Hi, so I just re-potted my 2 year old lemon tree and turned it into a bonsai (or tried at least )
I learned quite a bit about the process but I'm afraid I didn't do it the right way or missed some steps.

So basically I made sure the pot has a good drain hole, and covered it with a tiny metal net to prevent the substrate from leaking.
In the lowest layer in the pot I put little white rocks for a good drainage, and then I made the soil mix.
For the soil mix I used:
50% Soil
10% Clay shards
10% Airy gravel
10% Tuff
10% Basalt
10% Mix of compost, perlite and vermiculite

I trimmed some of the roots so the tree could fit, trimmed some dead branches and leaves, and wired some branches to make it look better.
I live in a hot and humid southern country.

I attached some photos so you can see and give some advices on what should I do next, or what did I do wrong, how should I water the tree etc..
I'll appreciate every opinion, thanks in advance

Take the wire off it is doing nothing. Not sure what has happened to the leaves, but the plant should have a lot more. It is not looking at all healthy, and unless there was a problem with the soil re potting will not help. You need to let it recover from the stress of repotting and hope that it will grow again.

m5eaygeoff wrote:

Take the wire off it is doing nothing. Not sure what has happened to the leaves, but the plant should have a lot more. It is not looking at all healthy, and unless there was a problem with the soil re potting will not help. You need to let it recover from the stress of repotting and hope that it will grow again.

Hi, thank you for you reply.
Without the wires the branches jump straight up and it looks funny.
I forgot to mention that it was a neglected tree, I left it too close to the house so it didn't recieve any sun light, and the soil was terrible because it could'nt drain all the water which caused the soil to be wet 24/7..
So the plant was looking terrible and as I did mention, I trimmed all the dead/weak/Infected branches and leaves, that's the reason the tree looks like this now.
As I said this is my first time with bonsai, this tree grew with bad conditions so I decided to make him a Bonsai, so its actually a makeover.

Smut wrote:

2 year old lemon tree
turned it into a bonsai

The words "two year old tree" and "bonsai" do not belong in the same sentence. Nothing that's two years old can be a bonsai.
Your wiring is very sloppy.
Your soil mix... I guess that's your own recipe? Seems overly complicated to me.
This tree is too young to be trained, it should not be in a bonsai pot. Also, lemon is not the most suitable species for bonsai.
Trimming roots so the plant fits in a pot is wrong. If you trimmed weak/infected branches, you did that wrong too. A plant that is not in top condition should NOT be trained.

Auk wrote:

Smut wrote:

2 year old lemon tree
turned it into a bonsai

The words "two year old tree" and "bonsai" do not belong in the same sentence. Nothing that's two years old can be a bonsai.
Your wiring is very sloppy.
Your soil mix... I guess that's your own recipe? Seems overly complicated to me.
This tree is too young to be trained, it should not be in a bonsai pot. Also, lemon is not the most suitable species for bonsai.
Trimming roots so the plant fits in a pot is wrong. If you trimmed weak/infected branches, you did that wrong too. A plant that is not in top condition should NOT be trained.

Hi, since lemon tree is a fast growing tree, it reached his present size after 3-4 months.. which means he is the same size for over 1.5 year.. (I guess he's already a bonsai)
I agree, I'm not an expert.. I didn't want to hurt the tree while wiring so I left it like this as long as its doing the job..
About the soil, I've been told that I should use everything to get a great drainage in the pot so I used everything I usually use for my cactus plants.. all these rocks gives the soil a perfect drain and lots of minerals, besides the organic material I added that all plants would appreciate.

I'm just doing everything I know from personal experience with trees.. i'm not a Bonsai expert so I'd appreciate guidance, not preaching

Smut wrote:

(I guess he's already a bonsai)

If you want to learn more about growing bonsai, first stap would be to accept that this is NOT a bonsai.

I just want to mention that soil does not look a lot full draining enabled, if that was your goal. Good luck with that lemon and stay close to Auk’s guides, if you want to move on with Bonsai.

spacewood wrote:

I just want to mention that soil does not look a lot full draining enabled, if that was your goal. Good luck with that lemon and stay close to Auk’s guides, if you want to move on with Bonsai.

The soil is working great, it's draining really fast, and the weather here is pretty hot so the soil will not be wet for over 2 days max.
Auk just told me my mistakes, and I accept them but I won't throw the tree away.. I want a guide to tell me what should I do next, because I want to keep it even if I did it wrong..

Smut wrote:

[I want a guide to tell me what should I do next, because I want to keep it even if I did it wrong..

You are not growing a bonsai, you are growing a tree. Follow the guidelines for growing lemons:
www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/l...row-a-lemon-tree.htm

Do not try to make this a bonsai now. First, get the trunk fatter, the plant very healthy and growing, then start thinking about the next step.

thanks Auk you seem like you know what your talking about that helped me out just reading the posts