Marijuana Bonsai: What You Need To Know

Bonsai is an art and gardening form that celebrates impermanence, the beauty of imperfection, and the acceptance of growth, decay, and death in nature. Its background is quite profound.

It has recently become quite trendy to grow your own cannabis bonsai, and although it sounds complex, it really isn’t. It’s all about showing your tree some TLC in order for it to survive, thrive, and sit pretty in your home.

See below for more about bonsais and how to grow one yourself.

The bonsais are miniature trees. It is mainly a cultivation technique that allows the preservation of certain plants with petite size.

They originate from ancient Japan and China, and it is a millenary practice. In fact, the word bonsai means planted in a container. Since bonsai is based on a philosophy steeped in Zen concepts, it is not surprising that cannabis and bonsai are a natural combination.

Also known as canna-bonsai or “budsai,” these trees are becoming increasingly popular. Cannabis bonsai plants allow you to grow cannabis virtually anywhere. Even an apartment dweller living in the most compact of New York studios can grow a miniature cannabis plant and reap the rewards of their miniature harvest.

The cannabis bonsai was often used as a method to produce clones and save space. But many growers realized other advantages of this type of planting, and little by little, it has gained popularity in the weed scene.

Bonsai are not grown for any other reason than to provide a means of contemplation and connection with nature. So having a cannabis bonsai would not, technically speaking, be a bonsai as such, as some cannabis bonsai growers enjoy the small fruits of their small bonsai.

The first thing you should know is that growing your own cannabis bonsai requires patience and dedication, it is not difficult, but you must give yourself to your plant project.

To make a cannabis bonsai, a great tip is to collect a quality cutting, considering the quality of the genetics. Now, what are the steps?

Choosing The Plant

You can opt for any type of cannabis plant, either Sativa or Indica. Our recommendation is to do it with small and compact plants like Purple Punch or Blue Widow. The Indicas have a better tendency to work as cannabis bonsai.

Select The Pot

To start, you will need pots of 0.5 to 3 liters, which should have holes for drainage. It is not recommended to start the bonsai from seeds because the roots expand easily.

Choose The Soil

Humus or bat guano is recommended. But in general, any soil that you would use for outdoor cultivation can be useful.

Plant The Cutting

Proceed to plant the selected cutting. Remember that it must be healthy, or you must stake it using a wooden stick. This will allow you to train the main stem, be careful not to damage the roots with the stake, preferably insert them simultaneously.

With a string, tie the cutting to the wooden stick. This string will allow you to guide the stem where you want it to go. You must straighten the branches and the stem, doing so by tying strings or threads and applying tension in the desired direction.

Lighting

You will need to place low-power lighting, more or less 125 to 250 w, and avoid direct light in order to slow down its growth a little.

Maintenance

To take care of your bonsai, you must prune it constantly and watch that it is not twisting too much.

You must manicure the big leaves, leaving only the smaller ones. The cut of the branches must be under the knots to guarantee that no more branches come out. You should never touch the main branch because this affects the development of the plant.

The roots should also be pruned because as the plants are moved to small pots, they run the risk of suffocating. Once the bonsai has the desired shape, the soil should be pampered to ensure a healthy root system.

Cannabis Bonsai From Mother Plants

Cannabis growers can conserve the mother plants in a vegetative state to be able to take the clones they need. When making bonsai from the mother plants, the main goal is to conserve the genetics for a long time and in reduced spaces.

Cannabis Bonsai From Seed

This is the least advisable option, and the reason is very obvious: the roots will expand disproportionately, and its leaves will develop a great size. Obviously, the size matters when talking about bonsai because what you want to achieve is a miniature plant.

Autoflowering Cannabis Bonsai

If you want to use an auto-flowering strain to make your bonsai, it can be a great option because they do not depend on the hours of light to bloom and can withstand even 24 hours of continuous light input.

Cannabis bonsai can be kept for years as long as you follow maintenance tips and take care of your plant.

The objective of bonsai cultivation is to have healthy, mature plants that grow as they would in nature, only at a fraction of their natural size. Among tastes and colors, the most popular for taste, price, and high effect are White Widow, Northern Lights, and OG Kush.