be beautiful works of art.  All they need to be is sturdy and light in weight.  When the bonsai tree is ready to be repotted from the bonsai training pot, we can start looking at aesthetics, and search for the perfect bonsai pot to showcase our beautiful bonsai tree.  And this is when colors and designs of bonsai pots become important.

Here are a few more articles on how to choose bonsai pots for our bonsai trees.
What Bonsai Pots for What Bonsai Trees?
Bonsai Pot – Get the Right Size for Our Tree
Bonsai Pots for Different Bonsai Styles
Bonsai Pots of Different Materials
Bonsai Pots of Different Shapes and Sizes
Choosing Your Bonsai Pots

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Bonsai Tools & Accessories

Bonsai Wire: Copper vs Aluminum

Wiring is certainly one of the most important and probably the most often used technique for bonsai training. Before we talk about bonsai wiring techniques, let’s learn the different types of bonsai wire, their advantages and disadvantages.

Copper Bonsai Wire

Advantage: More holding power

Disadvantage: Cannot be reposition or reused once it has been applied to our bonsai, May be harmful for some tree species

Copper is a strong material.   In order to make copper soft enough to apply on branches of bonsai trees, it must first be annealed. Once annealed, copper wire becomes fairly easy to be bent.  Yet, as it is bent, the copper wire becomes more rigid and resistant to bending.  And this is why copper wire cannot be repositioned and must be removed from our bonsai tree by wire cutters once it has been applied to our trees.

We also need to keep in mind that certain tree species are reactive to certain metals. For example copper is found to be harmful for species like azalea, while iron and steel are found to be harmful for Junipers and other deciduous species.

Aluminum Bonsai Wire

Advantage: More flexibility, Can be repositioned and reused

Disadvantage: Not as strong as copper wire

Aluminum wire is significantly softer than copper wire, and has less holding power.  Yet, it can be repositioned and reused, hence many bonsai beginners prefer to use aluminum wire until their bonsai wiring techniques have been developed and improved.  Aluminum is also the preferred wire choice of many bonsai professionals.  My bonsai teacher, a Lingnan penjing master, uses aluminum wire for most of his bonsai wiring.  Since he always tries to wire branches on his bonsai trees when they are still young and flexible, the raw holding power of copper is not as important as the flexibility of aluminum.

Since aluminum is silver in color, it is often anodized to give it a brownish color, making the aluminum wire less of a distraction when applied to our bonsai trees.

Conclusion

I almost always use aluminum wire.  Not only because I am a bonsai beginner whose bonsai wiring skills still yet to be mastered, but also because I am following what my bonsai teacher always preaches – wire the branches of our bonsai trees when they are still young and flexible.  If we start working on the positioning of our bonsai trees early enough, the strong holding power of copper wire is not anymore important.

But anyways, bonsai is a personal experience.  My suggestion is to experiment with both copper wire and aluminum wire, and find out your preference.