How to make top dressing for bonsai
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- In this step by step tutorial video Terry Erasmus of Bonsai Tree explains why you should use top dressing after repotting your bonsai, what you will need, how to make it and how to apply it.
You can purchase the sieve set here:
www.bonsaitree.co.za/products...
The sphagnum moss here:
www.bonsaitree.co.za/products...
A fine watering can here:
www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti... 
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Good info. DRY sifted Sphagnum and moss ✔️✔️. 😃
Exactly, don't do as I do, do what I say! ha ha ha ha.
Thanks! Gave it a try now. Keen to see the results
Great! I am sure you will be happy with the result.
Thank you for this video.
No problem, glad it’s helpful to you.
Thank you Terry, for all nice and useful videos, I'm a big fan of your work. Can you make a video about fertilizers, types, timing of application will be very interesting, not only for me :)
Thanks Svetlin! Great idea, hope to do that sometime. In the meantime though you can read these blog posts I have written: www.bonsaitree.co.za/search?type=article&q=fertilizer%20*
Thank you !
Glad you enjoyed it, Alina!
interesting I will try this
Please do!
Great video Terry. Just did this to a couple of my trees and now curious, how do you apply fertilizer in the future without killing the moss?
If chemical fertiliser you will kill it. If organic cakes then it will kill the moss it contacts. Liquid organic won’t damage anything.
You can put dry moss in a blender to chop it up to the consistency you want.
Sure! Makes too much powder in my opinion but you’re free to make it anyways you wish. 👍🏻
Thanks Terry, very useful video. Can I please ask if you could possibly look at doing a video on soil. A lot of the videos are from EU or North America and not sure if the soil types they use are good in our hot and dry areas?
Thanks Hugo for watching. I actually HATE talking about soils locally. Our conditions are not unique - there is no reason why we need to use something else. The Boon mix for instance which is often referred to works just fine and is generally what I use, depending on the trees stage of development. So you can absolutely watch those videos, they will give good content and relevant information. Perhaps I will do a video on the topics in the future but for the moment I see no need as I have all these soil components for sale and have been using them, along with MANY others in South Africa for a good number of years. The quality of my trees I think is the most convincing argument I can present.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai Thanks for the reply. Will definitely visit your site! Really enjoying quality local Bonsai Videos and tips...Please keep it coming!
Great video, as always! I thought that green moss did not have any roots, and it can live on moist air even. Be careful not to use moss from diseased, insect ridden, or sick trees. I was told to gather moss from a place that has the same conditions- sunny or shady- as the tree needs. If you mix it with various types, you won't get that lovely carpet of green (or blueish) that indicates a top looking tree. At US Nationals at one of the critiques, the expert was not pleased to see moss that looked as if it was just recently applied, as opposed to carpeting smoothly as an aged tree would. Years later, I saw them again and asked about using different mosses under the same tree. They said that was fine as long as it looked well-established. Thanks for keeping us on the right track with our bonsai journeys.
Thanks Zantlo for watching and your comment! Moss does not have roots to my knowledge but it still needs to become established on a surface to grow. You were given good advice regards where to get moss from, I’d just add that the best please is to get it from other trees as this moss has already proven it can grow in “bonsai conditions”. When you mix it with different mosses I disagree that you won’t get a carpet, I do and what actually ends up happening when it grows and becomes established you get a variety of mosses, not just one. Moss at even the highest level of exhibition in Japan is applied just before the show, the art is applying it correctly as you mentioned. I’d like to add this last comment and say that although we like the look of moss on our trees let’s not forget we are growing bonsai, not a moss garden.
Great video,
what if I just place moss pieces which I gather from over the rocks directly over sphagnum moss layered in my Bonsai pot ,instead of crushing and mixing with SM.Will it grow?
The purpose of the dressing is not to grow moss primarily, it is to encourage surface rooting and stabilizes the top soil. Live moss spores are mixed in as this will grow and performs other functions but also make things look better. The chances are that large pieces of moss placed directly onto the sphagnum will not settle properly and when you get some warmer/drier weather it will curl up and look ugly.
Hey Terry! super informative. Can i apply this in the winter when it can hit freezing temperatures? - i wanted to help insulate smaller trees more. I know your location must not deal with much cold but when applied in winter, will I still be able to get moss growth from that same application in spring?
Thanks Matthew. Interesting question. Sphagnum moss would insulate cure sure but I don’t necessarily think it’s the best insulator or cheapest. But sure putting it on dry and ungrateful would insulate. We get in the very low single digits in winter, but never frost or minus Celsius as I’m very close to the ocean too. If you grate the moss and add live moss to it as in the video then sure, you will get moss growth in spring. If the live moss you add can overwinter where you are then I see no reason it will not overwinter well in a more protected situation.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai thank you so much for the reply! I love your vids and they have helped me so much. Huge fan of your work.
