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This Bonsai Growing Hack That'll Upgrade Your Mini Lemon Tree
By SAKSHI KHAITAN
Gather Materials
To begin your bonsai journey, the tools you’ll need include concave cutters or pruning shears, a hand rake, pliers, scissors, a watering can, and bonsai soil.
Select a healthy sapling that naturally grows small leaves or can be trained to, like a Eureka lemon or Meyer lemon, or grow one from seed for three to five years before starting.
Start your bonsai tree in a "training pot" whose width is ⅔ of your tree’s length and 8 to 10 inches deep to fit its roots. The inside must be unglazed and have drainage holes.
Pick Leader
In bonsai trees, the trunk's shape and texture are key. It should have a wide, tapering girth and bark with interesting features like healed scars or pruning blemishes.
Decide which side of your tree will be displayed, then choose the healthiest vertical branch among the branches growing out of the trunk to be the leader, and shear off the rest.
Defoliate
Cut off all foliage above the first leaf scar on your leader. If you aren't sure if the roots are healthy, leave a pair of leaves on the leader so the tree can make food.
Remove Pot
In the spring, you’ll need to balance your bonsai’s foliage and root growth by removing it from its pot, pruning its roots, and replanting it in a bigger container.
Strip off any mulch covering the topsoil, then loosen the soil from the edges of the container with a sharp knife so you can take the whole tree out without damaging its roots.
Comb Roots
Tease the soil out of your tree’s roots and root flare by combing the roots away from the base of the tree, breaking intersecting roots while minimizing root tearing.