(Needs maintaining to remain a bonsai)
Tree meanings
Bonsai in general symbolise peace, harmony, order of thoughts and balance.
The Oriental Tea Tree is a stunning, artistic bonsai with beautiful white flowers which symbolises courage and ‘heart’.
Oriental Tea Tree (Carmona microphylla) Bonsai Care Summary
Positioning & Temperature
The Oriental Tea Tree is an easy bonsai to care for, but it does not like cold or draughty environments. This fabulous bonsai prefers a warm position in your home or office and likes a relatively even temperature without huge fluctuations. A warm lounge or kitchen would be ideal. Please position your bonsai with good daylight but avoid very hot positions in mid-summer so that it does not scorch.
Watering
Watering is an important part of growing bonsai trees, an indoor bonsai is dependent upon us to check it regularly to ensure it does not dry out. Please check the soil daily whilst you are learning. Touch the soil surface, if the soil is wet or damp then your bonsai does not require water. When the soil is barely damp to the touch please soak the soil. The Oriental Tea Tree has a very fine fibrous root system and prefers to be kept slightly on the drier side. We recommend that you keep the soil damp and not too wet.
Misting
Although not essential, misting the leaves of indoor bonsai trees helps maintain the humidity around the bonsai. This is actually more important during winter months when the air is dried out by the central heating. Misting should be in addition to checking the soil for water.
Feeding
Feeding with a bonsai feed will help keep your Oriental Tea Tree healthy, vigorous and encourage flowers to form. Bonsai are dependent upon us for nutrients and our Bonsai Direct Fertiliser has the correct nutrient balance and trace elements that your bonsai requires. We feed weekly throughout the year; your bonsai grows throughout the year, just a little more slowly during the winter months.
Pruning/Styling
This is a relatively slow growing variety of bonsai, so pruning will be mainly limited to the spring/summer growing season. This bonsai has a very neat and compact habit and it is easy to produce the highly defined shape that one expects from a beautiful bonsai. New shoots usually sprout in an upwards direction. Allow a shoot of approx. 5cm to form and the prune back to 2 new leaves with a sharp pair of bonsai pruning scissors. The new leaves are often a lighter green so this is very easy to determine.
Growing/Propagating your own Carmona microphylla bonsai trees
We are frequently asked for bonsai seed kits but the reality is that thee kits are rather a disappointed. They frequently don’t germinate and it is not the best way to propagate indoor bonsai trees. You are far better to purchase a bonsai, so you can enjoy growing it, and propagate new bonsai by taking cuttings.
These are best taken in spring. Allow new shoots to grow 8-10cm and then prune with clean pruning scissors. Pop these cuttings into some fresh multipurpose compost in a small pot. Water them and then keep misting to maintain humidity.
Re-potting your bonsai
Young bonsai will require repotting more regularly that mature specimens. All plants become pot bound over time, and bonsai trees are no exception. We recommend re-potting or root pruning (if the pot is still aesthetically larger enough) usually every 2-3 years. When re-potting the Oriental tea tree you want to minimise the disturbance of the original root ball. Often you will read about removing a quarter of the root ball when re-potting a bonsai, we recommend that you ignore this advice when re-potting a Carmona. They have particularly fine roots which do not like being disturbed. The root system is not vigorous so re-potting should only be considered when the root ball is pretty solid. When you do come to repot simply remove from its original pot and tease out a few roots around the edge of the root ball, with a chopstick. There is no need to remove much of the soil. Pop into a slightly larger pot and add some fresh bonsai soil around the edge of the pot. Please remember re-potting of indoor bonsai is best undertaken during the warmer summer months when the bonsai is growing.
Bonsai tip
Spraying with a Plant Invigorator helps to deter pest and disease and helps keep all bonsai trees healthy.
Please avoid using air freshener near your bonsai, they are not overly keen!