Keeping bonsai indoors- This is the worst mistake you can make when you put a bonsai indoors when it really belongs outdoors. The tree will certainly die but there are indoor bonsai. These would include ficus,money tree,serissa and many more. This is why its imprtant to know what your species is and what its requirements are. For that email me or post an add on bonsaitalk for instance (in the links).

Watering- This is said by many to be an art by itself. Bonsai because of their shallow pots are not able to retain much water. So they do need to be watched. You should never let your bonsai dry out. This can lead to death. You should never let your bonsai have soaked, wet, or waterlogged roots. All three of these can lead to death also. Your bonsais soil should always be moist. Not wet not dry but moist.

Root pruning dwarfs bonsai- This is of course is not true bonsai roots need to be pruned not because it needs to stay small, but because the shallow pots that their in restrict the growth of the roots to of course the size of the pot. And by pruning the roots the oppisite happens the tree grows more due to a reflex almost all trees have. To grow after the roots lose size almost as though it were balancing its growth at the top with the growth at the bottom or the roots.

Small pots dwarf bonsai - This is a big one bonsai pots do not dwarf bonsai! By using small pots the trees look more in scale and in proprtion and more like a masterpiece. It is true that the trees trunk will stop thickening much more rapidly as if it were growing in the ground or in a nursery pot. But it does not stop producing buds and if left to grow can get to a huge height without thickening the trunk.

All bonsai are of a special dwarf species of tree- This of course is not true as you should already know from reading the rest of the site there are many diffrent species that can be used for bonsai. But since the most commonly sold is juniper the common person associates bonsai with this species. And therefore believes it is of a special tree that would be grown from seed in a bonsai container.

Bonsai started in Japan- Not true as you should have read in the bonsai history page bonsai originated in China. Chinese made landscapes or penjing and it was brought to Japan by Chinese monks who showed it to the Japanese. Who later refined the practice and made it into an art with rules.

Superthrive on bonsai-  Well ive tried it and can tell you it doesnt make a diffrence! It doesnt revive your tree after it died or act as even a simple fertilizer. It is all just another big product scam.

Excessive pruning dwarfs bonsai- Next weeks myth.

If you have any myths you would like to post email it to me and ill post it for you.

thebonsaischool@zoomshare.com