Quick Bonsai Transplant

Hello, Hive Gardeners and and enthusiasts! Today I present you with a video of how I typically do my bonsai work. Lately, most of the ones I've been honing my skills on have been in the citrus family. These can be very forgiving, fun to work with, and grow relatively quickly. Furthermore, I have large tree from which I can periodically make cuttings from to try, try again if all else fails.

The video features what I believe to be a small lime tree. It does not belong to me; I am merely her custodian, having rescued the poor thing before winter came. She actually belongs to a dear friend of mine who wanted a bonsai tree of her own. That was around late September, I think. Unfortunately, it was aleady too late for Shirman's little brothers and sisters.

Although Shirman was technically not rootbound yet and therefore not in dire need of a transplant, it's never a good idea to wait until that point. So I agreed to work on her. (Plus, a proper pot would look better than that trainer pot, anyways!) First, I prepared the new pot with some gravel and even shells and beach glass for drainage. Then I carefully removed the sapling and soil. It was very easy since the soil was sopping wet!

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With all soil removed, it's simple to see what goes and what stays. Keep the smaller "feeder" roots and prune back the big ones with too much vigor. Remember, roots should be growing evenly, fanning out from the center! I only made 2 major cuts on some roots curling around the edge of the pot. Several smaller roots were pruned (minimally) to fit in the pot better and to prevent the same situation happening again right off the bat.

For the new soil I used a mix of some of the old soil along with some mix especially formulated for citrus trees. Why old soil? It worked didn't it? We include it because the tree has already lived in it and probably developed its own microbial/fungal signature. In other words the soil is familiar for the tree and the old things in it will benefit the new soil. Just make sure it doesn't have dead/cut pieces of your tree. This can be a vector for disease.

Maybe I topped it off with too much soil, which might make watering messy or even impossible, conventionally. I like to water my trees from the bottom, not by dunking the entire pot in water as you might see on social media. We take the same principle, which is just overkill, and tone it down a few notches. Just leave your potted tree in a container not much wider than it and fill that container with some water somewhere below the halfway point of your pot. If it is dry, the soil will soak up all the water through capilliary action.

See you again in 4 to 8 months, Shirman!

Musical Credits

I do not claim to own any of the music.
The first two samples (Inferiority Complex followed by OgeulOgeul) are originally songs by Park Kyung but were intstrumentalized by other fans and shared for free use on Youtube. The bass song I discovered ages ago. It is called Oleo and is a jazz standard. This version came from a dude testing out a bass recording system. I layered the different parts together as if it were a bass ensemble playing. And finally, the last 2 piano phrases are performed by yours, truly.

Thank you.