I’ve been studying Bonsai for the past six months after being away from the practice since the 1990’s and taking these great classes from Mirai and Ryan. But I’m left with one question that Ryan only briefly touched on in the Bouganvillea design video. I am an American living in Medellin, Colombia and we truly have earned the nickname City of Eternal Spring. I have about 8 trees at the moment and they are doing great and I also am growing a bougainvillea. So when you have only one season how do you determine best times for repotting and heavy pruning? Up until now I’ve just taken the attitude that it is always spring so I can repot any time of year. However now that I’m learning the horticultural side from Ryan I want to get a better understanding for timing of major bonsai events.
Are there growing aspects I should watch for before I prune?
Are there conditions to watch for before I repot?
It appears that winter temps only change by about 3 degrees Celsius from summer.
Very interesting climate based upon Wikipedia. Just north of the equator but at over 2600 m (8600 ft.) so the solar intensity will be quite high. It looks like there is a slightly cooler, but much sunnier period from Dec. - Feb. that has an occasional frost. It looks like Jun - Aug are warmer and also fairly sunny. Based upon this I would think that following the typical northern hemisphere model would work. Repot in Jan/Feb, spring growth, figure on a slight summer dormancy, and renewed vascular growth in the fall. However, this is just a guess.
What is the local bonsai scene like? Are there clubs, vendors, a local nursery that has any tools and supplies? If so plugging into local knowledge can be a great resource for your unique climate.
Actually we have never had frost here in the 2.5 years I’ve lived here. My girlfriend and I call our homes the Valley Home (mine) and the Mountain Home (hers). Now in her home it goes down to 15 at night with no heaters in any home. They may see frost. The temperature change is just about 3 degrees Celsius. And the only real difference in the seasons is the amount of rain. This year is the opposite of what Mirai is experiencing. The rainy season seems to have never ended. But here it means having a hot day and cold rainy night. The only tree not doing well is my cotoneaster
So this year it has been cooler all summer and my trees are now in their second blush of growth. The first was around the beginning of March I think. Not sure as I haven’t been keeping a growth log. I’ve generally been saying that if the blush of growth stops that is when I’ll do some shaping and training. And for repot I really just repot it whenever I see it needs it or it is time to move a tree out of the training pot…
The biggest issue with clubs and local area knowledge is they all speak Spanish and I’m still learning it. My conversations are improving but I find that when I’m not speaking to someone that knows me they tend to still wonder what I’m saying.