Should You Use A Watering System To Water A Bonsai?

Watering is hugely important in bonsai and if you get this wrong your tree will suffer and possibly die.

We also use very small pots and loose soil, which means we need to water frequently and this can make it a pretty intense commitment, some people need to water multiple times a day and this can make it hard to balance your normal life with growing bonsai.

This has lead to some people installing watering systems, which can be very helpful, but not always. I will go through all the reasons why you might want one and why you might not.

What Is A Bonsai Watering System?

A watering system is basically anything that is going to help you water.

Traditional watering is when you walk around with a hose or watering can and you give each tree some water. A watering system is just going to do this for you, usually from a series or hoses or pipes that are set up around your tree.

You can usually have them to work automatically on a timer, or you can manually turn them on when you want to.

There is nothing wrong with just going around and watering like normal, but there can be plenty of benefits …and some problems with these types of systems which I will cover below.

Watering Systems Can Be Very Useful For Bonsai

While a watering system is not essential, they can be very useful and they have a lot of benefits.

If You Are Going Away A Lot You Need A Watering System

Probably the main reason people set up a watering system is because they are often away from home.

Travelling and bonsai are not two things that go well together and trying to go anywhere for even a day or two can cause real problems, especially in summer when trees need watered very frequently.

Some people are lucky and can ask a good friend to help them, but not everyone has this option, and even if they can, they probably don’t want to be constantly asking them if they are away a lot.

If you are travelling often, an automatic watering system is going to be an absolute life saver!

(You can read more about – Looking After Bonsai Tress While On Holiday)

If You Are Lazy A Watering System Will Help

Let’s be honest, watering all the time is annoying. Looking after trees is a pretty big commitment and sometimes we can’t really be bothered …but we kind of have to or they die.

Having a watering system in place can take the pressure off you and allow to not be so stressed out all the time and can give you a break from the trees constant need of water.

For some of you, this may really make a huge difference and actually let you keep your bonsai healthy for many years.

If You Have A Lot Of Trees A Watering System Will Help

Some people have quite a lot of trees, which can take a lot of time and effort to look after.

Having some sort of watering system in place is really going to save you time and energy which can really add up over the years to benefit you.

If You Need To Water A Lot A Watering System Will Help

Watering systems are also going to help if you need to water often. People living in hot climates may end up watering their trees three times a day in the height of summer, which is just crazy.

A system is just going to be able to help you out and take some of that pressure off you. You can make sure all your trees are getting enough water no matter what.

What Are The Down Sides To Watering Systems

While watering systems can bring you a lot of benefits, they are not perfect and can actually cause a lot of problems, which I will go through below.

A Watering System Can Be Difficult To Set Up

The first problem you will encounter with a watering system is that they are pretty bespoke. You can’t just buy an off the shelf system that will be exactly what you need, you sort of have to design and build your own.

You can certainly copy someone or take inspiration, but your set up is going to be unique and it will require you to deal with that.

This can be tricky as it can be hard to know exactly what you need, or not and you almost need to experiment with things and tweak them over time to end up with the system you want.

I’ve not really heard about any one setting one up quickly, it usually takes a little bit of planning and experimentation to dial things in.

A Watering System Is Expensive To Set Up

Watering systems are also going to be expensive to set up. Well, they will be more expensive than just buying a hose or water can.

It is kind of hard to say exactly how much it will cost as it really depends on what you end up buying.

As I already said, it is going to be bespoke to your bonsai benches and garden so it will end up being very different for everyone.

A Watering System Can Fail

Probably one of the scariest parts about a watering system is that they can fail. I guess this comes down to what you have bought and how you have set it up, but I am sure even the most advanced and expensive systems can fail.

There is always the chance of a blockage or the sprayer can move or fall out of the pot and then the water is not getting into the pot, which is going to be a disaster.

Of course this is always going to happen when you are away and can’t get back to fix it, which is really not what you want to come home to.  

You Are Not Checking Your Trees Any More

I think a huge issue with watering systems is the fact that you are not paying attention your trees as much.

While they may be getting all the water they need, you are not looking at them as often and you are not checking for problems.

I think the daily practice of just checking the trees is important for them, so you can spot anything wrong, but it is actually pretty important for you. It can be quite relaxing to just spend some time with tree, so you will lose that too.

It Can Be Difficult To Sync All Your Trees To The Same Watering Cycle

I think that one of the downsides to a watering system is the fact that they are usually set up to just water everything at once, which may be fine, but also not as it can be hard to get all your trees in sync.

I have quite a lot of trees, they are all different species in various pot sizes and there is a real difference between how often they need water. The more aggressive growers, or those in smaller pots often need water a lot sooner than others.

I check every day and some trees will get watered every day, while some may only need water every 2 days or even more.

If I were to use a watering system, this would leave me with a bit of a conundrum. Do I run the system daily, since some trees need this? This would make sense. Those trees need water, but then what about the ones that don’t? …they might be fine, but they also might end up getting over watered which can lead to problems.

The other alternative is to have it come on every 2 days to keep those trees happy …but this is going to be catastrophic for those that need water daily!

Really the way around this is to almost set up two systems and have two timers, then group the two different trees types under each system …you can quickly see how this can get complicated and costly.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, you can get water timers that actually have dual timers for things just like this, but it is certainly going to need a lot of time and experimentation to get things balanced and where you want them to be.     

You Can Use A Mixture Of Both A System And Water Yourself

I also think it is important to remember that you can use both systems at the same time. People often get very black and white about this type of thing, as if you can only have one or the other …which is silly, you can certainly do both.

You can have a watering system set up and just turn it on here and there when you need a little help or to speed up your watering. You can still check your trees daily and walk around with your watering can.

You can even dismantle your system and only bring it out when you are going away, or just use it over the summer when you may need some extra help. There really are no rules about this, you can do whatever works for you and makes you life easier and more enjoyable.

You Could Just use A traditional Water Sprinkler

I think it is also very easy to start imaging a very elaborate and expensive system, when really you can keep things extremely simple.

You could just install one of those simple garden sprinklers and point it towards your trees. I am sure if you get the angle right you can cover a good number of trees.

You don’t even need a timer, you could just come out and look at the trees and see they need watered and then turn the tap on and stand there and watch while everything gets watered.

This would still be a “watering system” and if it works for you and makes you life easier, than that is all that matters. Maybe this only hits 90% of you trees, well that is fine too, you can finish the last few off with the watering can.

Of course if you are going away you may need to move some trees so they all get wet and get a timer, but these are all little problems you deal with when you need to.

Where Can You Buy A Watering System

I haven’t installed any sort of watering system myself, but it is very much on my to do list. However, you can find pretty much everything you need at your local garden centre or hardware store (which means Amazon too).

You can buy “irrigation kits” that should include everything you need, such as timers, pipes and spray nozzles.

For some of you, these kits may work fine, for others you may need something more robust and it may be easier to buy all the components separately and build it exactly how you want.

Maybe you would rather use a solid pipe instead of a flexible hose for example, but either way these are all things you can buy locally and online.

When I do finally get round to setting up my own system I will do some more articles covering my research on all the different options, which will hopefully help you further.

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see why a water system for you bonsai may be a good idea for your trees, and also why it is maybe not always the best solution.

I really think somewhere in the middle is probably the best option. You will still need to water yourself, but it can be nice to have something in place that help reduce the work load and just generally speed things up and make life easier.