Technical Data Sheet - Juniperus

Common Name: Juniperus

Scientific Name: Juniperus Chinensis

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

Although practically all species can be turned into Bonsai, most cannot "compact" well after shaping prunings.

The best for Bonsai are the Japanese varieties (which compact well), "Juniperus Sargentii" highly valued 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; it is native to the Iberian Peninsula and very common, often collected from Yamadori (wild gathering).

Juniperus Rigida, with similar maintenance care, is also quite admired due to its needle-like leaves instead of "scales," and because of this characteristic, they compact easily and respond well to severe pruning. The downside is that it can prick your fingers a lot when working with it.

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

Watering: Water the soil abundantly until plenty of water flows out through the drainage holes to moisten the soil evenly, always watering from above and never by immersion, using a fine-spouted watering can.

Tips about watering, see the watering technical sheet.

Allow the surface layer of the soil to dry slightly between each watering (to confirm 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 (in very hot months), which helps prevent the appearance of mites, but the leaves should be dry at night to avoid fungi.

Nutrition: From February to October/November, with a basic plan consisting of a complete fertilizer (Fertil Bonsai Humic, or Green & Gold Bonsai Organic or Biogold), and a biostimulant throughout the year (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, see the complete nutrition plan technical sheet.

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

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

Maintenance pruning is done all year round, while shaping pruning is usually done post-winter or post-summer, so that there is still autumn growth to compact the plant.

Most varieties tend not to compact after shaping pruning, due to the plant's natural defense mechanism that, when heavily pruned, stops producing scales for a while and starts producing needles instead (in nature, this mechanism protects heavily browsed plants or parts by making animals get pricked).

This defense process prevents many varieties from achieving a good aesthetic result because we can never have nice scales near the branches. Only when we let them "grow away" from the crown do they stop producing needles and resume producing scales, but by then the Bonsai's "design" is lost.

Tips about pruning, see the pruning and defoliation technical sheet.

Repotting: With Conifers Bonsai Soil in February/March when it starts budding.

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 with 50% Conifers Bonsai Soil, plus 50% Deciduous Bonsai Soil or Akadama.

Details about repotting, post-repotting care, and specific fortifiers you can use, see the repotting technical sheet.

Wiring: Ideally from late winter to early spring, but can be done all year round. Usually, it is combined with a cleaning pruning.

Instructions about wiring, see the wiring technical sheet.