Sunlight is a major factor in the health of your bonsai. I get a lot of different answers when considering the amount of sunshine my trees need. It is common for people to consider the light/sunshine that a bonsai requires, but I try to be more specific regarding my placement of a pot and tree.
To get the obvious out of the way, all of my plants are outdoors full time. Living here in the Philippines and in a coastal tropical environment makes that an easy decision.
Location
We live in the Philippines and somewhat near sea level. We are about 1km from the Sea of Camotes. There are dry seasons here and rainy ones that bring torrential rainfall for days if not weeks at a time.
Our plants have 3 zones I guess. And even saying this it depends on the season as conditions may change when the plant stays in the same place.
FULL SUN, where the plants get 6 or more hours of direct sunshine, and I also consider if the plant receives sun in the hottest time of the day, say 11:00am until 2:30 pm. Heat of the day sun is another factor that I use to select the best place for a bonsai.
PARTIAL SUN, for the plants varies the most here. In winter the plants kept on the northern side of a structure, such as our house, receive far less direct sun than in the summer where they get full sun.
Another placement issue is if the plants are at the eastern or western part of a structure. If in the eastern side they get morning sun, but that is also about 6 hours of direct light.Our sun begins around 05:30 or 06:00 am. Our western plants only get sun from about 12:00 until 15:30, and while that is less time, it is the sttongest sunlight.
INDIRECT SUN, consists of area that regulate sunshine through placement or a human induced condition. What does that mean? Well I have a covered carport and that location is where I keep plants in indirect light. Other places around the garden have light for short periods of time, say 1-2 hours, and then indirect otherwise. These place are in covered walking areas, tents, patio umbrellas, and even sunshades placed in the garden.
Water
Another primary concern for me is making sure the substrate drains easily. In the rainy season or when Typhoons strike I cannot control the amount of water they get from the clouds, therefore my substrate is biased towards maximum drainage. If we aren’t getting the rain then I water more often.
For me I have been using our well water for the plants when the rainfall is not enough. In the past that meant that the water was very HARD as the soil here has a lot of limstone or anapog.
Recently I added a water softening system to the house and that means for the plants as well. Since we keep many Bonsai and Orchids it helped, but we also have a swimming pool and that hard water made maintaing the pool very difficult. Now that the filtration system has been runnig for a few months things are better for the plants and the pool.
For most of the Bonsai we water 3 times per day. For the Orchids maybe once, and the Adenium les, maybe 2-3 times a week, though I need to water the Adenium seedling more oftern I think.
Other Considerations
Wind? Yes, we do get wind throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Since it happens every day it can also dry out the plants a bit.
I have a home Weather Station so I can keep track of weather conditions at all times. I like to see how things are outside, but as it is so hot here I like the comfort of some shade. When it is the hottest part of the day I can read myweather station reports inside.
General changes? Yes, we get that also. This year, 2026 we are in a super El Nino and the Visayas just are NOT getting the rain. Luzon is being flooded, but here not much. South of us in Mindanao not much rain either and on thop of that the temps there are hitting 45 celsius at times.
When it is sunny and windy, more watering is called for.
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