How to Tell when to water your Bonsai

[Dave]

1. Push a fingertip into the bonsai soil to check for moisture beneath. The top surface of the soil can be misleading, so test the conditions at a depth of 1/2 to one inch.
2. Another trick is to press a length of chopstick into the bonsai soil and leave it in place. Check the chopstick daily and it will behave as a moisture sensing "dipstick" that will indicate when to water. If the stick is moist, the plant has water.

[kilojim]

The chopstick idea sound pretty good, I bought an electronic moisture detector and it was useless, one of my plants actually died due to lack of water. The reason was the detector was saying there was plently of water and I was just a bit dosy and didn't see the signs.

I will definitely try the chopstick idea, cheap but seems effective.

[willow370]

if i see that it looks dry i water, ive one for a long time and it hasnt died yet and its had plenty of days where it hast had water and its been dry etc still alive

[Bonsai72]

Sounds interesting. I'll give it a try. I mainly use the "fingertip method"

[North Valley Chris]

One thing you can do is use water absorbing crystals to alleviate the worry of when to water, especially for indoor situations. Also, keep this in mind. A bonsai master once said " Wait until the plant dries out, then water the day before".

[Dave]

I love water absorbing crystals!! Cuts down on the amount of watering, and helps to absorb water more evenly. Just remember a little goes a long way!

[andrax degar]

i use the ''chop stick'' method also and have found it very efective

[:)-}--{]

Originally Posted by North Valley Chris

One thing you can do is use water absorbing crystals to alleviate the worry of when to water, especially for indoor situations. Also, keep this in mind. A bonsai master once said " Wait until the plant dries out, then water the day before".

yes! mine dried out today...good thing I watered it the day before!

[Paul Stokes]

Chopsticks for me
-Paul

[Ichigo]

Third the chopsticks method