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Hi new to the forum love it .
Anyone use a companion plant to help gauge water needs ?
What I was thinking is three different size pots with plants that wilt easily. When I see first signs of stress I will water all my bonsai .
Or is there any plants I can put in the pots with the bonsai ?

I’m thinking of trying basil in bonsai soil .

Do companion pots have a function in traditional bonsai or only looks .
Any thoughts?

The plants will have different watering needs than your trees

I do not use it. I look at the substrate of my bonsai, and/or the weather. By now I know whether I will need to water not before going to my plants.

You water all your trees at different times?

ClinShane wrote: You water all your trees at different times?

Well, yes.
Not at different times, but some need watering twice a day, others every week and so on.
I do two visits, one in the morning, the other at sunset to verify watering needs of all plants. And then I water the ones that need it.

ClinShane wrote: You water all your trees at different times?

Of course.

Even though I don't have many trees, there is one I need to water twice a day nowadays, then there is another that I water roughly once a week.

Different size of pots and different substrates require different care.

Hmmmm
I thought maybe the substrate would be adjusted at repot time . I have been adding more water retentive ingredients to smaller pots in hopes of no more than once a day watering
And I guess you could call all my trees pre bonsai because I use oversized pots for every tree because I only have the evening to water . I also live in the desert of West Texas so summertime is brutal .

It is very hard for me to look at the substrate and tell if it is dry because the top is almost always dry . I have yet to even grow moss at all . Transplanted moss just turns brown .
One little trick that helped me with s native desert plant is I placed a rock and I lift it to see if any moisture is visible by color.

ClinShane wrote: It is very hard for me to look at the substrate and tell if it is dry because the top is almost always dry . I have yet to even grow moss at all . Transplanted moss just turns brown .
One little trick that helped me with s native desert plant is I placed a rock and I lift it to see if any moisture is visible by color.

i live in southern California where temps can get as high as 107*F so watering does happen 3 times a day on certain trees. Before getting to know my trees i use to stick my finger about 1/2"-1" or a chop stick into the soil and feel for moisture or color change on the chop stick. i have my trees located in a place where they only receive morning sun and get shade in the mid day when heat is intense. There are weeks i water 2 or 3 times a day and weeks i water once a day.

Last week the Hong Kong Orchid tree's leaves were wilting when I got home, but the weeds in the same pot were growing fine. Don't trust the other plants.