That’s very kind of you Matthew. Thank you.
Hi Terry, thank you, I've just mossed most of my of Bonsai using this method :-) how long does it take to green up after applying in spring? The weather is very mild here in the UK atm.
It will take a few weeks for the live moss to start growing again, assuming the conditions are right.
Hi Terry, just a report on my moss that I applied on my bonsai using this method last season, they looked amazing in a very short time, thanks again for this very helpful demo :-) @@TerryErasmusbonsai
@razor2ts that’s wonderful to hear. Excellent. Thanks for leaving that feedback.
Grt ,baie dankie
Glad it was useful Arno.
Terry, very recently transplanted a Japanese maple with swollen buds , the tree was placed in a place protected from the wind and in the shade, modern substrate... in that case, would topdressing be very necessary? Thank you!!
Hi Romina. Yes. The top dressing stabilisers the soil so it does not move around when you water. It also keeps the top surface moist when you move it into more sun, which will encourage surface rooting.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai Thank you very much Terry, my reflection for not placing the moss was due to the little or no evapotranspiration of the plant and the situation of shade without wind. I imagine that to the extent that the tree is moved to direct sunlight, the need for support to keep the roots more moist is going to be important, as you say. Thanks again for answering!!!
Terry, do you have a simple or easier way that you use to dry out both the sphagnum and green mosses please?
Thanks Mike. I’m not sure I understand what you mean about “easier”? I just leave it either in the garage or outside in the sun and it dries out. Yes, it’s not instant but a couple days and it’s bone dry.
I was thinking of an oven or microwave Terry but your way is most like the best and the safest. Thanks for the help.
@mikeswain9085 mmmm. Your suggestions are good but hazardous to a marriage, if that’s your reality. 😂
🤣🤣🤣
Why does the sphagnum moss need to be grated into small pieces?
Good question. It forms a better “mat” on the surface this way versus long strands. Also, it looks better.
I tried this and has been now 5 weeks but don’t see any moss growth the SM has turned green though.
I do regular misting and watering.
Hi there Chand. I am not sure what could be the reason for this. What I will say is that all mosses have a requirement in order to grow. If those requirements are not met then it won’t grow. Perhaps you could try a different live moss.
Can fertilizer granules interfere with growth?
@@chandmathur4133 yes. It will kill moss but only where the granules are.
Topdressing is great, but you know who loves it more than trees, Birds! So be prepared to have birds pick at it looking for worms and making a mess of your tree.
Thanks for the warning. Funny enough I’ve never had a bird stealing it and I’m sure others can claim the same so it’s not as you seem to suggest; a certainty.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai You and many others are lucky, I and many of my colleagues can attest to the heartbreak of a beautiful tree demolished by a single bird in a few seconds. Common Blackbirds is the culprit btw.
@@MrYoumitube a customer of mine has squirrels burying nuts in his trees and then sprouting! But yes, I can relate as I use a lot of organic fertilizer and the Cape Thrush we have here loves to flip them to get to the grubs which can be found below the bags sometimes. A toothpick helps but these birds can be rather persistent. Anyway perhaps I can offer a very simple solution which I discovered by chance myself. I started using aluminium plant markers, essentially a thin piece of aluminium about 5cm in length by 3cm. I hang them from a branch of the tree with a little wire. What I discovered is that they reflect sunlight as they move in the breeze. These reflections seem to have scared away the birds as I have not any ANY issues with fertilizer ending up on the ground. If you cannot find these in a store then you can probably make one from tinfoil. Only a single piece in each tree is needed. Let me know if you do try it and it helps. Good luck!
@@TerryErasmusbonsai old CD/DVD disks should do the trick as well;)
@@CEE2802 absolutely. Please send me a picture of your bonsai on display with the 💿 hanging. 😁
i use rocks for top dressing.. all free... little pebles, gravel.
Great, I have no problem with you using whatever you choose or prefer. Personally, aside from the horticultural and other benefits that exclusively Stone top dressing will not provide, from an aesthetic perspective, the tree growing from a stone quarry does not appeal to me.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai "a stone quarry" haha, you funny. and you do have a point. i like you =) i should take some notes and try make my top soil more, , able to hold moisture for moss and "other benefits" .. top surface root development? maybe.. i dunno.
i am a bit afraid to do so tho, worrying, if top soil holds more water than bottom, it becomes difficult to tell when it needs water in some cases ? maybe i need to experiment some just. i have a few citures, they drink a lot , but they dont want it wet all the time either., they are a challenging.
@@QuadDerrick mmm. Yes. Watering is never easy and is a skill which takes some years to acquire, but in my opinion I find it easier to determine watering requirements when the surface is “alive” rather than when it is dead ie covered in stone.
Is there a after video?
You mean after it has been applied? If yes, then no I have not done a video specifically on that but many of my videos dealing with repotting would feature the final result of this.