How To Care For Your Chinese Sweet Plum Bonsai Tree

Sageretia Theezans Bonsai Care

About The Chinese Sweet Plum Bonsai Tree

The Flowering Sweet Plum is a Rhamnacae family of trees, native to southern China.

Its evergreen, and the flowers are small and inconspicuous. 

The fruit is small and edible (tasting sweet, as the name suggests.)

Young growth is reddish in color before it matures, and the bark quickly becomes scaly and aged looking.

In the summer, tiny white flowers appear in large clusters that later turn into blue berries, and then the full plum fruit.

Placement

Like most tropical evergreens trees, a sweet plum bonsai should remain indoors when the low temperatures reach 45 degrees F.

Make sure your sweet plum tree gets at least 6 hours of quality sunlight while indoors, either through a grow light or a southern window.  An eastern or western window sill would be sufficient, if it's giving 6+ hours of light.

In the summer, when the chance of dropping below 50 is gone, it can be placed outside for the season in high light.

Watering

Never let the soil completely dry out.  Whenever the soil seems dry, thoroughly water your tree until the water runs clear from the bottom.  In the growing season, this can be daily.

If you need help, a good moisture meter will guide you.

Humidity

If you ever need to take your Chinese sweet plum bonsai tree inside, including into a garage for the winter, using a humidity tray is recommended.  It will prevent the water from running on the floor, and can help keep the tree somewhat moist in the dry season.

Fertilizing

Since your sweet plum bonsai is in a small pot, and not the ground, it needs nutrients.  A slow release (pellet based) fertilizer is perfect for this, and can be added sparingly every 1-2 months during the growing season.

Pruning & Trimming

Trim back the new growth to the farthest safe point that looks good to you — but never remove all of the new growth.

A regular trim will help keep your sweet plum bonsai tree short, while helping the trunk grow thicker.

Repotting

Repotting must be performed periodically on your bonsai, sweet plum included, when its root system has filled the pot.  If you can clearly see the roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, it’s time to repot your bonsai.

Generally, this means every 2-3 years for a deciduous tree and every 4-5 years for an evergreen.

Repotting should be done in mid-summer, when the tree is at it’s least fragile state.

The sweet plum bonsai tree, along with all of its soil, should be removed from the pot.  From there, you can trim away no more than 1/3rd of the root mass (1/4th is preferred.) 

Then you can repot the tree in the same pot, or give it a newer / bigger pot to thrive in.

After repotting, your sweet plum bonsai should be thoroughly watered.

Diseases, Insects & Other Pests

Your sweet plum bonsai can be treated for pests like a normal plum plant.  Just remember, your tree is miniature and will need a much smaller and more gentile dose of treatment.

If you're looking to buy a sweet plum bonsai for your home or office, we offer the finest artisan selection available.