Is my bonsai well watered?

 Learning to properly water a bonsai requires many years of experience, and even then, it is not always possible to correctly recognize when the tree should be watered. 

 Bonsai are generally grown in flat pots, filled with a small amount of substrate, which loses moisture very quickly, especially in sunny places. To know the optimal time to water the plant, observe and examine its substrate daily. This can be done by hand, but a good idea to test the condition of the soil in the pots is to use a moisture meter. This professional meter, which you can see in the pictures, works very well in different types of soil and at different depths, giving us information whether the bonsai has been watered properly. Sometimes it seems to us that the soil is moist because we checked the top layer of it, but we do not know if there is water at the bottom of the pot because we watered the plant too much. Confidence in such a situation can be provided by a professional humidity sensor that measures the level of hydration of the plant. 

 Unlike most other moisture sensors, the Blumat Digital tensiometer does not measure the dielectric permittivity of the soil. The measurement takes place at the end of a porous ceramic cone. In contact with dry soil, the ceramic cone of the Blumat Digital loses water, if the soil is later irrigated, the cone sucks water from it. Different soil moisture levels cause different negative osmotic pressure in the sensor. Negative pressure is shown on the display. High values, e.g., above 200 mBar = dry soil; low values, e.g., below 50 mBar = wet ground. The Blumat Digital tensiometer can be used in all types of soil and clay granules. 

 Valuable plants, and bonsai are undoubtedly such, are usually very sensitive to the condition of the ground, whether it is too wet or too dry. Especially in winter, it is difficult to determine the best time to water. With the Blumat Digital digital meter, which guarantees accurate measurement of soil moisture, with the precision available in professional devices used in commercial fruit cultivation, it is possible without any problems. 

 A deeply inserted ceramic cone sensor measures the absorbency of the roots and displays the values on the display. The higher the measured value, the drier the soil and the thirstier our plant is. The instructions for use contain a list with reference values for various plants. After exceeding the maximum values, it is time to water the plant again.