How To Water A Bonsai After Repotting

Repotting is a pretty intense experience for a tree, so knowing how to look after it after this operation is pretty important and the most important part of all this is being able to water it properly.

Even if you have owned the tree for a number of years, how you water the tree after it has been repotted will not be exactly the same and you must be flexible with how you water and make sure you give the tree exactly what it needs until it recovers. 

Watering Immediately After The Repot

As soon as you have finished adding soil and working it into the pot, you need to water the tree.

This will help settle the soil but also make sure the tree doesn’t dry out. Having all the soil removed and then being exposed to the air is not great for the roots. Then adding dry soil back on to them is also not really going to help them, so making sure they get watered at this point is vital.   

You need to be gentle with your watering; the soil will be loose and can easily fly out from the force of the water.

It can be best to start with a spray bottle and mist the top layer of the soil. This will get it damp and then when you water it, it should not fly everywhere so easily.

Water Until It Runs Clear

When you first water after a repot, you want to keep going until the water comes out of the bottom of the pot and it runs clears.

When you use fresh soil, it will be covered in dust and when you water you will see this dust washing out of the bottom. The water will be brown when it comes out, just keep watering the tree until it’s not brown and becomes clear.

Water Again

Leave the tree for about 30 minutes and then come back and it water again. You need to make sure everything is wet, and there are no dry spots in the pot.

If you are using well draining soil watering again so soon after will not be a problem and it is better to be safe and make sure your pot is properly watered as a dry section can kill your tree, or at least part of it. 

After you have finished watering you should pick up the pot and feel its weight and observe the soil and see what it looks like fully wet. You will need this information going forward as you water over the following days.

Watering The Following Days and Weeks

After the repot you really just treat it like any other tree, but you should be paying more attention to it.

You can read my guide on How To Water A Bonsai, but basically the same principles apply.

Every tree you own and every tree you have repotted will be slightly different and will need watering at different times.

You need to check each tree daily and start to study the freshly repotted ones to see how they are behaving.

If your tree needs water, then give some, if it doesn’t then check again tomorrow and see what it needs then.

(You can read more about – What Are Some Common Mistakes To Avoid When Repotting A Bonsai?)

How Watering Can Be Different After Repotting

Repotting a tree can drastically change everything about how the tree needs water.

You have probably removed roots, so now most of the pot will be just soil. I am sure before the repot it was the other way round and the pot was mostly filled with roots. This is going to make a huge difference.

The soil is also going to be different. It will probably now be a lot looser and more free draining, mainly because it is not full of roots and it has not been compacted or broken down, since it’s fresh.

This is also going to change things and it is going to drastically change the pots ability to hold water and it is probably going to react very differently than before you repotted.

This means you need to “relearn” the tree and how to deal with it. Just because you could routinely water it every 48 hours, doesn’t mean it will be the same now.

This is why I wanted you to pick up the pot after your first watering. You need to look at it and feel its weight when it’s wet. This is your new baseline and you need to use this new information to work out how much water your tree might need.  

The first few weeks after a repot you need to be dynamic, you need to be really on top of things.

You are probably repotting just before the tree wakes up, which means that for the first few days after your tree may not be fully growing yet and therefore isn’t using the water in the pot.

The environment can still dry things out, which is why you must check and see what is happening.

You also need to remember that the tree will have less roots after trimming, which means that even when it does start growing, it may not use up as much water.

As the tree fully wakens up and goes into leaf, its demands are going to change. As the roots grow it is going to start taking up water faster and you may find you are suddenly watering daily after it did not need water for a few days in a row.

As time passes you will start to be able to read the tree and understand how to deal with it and then hopefully you can settle into a rhythm with it, but you should always be ready to be dynamic in the first few weeks after a repot.

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Watering Bonsai)

Other Things To Consider About Watering After Repotting

You also need to remember that the wind and sun can affect how quickly a pot dries out. After a repot you do not want to have your trees exposed to too much sun or wind as this can be too stressful for it. This can then lead to the opposite happening and your tree dries out a little slowly since it’s more sheltered.

This is just something to be aware of as you evaluate your tree every day and decide if it needs more water.

(you can read more about – Repotting Aftercare Advice For Your Bonsai)

Conclusion

Watering your tree after a repot can seem like it’s a lot of work, but really it’s mostly common sense.

Just think about what you are doing and try and think about what could be happening in the pot. So long as you are checking daily and trying to evaluate if it needs more or less water, you should be fine.

After a few weeks the tree will settle into growing and the requirements will become a little more routine and you will be able to read the tree a little easier.

You also need to remember that if you are using good draining soil, it can be very hard to over water a tree, since the excess will drain out. If you’re in doubt, just give it some water. You are more likely to kill a tree from letting it dry out, than over watering it.   

You may have also seen people place stones around their trees after a repot, you can read more about – Why Do People Put Stones Around Bonsai Trees?