27-year-old Juniperus Itoigawa Bonsai

Common Name: Juniperus

Scientific Name: Juniperus Chinensis

Description: Originating from China and Japan, it belongs to the Cupressaceae family.

Although practically all species can be transformed into Bonsai, most cannot "compact" after formative pruning.

The best for Bonsai are the Japanese varieties, "Juniperus Sargentii," highly appreciated for its lush green, and "Juniperus Itoigawa" for the hardness of its wood to create deadwood (Jin and Shari).

 
Juniperus Sabina is also highly appreciated and quite common in the Iberian Peninsula.

 
Juniperus Rigida, with similar maintenance care, is also quite admired because its leaves are needles instead of "scales," and due to this characteristic, they easily compact, responding well to severe pruning. The downside is that it "pricks" the fingers a lot when working with it.

 
Location: Outdoors, where it receives 3 to 4 hours of direct sunlight per day (ideally in the morning or late afternoon), protected from strong winds and frost. It is very resistant to both cold and heat.

 
Watering: Water the soil abundantly until plenty of water comes out of the drainage holes, in order to moisten the soil evenly, always from above never by immersion, using a watering can with fine holes.

For watering tips, consult the watering technical sheet.

 
Allow the surface layer of the soil to dry slightly between each watering (to check if the plant needs water, touch the soil with your fingers).

 
If you have a tray under the Bonsai, never leave any water in it (to prevent root rot).

It has a high water consumption, especially in summer, and likes to be misted on the leaves when watering, which will prevent the appearance of red spider mite, but it should be dry at night to avoid fungi.

 
Nutrition: From February to October/November, with a base plan composed of a complete fertilizer (Fertil Bonsai Humic, or Green & Gold Bonsai Organic or Biogold), and a biostimulant (Bio Bonsai Activ), which can also be combined with other products from our range.

 
Detailed information on how to combine these products with the rest of our range, or for a more specific nutrition plan, please consult the complete nutrition plan technical sheet.

 
Pruning: Its leaves are scales and should be maintenance-pruned by pinching them with your fingers; if scissors are used, the cut areas dry out.

Formative pruning should be done using scissors and pliers, always trying to cut in a way that replaces with a new scale shoot.

Maintenance pruning is done year-round, while formative pruning is usually done post-winter or post-summer, so that there is still autumn growth that compacts the plant.

 
Most varieties tend not to compact after formative pruning; this is due to the plant's natural defense mechanism, which when heavily pruned for some time does not produce scales and instead produces needles (in nature, this mechanism causes plants or parts heavily grazed to be temporarily protected because animals get pricked).

 
This defense process hinders the good aesthetic result of many varieties because we can never have beautiful scales close to the branches; only when we let them "grow away" from the crown do they stop producing needles and return to scales, but by then the Bonsai's "design" is already lost.

For pruning tips, consult the pruning and defoliation technical sheet.

Transplanting: With Conifer Bonsai Soil in February/March, when budding begins.

For specimens in small pots or grown in very hot areas, a solution to maintain soil hydration given the high water consumption in summer months is to make a mix of 50% Conifer Bonsai Soil, plus 50% of Deciduous Bonsai Soil or Akadama.

Details about transplanting, post-transplant care, and specific fortifiers you can use can be found in the transplanting technical sheet.

Wiring: Ideally from late winter to early spring, but can be done all year round. Usually, we take the opportunity to do a cleaning pruning at the same time.

Guidelines on wiring, please consult the wiring technical sheet.