Bonsais are an important part of Asian garden art. The plants (Sai) are cultivated in a special bowl (Bon). These are not dwarf varieties, but normal trees with their specific needs.
Can I grow an apple tree as a bonsai?
An apple tree (Malus) is very suitablegoodfordesign as a bonsai. It is quite easy to care for and decorates itself beautiful flowers and produces pretty fruits as a small tree. However, wild apple varieties such as crabapples and crabapple varieties are preferable to food apple trees.
Are all apple varieties suitable for bonsai?
For bonsai cultivation of an apple treeIn addition to patience, you also needthe right variety. This should be small-fruited so that there is no disproportion between Fruit and tree size occurs. That's why bonsais are usually grown from crabapple varieties.
The following are suitable, for example:
- Malus sylvestris,
- Malus toringo,
- Malus cerasifera.
You can get cores from these, which can then be used to grow a bonsai apple tree.
How to grow a bonsai apple?
You can simply put the core in a flower pot filled withsoil, placeon thewindow silland keep evenly moist. Apple trees almost always germinate reliably in this way.
If cultivation is not successful, you can try this method:
- Clean some apple cores.
- Moisten some kitchen paper and place the seeds between two layers.
- Store protected in a freezer bag in the vegetable compartment.
- As soon as the roots are about two centimeters long, plant them in soil.
How does the small apple tree become a bonsai?
The tree is kept artificially small by regularpruning of roots and branches:
- During the development phase, shorten the newly formed branches.
- During the resting phases, create the silhouette by cutting the branches back to two to three eyes.
- Since the flowers form on the short shoots, you should mainly shorten the longer branches.
- In addition, the new branches are wired for about four weeks.
When do I have to repot the bonsai apple I grew myself?
So that the small apple tree thrives, it isrepotted every spring. A mixture of 30 percent gravel (€22.00 at Amazon) and 70 percent Akadam has proven to be a good substrate.
It is important to also shorten the roots at this opportunity, because this is the only way to curb the growth of the tree.
- Carefully free the roots from any adhering soil.
- Remove large, vertically growing roots.
- Short the lateral storage organs to two finger widths.
How do I care for the bonsai apple tree?
Apple trees like to be quite moist andshouldthereforedaily, but with great sensitivity,watered. Make sure that there is no waterlogging as this leads to root rot.
Fertilization is not carried out weekly, but only three times during the entire growth phase:
- In March before flowering,
- After fruiting,
- End of August.
Tip
The apple tree bonsai gets yellow leaves after repotting
The bonsai apple tree was usually fertilized too quickly after repotting. The small trees need regular fertilizer because of the very limited amount of substrate. Especially with young bonsais, you should wait at least four weeks after transplanting before administering additional nutrients.
