How does the rain affects my outdoors bonsai?

[Drago_PR]

Hello everyone:

I'm new with bonsai trees and i was wondering what effects does the rain have over the outdoor bonsai?

Drago_PR

[Enrique]

Hi Drago, well rain afects in many ways, first the concept of water, not all the water is the same, rain water contains lots of other compounds that are disolved in it from the contaminant of the air. In most cases the rain water does provide the tree with a few minerals that it needs and thereby it responds much better than the water we can provide from the tab. Of course you also have to take into acount where you are, how much rain you get and what type of soil and plant you have. The whole subject can become quite complicated, what type of plant do you have? best regards, Enrique

[Drago_PR]

Hello Enrique:

Thanks for the info, well have some ficus benjamina, ficus nerifolia, ficus green esmerald, a juniper procumber, Bougainvillea. As you can see they're moslty tropical trees. I had an Illex but the leaves just dried off, i had it in a shaded area just like the vendor told me and watered it moderately. It was going ok for about a month and then suddenly dried out.


Drago_PR

[Enrique]

Hello Drago, Well ficus Benjamina prefers the soil not to be to moist, especially if it is in a shaded area, the same would apply to bougainvilleas, especially if you want them to flower. But rain water would do well on this species since the rain is ussually a bit acid and allows the nutrients to be utaken much better, as for the Illex, well there are several species of Illex, they are rather tough but do get some rootroth from time to time, if you see the leaves falling or changing color it means that the roots are not doing their job, either because of to much water, to little water or to much fertilizer. The best thing is to remove the soil and wash the roots so you can clearly see if they are ok or not, and coverthem with sphagamus moss. Good luck. Enrique