Looking After Bonsai Trees While On Holiday

When you own bonsai trees you will very quickly realise they need a lot of attention, often they will want daily care. This can be a bit of an issue when you want to go away for a few days or longer.

The risk of a bonsai tree drying out and dying after a few days is very real and you do not want years of hard work to be lost, simply because you went on holiday.

Many bonsai growers will joke that they no longer go on holiday. While this may be true for some, it doesn’t have to be this way.

You just need some careful preplanning, kind of like how you would do if you owned a pet that you where leaving at home.

Travel When Your Bonsai Are Dormant

The easiest and most common work around for bonsai growers is to travel when their trees are dormant, which means the winter.

From about October through to about March, I can pretty much abandon my bonsai trees. The trees will lose their leaves and go dormant, so there requirements are very minimal. I also live in a climate that is quite damp due to the rain, so I do not need to water, nature takes care of that.

This obviously doesn’t work for everyone, but a lot of people will be able to leave their bonsai trees to fend of themselves or have them placed in some sort of winter protection so they should be fairly okay, certainly okay enough be left for a while when you go away.

The only real problem with this is that the trees control when you can go. You are forced to only travel through the winter months, which may not suit your needs.

This method also does not work so well if you are keeping tropical bonsai trees. They usually live inside and also do not really go dormant so they can’t be left alone in the same way that a dormant outdoor tree can.                                                   

Ask A Trusted Friend To Water Your Bonsai

This option is going to either be very difficult or very easy for you.

Firstly you need a friend, and then they need to have some sort of ability to care for plants, preferably bonsai. This isn’t quite the same as simply feeding a cat; you need to have a little bit more skill when it comes to watering bonsai trees. (You can read more about – How To Water A Bonsai Tree)

If you are only going away for a few days you might get away with asking anyone you know to come and just douse the bonsai trees with the hose, but even this seemingly simple task can be messed up by someone who has not done it before, which is understandable. Having to make sure every little pot is thoroughly soaked is not the usual gardeners’ method of watering.

If you have a friend nearby who also grows bonsai, this is going to be the person you need to help you. You can of course make sure you return this favour if they ever go away.

This is again made more difficult if you have indoor or tropical trees. Firstly you need give this person access to your house and then explain the various care needs for each tree. If you only grow bonsai trees outside it can be a little easier to just have someone come round to your garden and water.

This methods really relies on trust, if the person you ask to do this forgets, it can be catastrophic. This is a big ask, and a lot of people will not be able to handle the responsibility.

If you only have a very small handful of trees you could bring them round to your friend’s house and ask them to care for them there. This can be a little easier than having to make them go out of their way to come round to your house every day.

Automatic Watering Systems For Bonsai

If you do not have any friends you can trust, you can rely on technology.  An automatic watering system is something you set up and leave to run on its own. Basically it’s a number of pipes and tubes connected to your garden hose, with a timer you can set to control when its waters and for how long.

If you live in a very hot climate where you need to water your bonsai a few times a day, you should really consider setting up an automatic system. It can save you a lot of work and worrying.

The only problem is that they can be expensive and a little tricky to set up.

If you are going away on one holiday it can be a little over the top but if you are away quite often, it can be well worth the investment.

If you are going to set up an automatic watering system before you go away, you should really do so a few weeks in advance. This will allow you to watch it work while you are there. You can then spot any issues, check the settings and also check that all the plants are getting enough water.

If you quickly set it up the day before you go away it might not be working properly and you will come home to a lot of dead trees.

(You can read more about – Should You Use A Watering System To Water A Bonsai?)

Just Risk It And Go On Holiday

This is obviously not the best thing to do, but sometimes you just have to do it. You should know your bonsai trees and know how long they can roughly go without water. You should also know this will change throughout the year. It also depends on the pot size, the spices and your climate in general.

I know my own trees really need to be watered daily in the height of summer but in spring and autumn they might need it less often. I can probably go a couple of days without watering them, if you add in a rain shower (which I get a lot of) I know I can leave the trees a couple of days and they will be fine.

I probably wouldn’t be booking any 2 week trips, that would be pushing it a little too much, but I know I could water them heavily before I leave for a long weekend and I should come home to no issues.

Once you get to know your trees and how they work throughout the year you will be able to judge this a lot better and know what you can risk or not.

I would just always tell you to err on the side of caution. What I might be able to get away with isn’t the same as what your trees might be able to handle or vice versa.   

(You can read more about – What Should You Do If You Accidentally Underwater A Bonsai?)

Looking After Indoor Bonsai Trees While On Holiday

If you are the owner of indoor bonsai trees, you can do a couple of things to help your trees survive a bit longer while you are away.

Lower The Light Levels While On Holiday

This is quite difficult to judge, but you can do this for a few days without any problems.

You can move your bonsai trees out of direct sunlight or if you are using grow lights as all you have to do is lower the amount of time the lights are on during the day.

The less light, should mean your tree loses less water through the leaves. So basically it doesn’t need as much water in the first place. This means if you fully water your tree, it should take a little longer for it to dry out, as not as much is being used.

The issue is that the types of bonsai trees that are inside need light, so you cannot just remove the light completely. Even placing a tree in shade will start to affect it after a while. You should really only be doing this is you are going away for a few days.  If you are going away for longer, you need to be careful; you could get some leaf drop.

