Home » Home & Garden » Gardening

5 Ways to make bonsai without spending a fortune on supplies.

Ranked #11,165 in Home & Garden, #147,686 overall

Don't want to spend a fortune? You don't have to!

Interested in bonsai, but you've heard only the rich and retired can do it? Well, this lens will give you five ways to save money so you too can brag about your bonsai! No one has to know how cheap your expenses are.....

Do you have bonsai?

Loading poll. Please Wait...

First way to save money on bonsai supplies.

The first tip to saving money on bonsai supplies is to ask around. Perhaps a neighbor has some old bonsai pots in the garage from the infamous "juniper on a TV set" phase. Maybe a relative has a friend that does bonsai and might be willing to help you out. It never hurts to ask!

Second way to save money on bonsai supplies

Research, research, research! If you do not know what care you need to give your bonsai, you will not be purchasing the right materials for it.

For example, if you have acid loving bonsai, and you do not do the research to learn that, you will be wasting money on fertilizers that are not going to do your plant justice.

Or, let's say you want to do cascading bonsai, but you do not bother to find out that they need deeper bonsai pots than say, an upright. You would be wasting money buying shallow pots.

Another example is tools-if you are raising Portulacaria afra, you only need a set of shears. Buying a set of knob cutters would be a huge waste of money. However, if you want to make shari, you should consider investing in lime sulphur-which you don't need with Portulacaria. See where this is going?

Do your research before you invest any money in products that at best will be useless and at worst may harm your plants.

Oh, as a side note, never spray a Portulacaria afra with any kind of oil based spray, unless you want a gooey mess of dropped leaves.

Third hint on saving money on bonsai supplies-grooming items

Use "regular" gardening supplies.

That's right-you can use that pair of rose clippers to trim bonsai. Might want to wash them well and consider a diluted bleach dip, but the cutters themselves work just fine. Or do what I did and buy a new set just for the bonsai. I use the pointed shears, look like scissors with better handles.

You can use a horse hoof pick to rake out roots. You can use a dollhouse whisk broom, or a paintbrush, to clean up branches and soil.
Swipe those regular items for your bonsai!

Still with me?

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Fourth way to save money on bonsai supplies-fertilizer

Don't let the fancy bonsai fertilizer packages fool you.
You *can* use Miracle Grow type fertilizers on bonsai, espically in the growing out stages. Only when the bonsai is in the final grooming stages will you need to use "bonsai" fertilizers, and even then if you know what you are doing you can use "regular" kind. Research NPK and the proportions and how plants use them-personally I like using the vegetable type fertilizers because they are balanced.
However, I highly recommend not using any kind of lawn fertilizer and watch out for anything where the nitrogen is all from urea.....read the ingredients!

I might get flamed for this opinion, but I've been using extended release and water soluable fertilizers off the shelf for several years now with no problems.

One caveat......chemical fertilizers can build up if you don't repot your trees. I repot every 1-2 years so that's not been an issue for me. Do your research :).

Fifth way to save money on bonsai supplies-the pots

When you are first learning bonsai, or when you are years away from a plant being "finished", there's nothing wrong with using plain old regular pots and saving the "bonsai" pots for later.

Heck, you can even recycle other containers for bonsai as long as they won't rust and have enough drainage (no metal, and grab a drill!).
I've planted out in colanders, dish tubs, feed buckets, yogurt containers, you name it! The plant doesn't care as long as the drainage is proper and the material is opaque (so no clear things unless you spray paint the outside black).

I find the plastic pots are only good for 1 , maybe 2 seasons. I have switched a lot of mine into terra cotta cheap clay pots currently just so they last longer. Keep in mind you have to water more in a clay pot, so if you grow bonsai that like a lot of water glazed or plastic pots are better.

Save your bonsai pot money up for those "finished" plants!

When it's NOT good to save money

There is one thing that you should save your money up for and not try to cut corners.

The trees (stock) themselves.

Unless you have a lot of time and space, buying cheap trees hoping they'll be something one day is a waste of your money.
If you want a "bonsai", spend the money and buy a tree from a bonafide bonsai nursery (those things at home depot don't count).
If you just want a bunch of plants to play with......still go check out the young stock at a bonsai nursery-they've already been started
on their training.

The extra $25 to buy a more mature tree may save you 3-10 years of growing time.....that's worth it!

Hopefully you've gotten some ideas

I hope that this lens has given you some ideas on how to save money on bonsai supplies so that you can make bonsai on the cheap!

There are tons of forums and books out there, I highly recommend reading everything you can get your hands on before delving into the great world of bonsai.

Oh, and be forewarned, it's addictive! Next thing you know every sunny outdoor spot is covered in trees in all sorts of containers and types.....trust me...... :)

What do you think of the ideas presented here?

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Opinions? Just want to say hello? Post here!

Show All

My Lenses

Loading

Bonsai Books on Amazon

Loading

Zazzle

Loading

by

SusansZooCrew

Live from the east coast of Florida! I have many interests, including music (mostly playing bass currently), bonsai, art, photography, painting, raisi... more »

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

Explore related pages

Related Tags