The bonsai determines the size, shape, color and surface of the pot. It is best to think of the ideally fitting bonsai pot and then go looking for it.
Always choose the right pot for a bonsai and not a bonsai for an existing bonsai pot. It is better to search a little more until you have found the right pot than to buy the first one. The choice of specialist dealers is huge. It just takes a little patience to find the right one.
If possible, choose bonsai pots in a bonsai nursery and not online. Take the tree with you. At the bonsai dealer you can then place possible pots directly in front of the tree. This is the best way to assess whether the size, color, shape and structure of the bonsai pots match the tree.
The problem with buying bonsai pots on site is: Only a few bonsai centers have a sufficiently large selection. Often the dealer in the area only has a small bonsai garden with a few pots. Our recommendation is: there should be at least 500 different pots. And even then it is often difficult to find the optimal bonsai pot. And not buying properly means buying twice.
The quality of the bonsai and pot should match. Example: For a 30 Euro Fig tree bonsai with a large cut that has just been bought in the garden market, a hand-made pot for 180 Euro from the master potter is slightly oversized. Such a pot is more worthwhile for the great juniper bonsai from the last Japanese import.
The outer dimensions and the visible shape of the bonsai pots must match the trees. If the root ball is still too big for the correct pot, then a larger pot should not be chosen. It is better to reduce the root ball in the next few years so that it fits into the optimal bonsai pot.