名媛直播

Hi all,

A few weeks ago I've bought a cheap, mass produced Ulmus Parviflora/Chinese Elm.
This is my first "bonsai" and my main goal is keeping it alive.

The issue I have is, when watering, some of the soil spills out of the pot. (from the top side)
I have made soil layer ascending towards the trunk, however by watering this ascending layer just flushes away.
I don't want to water it from to high, because i'm afraid of black spot.
But also when watering just the soil, big parts of it flush away.

I have re-potted the plant in a bonsai soil mix.

Is this normal? Is there some measures is should take for this?

Kind regards,

wojt333

Yes, this is quite normal. Soil will flush away until it is at the level of the edges of your pot. This is caused by gravity.

Thank you for your physics for dummies lesson.

Let me rephrase my question: how do I keep an ascending layer of soil, if the top layer is flushed away every time I water?
Do I add new soil? add moss? add a top layer of gravel? Do i need a finer watering tool?

If i keep going like this, the soil will be flat over the entire pot, at the level of the pot's edge.

kind regards,

wojt333

Some people use moss to hold it in place; others a porous horticultural cloth or net.
I prefer having the soil flush from the beginning.

Avoid repotting, it's not good to move the plant around too often. And regarding the issue you posted for, don't worry, nothing's actually wrong.

If you would like to keep the mounded soil look (or need to because your roots are taller than you pot is deep) and having a hard time finding and maintaining moss - use a gentler method of watering. Options include a spray bottle (like for household cleaners, inexpensive, may take many sprays to saturate soil and get drainage) or a squirt bottle (search for "chemical squirt bottle" in Amazon for an example of what I use, a condiment squirt bottle might work but might hard to control flow).

Thanks for all the replies.

I'll give that a try!

A can with a rose is all that is needed. If it was re potted properly it would not be a problem, moss on the surface would help.

Muck is a solution to your problem. Google (bonsai muck)

Here is a simple video that show how to use muck.

I use sphagnum moss. Placed all over the top of the substrate it keeps everything in place. Nothing moves beneath it