Before using tips to faster plant growth, you need to be clear about the end result. It can be a desire to grow a good tree as soon as possible, to build up a production line of seedlings for sale, to reduce your difficulties by replacing the classic growing techniques with modern ones, and so on.
After that, the method of impact on the plant will be chosen: chemical, biological, agrotechnical, natural or physical.
Chemical Method
Chemical is essentially the use of legal drugs for the plant and there are a great lot of them: hormonal, acidic, synthetic — many dozens of each kind. The results: addiction, exhaustion, disease, and death.
Stimulant-infused beautiful 3-year-old crooked stick with branches usually does not become a bonsai — does not live so much.
Biological Method
The biological method stimulates faster cell divisions and has an indirect effect on the plant's immune system.
Agrotechnical Method
Agrotechnical — for amateurs and professionals, with maximum means and minimum effort to get production: hydroponics, drip irrigation, irradiation with colored and special lamps, artificial substrates, etc. Expensive and disputable pleasures.
Natural Method
The natural method is the use of accumulated experience and advice of our forefathers, which, unfortunately, does not work in an urban environment and conditions of total pollution of soil, water, and air.
Physical Method
And finally, the physical method is the correct and individual care, pruning, bending and stretching the branches, strapping the trunk, splinting, transplanting and much more, which is actually the basis of the ancient art of bonsai.
In most cases artificial faster growth leads to growing the plant longer, lengthening internodes, changing the structure of the wood, increasing the size of leaves or needles.
The Value of Slow Growth and Patience
Going back to the beginning of the article about choice of purpose and desires, bonsai is the interaction of a person and plant through understanding each other. The value of a tree lies in its age, which reflects the amount of hard work invested, knowledge and experience gained. Unlike artificially accelerated growth, slow, natural growth follows the principles of traditional bonsai cultivation. With such growth, the roots become stronger, the leaves become smaller and more proportional, and the tree is gradually shaped to express harmony and balance over time. True bonsai mastery is born from patience, constant care and a deep connection with the tree as it naturally matures over decades, rather than years.
