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The importance of selecting the right pot to plant your Bonsai in is often underestimated. The pot as well as any grasses, moss, stones, figurines and plant stands are important element of the composition, and should be chosen carefully.
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General. Bonsai are planted in small pots, often imported from Japan or China. Japanese pottery is high quality, quite expensive, elegant, natural and often unglazed, while Chinese pottery is cheaper (quality is getting better and better though) and often brightly glazed.
Old Bonsai trees, which do not need to be trained anymore and have been repotted and root-pruned many times over the years, are adapted to live in small pots. Younger trees however, still need more room to grow and will be trained step-by-step to adept to live in increasingly smaller pots, by pruning their roots every time they are being repotted. Young trees should be planted in rather less expensive pots or in plastic containers, widely available at (online) Bonsai shops.
Size. Trees still being trained should be placed in rather large containers, providing the roots with enough space to grow and help the tree to cope with intense training techniques used, like style-pruning. Older trees however have a more compact root-system and can be planted in smaller pots, esthetical considerations are more important now.
Esthetics. Choosing a pot that really suits the tree is difficult, as different variables (like shape, choosing between glazed/unglazed and color) need to be taken into account. A few basic guidelines can be used to select the right pot:
1. Use unglazed pots for conifers and pine trees.
2. For deciduous trees you can use both glazed as unglazed pots; do not use a bright glaze unless the tree has flowers or fruits.
3. Use a pot with a width of about 2/3 the height of the tree.
4. The depth of the pot should be equal to one to two times the thickness of the trunk at its base.
5. For ‘masculine’ trees use angular pots, while for more gently shaped ‘feminine’ trees use rounded pots.
Finally, it is most important to select a container that is large enough for the tree to sustain its health and to use a pot that is subordinate to the tree (simplicity is key). For inspiration, take a look at trees and their pots in the Bonsai gallery.
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