Production and maintenance of Zanthoxylum nitidum bonsai

Zanthoxylum nitidum gets its name because of the thorns on both sides of its leaf midrib. It is a traditional Chinese medicine with the effect of clearing away heat and detoxification. It is commonly known as two back needles, Taurus, and is a green vine of Rutaceae. The stem is light dark brown, the pinnate compound leaves are singular and opposite, and the leaves are dark green and nearly leathery-ovate-oblong. The yellowish floret is fragrant, the stems, branches and leaves are prickly, and the seeds are black and oval. The flowering period is from March to April and the fruiting period is from September to October. Because Zanthoxylum nitidum has excellent plant characteristics, such as beautiful tree posture, evergreen, resistant to transplant and easy to survive, it is often used to make bonsai or potted ornamental plants in recent years.

Zanthoxylum nitidum is mostly born in the mountain wilderness and miscellaneous wood forest in southern China, and it is also cultivated artificially. Most seedlings are raised by seeds, and they can also be propagated by cuttings. The old pile is better for bonsai production. Excavation should be carried out from March to May. After digging out, put a little mud on the roots and wrap them with moss, straw or plastic bags to prevent survival from being affected by excessive evaporation of water. Zanthoxylum nitidum is easy to germinate and resistant to pruning. Before planting new pile blanks, a re-cutting can be carried out according to the needs of modeling to remove dense branches, overlapping branches and sturdy descending roots. Except for the oversized pile, it can be cultivated directly in the basin.

Two-sided needle bonsai basin should choose Yixing purple sand basin, colored glaze basin and so on. Both sides of the soil requirements are not strict, but avoid saline-alkali, avoid stagnant water, pot soil with loose, slightly acidic mountain decaying soil, vegetable garden soil is suitable, can also be used slag 50%, river sand 10%, rotten leaf soil 40% mixed preparation. After the new pile is put on the basin, cover the pile body with a transparent plastic bag or film, leave an air vent of 3 cm to 5 cm, keep the basin soil moist and keep it in shade for maintenance. When most of the new buds grow to about 5 cm, the mask can be removed in cloudy and rainy days. After October, you can gradually turn to the sunny place for normal maintenance.

Zanthoxylum nitidum likes sufficient light, warm and humid environment, but also resistant to shade, and the suitable temperature for growth is 30 ℃. In addition to timely watering to keep the basin soil moist, thin rotten cake fertilizer or diluted urea liquid fertilizer can be applied every 15 days or so. The alum fertilizer water made by mixed retting of ferrous sulfate and bean cake can be irrigated every ten days in northern saline-alkali areas to improve soil quality and prevent basin soil from alkalization. The cold resistance of Zanthoxylum nitidum is a little poor, so it should be moved into the indoor maintenance with sufficient light and temperature above 5 ℃ in winter in the north of the Yangtze River.

The shape of the two-sided needle is beautiful and changeable, which is suitable for processing into cliff shape, natural shape, water shape and other bonsai art forms. The technique of processing and modeling is mainly pruning, climbing and binding as a supplement, pruning from March to September, and flat binding is mainly hanging, through the method of pulling and hanging, so that the main branches form a rough outline needed for modeling, and gradually improve the shape through pruning.

The common pest of Zanthoxylum nitidum is longicorn beetle eating and harming the stem and root, which can manually capture adults or remove eggs, or soak 80% dichlorvos solution with cotton to plug the wormhole, seal it with mud and poison the larvae.

The stem of Zanthoxylum nitidum bonsai is vigorous and rugged, Qiu qu is colorful, the flowers and leaves are strange, the shape is dignified, and the demeanor is extraordinary. It can not only show the elegant charm of mountain ancient trees, but also show the unique aesthetic feeling of being vigorous, simple, dignified and elegant.