I got one for my birthday, but I don’t know how to take care of it. How much do you water it, how do you trim it, etc.?

How you care for a Bonsai depends on what species it is, how old it is, and the style it is done in, for starters. A Bonsai is not a houseplant and will not survive being treated as such. Only bring it inside when its in bloom, (If it is a flowering species.), or for special occasions and never leave it inside for more than a week at a time. How much and how you trim and or wire your Bonsai is determined by the style it is done in, species of tree, plus how fast it grows and its age. Also if it has gravel on the surface of the pot that is glued in place, remove that immediately as it will slowly kill your Bonsai. Check to see if there is a Bonsai club near you and go to one of their meetings sometime. They are a great place to learn and to see what others are doing with their Bonsai. Do you have a picture of your Bonsai. If you do I might be able to tell you more about how to care for it specifically.

I’ve had a bonsai tree for a few months without any problems-then after watrering it last night—the leaves have turned yellow and are falling out!

This site has a lot of advice applicable to your problem.
http://www.bonsaisite.com

However, it is very unlikely that the reported problem was caused by a single watering last night. Leaves turning yellow and falling off can be caused by BOTH over-watering and under-watering.

I just need to know the basics. I don’t want links to websites, I already looked at those. All the leaves are turning brown and falling off mine.

My friend had a bonsai tree, and I took care of it for her fora while, when she was on vacation, I’ve found that if you give them a litle water, and make sure they have sunlight, ‘mist’ the try with one of those little like water bottle squirters. pick of f the brown leaves.

I just got it.

Instructions were minimal. It says:
Water once a week
Keep in light(Is a lamp okay or does it need sunlight?)
Dont let it get in temperatures under 4 celcius.
Fertilize every 2 months

What else should i do?

Any tips?

You need to figure out what type of tree you have in order to take care of it properly. Bonsai is a technique used to create a small version of a tree in nature - not the plant itself. Bonsai can be created from almost any plant type.

Until you figure out what kind of tree it is, your best bet would be to put it outside, as long as the temperatures are above 50 F, in bright but not direct sun, and water it enough to keep it from drying out completely, but not constantly soaked. Don’t use any fertilizer until you ID the tree.

Unless you are using a lamp designed specifically for plants, your tree will need sunlight.
Check around at the many bonsai sites on the internet to try to ID your tree, or even post a picture at one of the bonsai forums.

i bought it not thinking about taking care of it. I need to know what the soil needs to consist of, how to trim, how much sun and water and anything else you think i should know.

For me to sit here and explain all the intricate in’s and out’s of the art of Bonsai (and I could), it would take at least two pages and then that would only be the tip of the iceberg! There are many tricks of the trade besides the easy part of watering and fertilizing. My suggestion for you would be to head to a local garden center that carries gardening books such as the ones from "ortho" and purchase one on basic bonsai (bone - sigh) care. Bonsai is a precise art and is learned over many years of gaining experience by either teachings from a bonsai "master" or by reading literature on the subject. There are many great books out there written by "masters" themselves, complete with pictures of some of their greatest work. If you want to do a quick lesson, look up caring for a bonsai tree online, there are many sites with basic care … Hope this answers your question..

http://www.nebonsai.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NEBG&Product_Code=BonsaiTechniquesI&Category_Code=BOOK

http://www.absbonsai.org/books/booklist.html

…Billy Ray

Ok so my bonsai tree looks dead but on closer inspection ther eis new growth that is green. Is it dead or dormant? I have no idea on how to care for them..pls help thx. ** The question is is it dormant or dead** it’s needles look yellow i know i let it dry out but did i kill it?

It is probably dead if you let it dry out. Been there, done that.
If you have watered it and it looks like it is growing then maybe it is ok. Don’t water again unless the soil seems dryish as watering too much can kill them, too. If it is alive and looks like it is growing, you should be able to tell in a week or so if the growing part is getting bigger. Otherwise, it’s a goner.

A visit to the mountains to seek bonsai shaping inspiration from full size trees, and a view of one “natural bonsai” as well. I am sorry for the poor sound quality, but we were working with the camera’s built-in mic and it was very windy up there. This is actually a re-edit of a video I uploaded and deleted, due to an editing problem with the original.

Duration : 0:4:49

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I’ve had my bonsai tree for a week. I follow the instructions for watering but my tree is starting to turn brown. Anything special I can do to fix this problem?

A "Bonsai" tree can be ANY tree, trained into the miniature form through root pruning and such.

It will very very much depend on what KIND of tree you have. You can have a Bonsai orange tree, which is tropical, or a Bonsai Juniper, a hardy evergreen. The care for those two trees will be very different. Just because it’s been miniatured - doesn’t mean you treat it the same as all other miniature trees.

Without knowing what kind of tree you have - it could be too much water, too little water, or too much sun.

Some minor work on a three tree juniper group bonsai, and some discussion of branch placement in group bonsais.

Duration : 0:7:35

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Technorati Tags: bonsai, bonsai care, bonsai pruning, bonsai shaping, bonsai tree, group bonsai, Juniper bonsai

A lesson in branch placement, taught from a very old San Jose Juniper bonsai that was created by a Japanese bonsai master and cared for by an elder friend of mine for many years. The tree is currently potted in a very fine old Tokoname pot.

Duration : 0:7:17

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Technorati Tags: bonsai, bonsai care, bonsai pot, bonsai shaping, bonsai tree, Juniper bonsai, san jose juniper