You also need to think about what time of year it is, if you suddenly change your grow light from 14 hours a day down to 4, in the middle of the summer, the tree is going to get a little confused. It might start thinking its autumn.  Again, if you do this for like 2 days it’s probably isn’t going to notice, but just be careful how much you change the light. You need to reduce it, while still keep the tree happy.

Remove Leaves/Defoliation Of Your Bonsai Before A Holiday

This can be a very good technique, but again it depends on the time of year. It also depends on the species of bonsai you have and also what stage of development your tree is in and how healthy the tree is.

The idea is that you remove some, if not all of the leaves before you go on holiday. A bonsai tree with no leaves does not need much water. While you are away the tree will start to recalibrate itself and start shooting new leaves. This is kind of similar to removing the light, but instead you are removing the leaves, that use the light.

A great time to do this is the middle of summer; I have done this and had great success. It’s usually on bonsai trees that I have let grow out and are developing. However, I am happy to sacrifice my developing time in order for the tree to survive while I am away. The good thing is that when the leaves grow back, you will end up with more ramification. This is certainly never a bad thing, even if you are not trying to focus on this at the time.  

You will need to check your species can handle this type of work and you will need to make sure your tree is healthy and ready for this. 

I did this with a pomegranate and was able to go away for 6 days. Before I left and removed the leaves, this tree needed water daily, maybe 48hrs at a real push. If I didn’t remove the leaves it would have died while I was away.   

Lower The Temperature While On Holiday

Temperature goes hand in hand with light. Usually when it is sunny, a bonsai tree will need more water. This is both due to increased photosynthesis from the light, but also due to the temperature increases. Your pot is more likely to have water evaporate from the soil surface it when it’s warmer.

Lowering the temperature only really works with tropical trees over winter, as they should be the only one inside at this time experiencing any sort of heat. You are not really going to have your heating on during summer, so its not something you can just turn off.

However, if it is a time when you normally have you heating on, you can reduce the temperature, which should slow down how quickly the soil dries out

You again need to be careful and balance this. You don’t want to suddenly make it really cold and shock your trees. Just keeping the heating off in the rooms you keep the trees should be enough to keep the temperature down enough to slow the rate of water use.

Heavy Watering before You Go On Holiday

This is the most obvious technique and something you should be doing as a bare minimum. Your bonsai tree is going to need water, so you can try and give it as much as possible before you go.  

The fact that we use very loose and free draining soil really is our enemy when we want to go away for a few days, but we can still water our pots very heavily and make sure they are thoroughly saturated.

You should do this just before you leave to give your bonsai trees the minimum amount of time without water while you are away.

I also keep my bonsai trees in drip trays /humidity tray, this is usually to avoid mess when water drips through, but when I go away I use these to my advantage. I just keep watering my tree until the drip trays are almost full of water.

This little extra reservoir can really extend how long your trees can go in between watering. The biggest concern with this is root rot. You are over watering and you are leaving your trees in a bath of water. This is not exactly ideal. Doing this as a one off, for a few days isn’t going to cause any long term issues. If you did this every time you watered, then yes, it would become a big issue.       

A tree that is over watered for a day will not be too bothered.  A tree that has been under watered for a day will be dead.     

Use Paper Towels On Your Bonsai

This is a bit of a strange technique but it works for me. I cover the base of my drip trays in paper towels before allowing them to get filled with water.

This doesn’t really do anything until the water starts to dry up and there is only a little bit left . I find the paper towels hold the water for a little while longer, and keep everything damper for longer.

Having your pots sat on these damp paper towels is going to give you a little longer in between watering. Little things like this might give you the few extra hours that keep your trees moist enough to survive until you get home.

I have also added paper towels to the soil surface. I let them over hang over the pot, so they are touching the towels that are in the drip tray. This basically wraps the whole pot in a damp paper towel. I have found that the towels are still damp when I have come back and they have stopped my pots from totally drying out. 

Its weird things like this that have kept my trees alive when I have been away for longer than I wanted to be.    

Using Drip Water Systems When on Holiday

Drip watering systems are kind of like the automatic systems I talked about above. However, they are usually not connected to a hose or timer. They are basically bottles of water that are allowed to slowly drip water over time into your bonsai pots.

These can be okay, but once the water runs out, they no longer work. There are often reports of the water not dripping at the right rate and coming out much faster than required.

I have not used these. For me the set up and cost is too much. I have just used the other techniques discussed above and had no trouble.   

Watering Succulent Bonsai When On Holiday

If you have succulents, you don’t need to do anything. Succulents can last a very long time without water.

You can literally just ignore them for weeks at a time. If you are frequently away from home, these may be the best bonsai trees you can own to accommodate your lifestyle.

Conclusion

Going away and leaving your bosnsai trees alone can be a big risk and it is certainly stressful. If you use any combination of the techniques I’ve discussed above, you should reduce the risk of your trees drying out. Having someone look after them is of course going to be the best option, but this is not always possible.

If you use the other methods, you should test them while you are still at home and see how they work for you.

Also remember to take in to consideration other factors such as the species, the time of year and the climate as well as how long you are going for. I know it is annoying having to plan trips around the watering of trees, but this is what we have signed up for when we started growing bonsai.