When and what to defoliate

[Glenda]

Hi all. Being relatively new to Bonsai, I am unsure of what and when to defoliate. The local bonsai club has advised to defoliate all ficus in October, but that is about it. Am looking for advice here.

1. I have an olive; pyracantha; gmelina; ficus benjamina, retusa, Port Jacson, Morton Bay, willow leaf and philippinensis; bouganvillea; boxwood.
2. Most of these are still small. At what size do you start defoliating?
3. How often do you defoliate? I have done the retusa once, thought I had killed it but was surprised at the rapid regeneration.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[Espresso]

I am in Sydney and defoliate my figs in Sept and Bougie and Maples in January.

[Jonden]

Hi,
Defoliation is usually only used once you have developed your bonsai and is a refinement technique to reduce the size of the leaves and produce finer ramification of branches. If your trees are only small and still being developed it is of little benefit to defoliate, as you want to acheive maximum growth on your bonsai to thicken up the trunk and branches, you need to encourage as much growth as possible while working on the primary structure and wiring to style. At this stage it is better not to grow them in a bonsai pot, but a large growing pot or in the ground and fertilise them heavily, this will develope your tree much faster, then when it is thick enough transfer it to a bonsai pot for refining and defoliation techniques.
I hope this helps.
Cheers, Jonden

[craigw60]

hi,
defoliation is a practice that is best carried out on mature bonsai. It can be done on most broad leaved evergreens and deciduous trees during the growing season. If your trees are still in the development stage then there is really no advantage to defoliation. I would spent a few years developing a good trunk caliper and some branching then think about leaf size and branch ramification

[Glenda]

Thanks guys, that helps a lot. I have most of my plants in wide but shallow (15cm) terracotta pots, as I find they don't blow over so easily. Have been thinking about setting up a 'growing on' bed.