feeding plants

There are three really simple ways to fertilize your bonsai.

1: buy the Shulz, 7 drops per liter, use every time you water, all purpose fertilizer. Use it according to instuctions. These should be pretty easy.

2: buy plant spikes of the appropriate type for your plant. They come in evergreen, flowering, fruiting, vegtables, and more. It is stuck in the soil and forgotten about.

3: buy granular fertilizer and sprinkle it on the soil at the base of the plant. This method may seem haphazardous becuse the instructions on granular fertilizer are in 50sq yard mesurements, which is a far cry from the soil a 15cm bonsai needs. Rest assured, a little tablespoon a couple times a year will be fine.

More Detail

Fertilizers are salts containing particular elements and compounds, which are dissolved in water then taken up by the plant when the plant absorbs the water.

Salts absorb water. Plants roots are very salty to absorb the water from the wet soil, outside the root. If a plant is given too much fertilizer (salt), the salty fertilizer will absorb water from inside the plant - rather then the proper way! This is called fertilizer burn and is a form of dehydration.

All plants need different combinations of food minerals. They even use different amounts at different times of the year. You don't have to worry too much about this though.

I always suggest all purpose fertilizer because it is balanced in the major areas of plant nutrients and is seldom excessive in the minor or major areas.