If you ask 100 people what their favorite flower is, 90 people out of 100 will answer you with ” red rose.” As the red rose is the symbol of love.
So how would you feel if you could cultivate your Bonsai with rosy-colored pom-poms?
Absolutely amazing. Right?
Yes, the mimosa tree will bloom with the beautiful rosy pom poms that charm you.
But for this, you should know, “Can you Bonsai a mimosa tree or not?
Yes, you can cultivate the mimosa tree as Bonsai. Because of its fast-growing nature, its stems and branches will be thick and easily brought to a sculpture’s size and shape. Its flower color, fragrance, and beauty will make your day memorable.
This article will showcase every care guide about mimosa Bonsai from seedling to blooming stage. So let’s get into the points.
Overview Of The Mimosa Bonsai Tree
- Neck name – Mimosa tree
- Scientific Name – Albizia julibrissin
- Year of Invention – Late 1700s
- Invented by – China Indigenous
- Country of origin – China
- USDA regional zone – (6-10)
- Suitable climate – Tropical or semi-tropical
- Suitable weather – Drought environment
- Seed length – 2.5 mm (0.1 in)
- Plant length – Up to 30 feet from root
- Soil requirement – Well-drained loamy soil
- Soil’s pH level – Acidic to neutral or 5.0-7.5
- Light requirement – Full sunlight
- Pruning requirement – Light pruning
- Types of leaves – In between bi-pinnately and odd-pinnately compound
- Preferred temperature – 60°F or 15°C
- Whether that can’t tolerate – Cold weather or low temperature
- Growing Season – April to July
- Bloom season – Summer
- The color and shape of flowers – Rosy colored cotton-like form
- Fragment – Sweet fragrance
- Blooming duration – Several weeks
- Lifespan – Around 20 years
Mimosa Bonsai Tree Care Guidelines
There are 420 species of mimosa trees available, so it’s pretty challenging to take proper care of your tree just by having a quick overview of the plant. You can’t occupy the tree handling procedures without knowing general caring instructions. We’ll arrange a step-by-step guideline only for your convenience.
Ideal Placement
The first and foremost step of taking care of a tree is keeping it in the right place according to its requirements. As the mimosa needs a minimum of 8 hours of sunlight in the daytime, keeping it outdoors is a wise decision.
You should avoid keeping it indoors. However, if you don’t have another option other than indoor, you must place it beside the window or in the balcony where it reaches partial sunlight with partial shade.
Note – if you notice the tree’s leaflets won’t open during the daytime, probably the plant won’t get enough sunlight.
Maintain Proper Temperature
Another crucial factor in growing your plant healthy is maintaining temperature around 15°c or 60°f. The more or less temperature is harmful to the tree. For example, the hotter weather may burn the leaves, and the colder weather may turn the leaves yellow. You can use a digital temperature thermometer to check the temperature.
Watering
A balanced watering system is essential to rejuvenate your tree. After planting the tree, you should water it two times in the first week. Next, you can water the tree once a week and finally continue it by checking the tree’s root ball.
If needed, you can enhance watering time, but be careful about over watering because overwatering may cause root rot due to water clogging. In that case, a sound drainage system is a must to avoid this hazard.
Fertilizer Instructions
Basically, fertilizer is trees’ food to get proper nutrition, vitamins, and minerals. When you are growing a bonsai in a pot, it gets limited soil and space to spread its roots. That’s why you have to provide enough nutrition with balanced solid or liquid fertilizer.
You can use both solid and liquid fertilizer for your mimosa bonsai. But whatever you use, you have to use the right amount. For example
The expert bonsai keepers suggest using solid fertilizer once a month and liquid fertilizer twice a month.
And most importantly, in winter, you have to use less fertilizer than regular. To know more about bonsai fertilizer, check this post.
Pruning And Wiring
Your target is to cultivate the tree as Bonsai, so you have to prune and trim its stems and branches to bring a good shape. Spring is the right season to prune the tree as it doesn’t have flowers this time. And it will get enough time to heal the prune before the next blooming season.
The mimosa trunks are not too strong, so you must be extra careful when trimming and wiring them. Otherwise, you may do permanent harm to your tree. The tree has a fast-growing nature, so you should notice its growth after wearing the branches to remove them. For getting a step by step guideline about how to prune a bonsai tree click here.
Repotting
You should report the tree every two years to ensure proper space to grow it. Because within this time, the rootballs of the tree will fill up all the spaces of the pot that you use.
You must use acidic to neutral soil that contains pH level 5.0-7.5, and after pruning is the exact time for repotting. When choosing a pot for repotting the tree, be aware of the drainage system of the pot. It will help you to avoid water clogging. Check how to repot a bonsai to know detailed information about this process.
Propagation
There are two ways to propagate the mimosa bonsai. One is planting seeds, and another is planting branches.
Method – 1 Seed collection and sow
If you want to propagate the tree from seeds, you must collect seed pods. Autumn is the right season for gathering seed pods when the pods will dry out and become dark. To collect seeds,
- First, you should cut the pods with a heavy shear.
- Next, pry open the mimosa pods and collect the dark brown seeds by shaking them.
- Finally, before sowing, soak them in hot water for 24 hours.
Method 2 – Cutting stem
If you find seed propagation challenging to follow and require more time, cutting propagation is a good option for you.
- First, in late spring, you need to choose a 6 inches healthy stem that has not yet bloomed.
- Next, cut it with scissors and remove 2-3 leaves from its top.
- Finally, dip the leafless part of the stem into a glass of water and, by removing excessive water, insert it into the hormone rooting powder mixed soil.
Pests And Diseases
Different types of pests and insects can attract your loving tree for a little bit of ignorance or lack of attention. Spider mites, scale, and webworms are the most common pests among many other insects that will affect the mimosa bonsai. They will attract your tree occasionally, and by using the right pesticide, you can kill them.
Mimosa Tree Seeds For Sale
There are many nurseries or websites which offer mimosa tree seeds for sale. You can buy from those places. First, you can check your nearest nurseries to collect the seeds. If you don’t find it there, You will get a lot of renowned nurseries on Amazon from where you can easily buy the seeds. And, of course, they will offer your budget-friendly price for the seeds.
Mimosa Tree For Sale
If you want, you can also buy a grown mimosa tree available on Amazon. Yes, the price is a little bit higher than seeds, but you can enjoy the beauty of the flowers within a minimum time. That is great for those who have limited time to grow the tree from seeds to plant.
Takeaway
That’s all for today on the topic of “Can you Bonsai a mimosa tree?”.
This comprehensive guide will reveal all the aspects of growing a mimosa tree at your home. We hope you won’t face any challenges in cultivating your mimosa tree if you follow this guide.
However, if you have any questions or face issues with this bonsai tree spice, let us know by hitting our comment section. We’d love to discuss that point in our next post. Till then, happy gardening!