ADVICE ON DWARF GOLDEN HANOKI CYPRESS PLEASE

[August44]

I have had this tree for several years and it was coming along great this spring and early summer with a lot of new growth and it was filling in nicely. It was in a morning to 1-2 PM sun setting and then shade. Yes, we have had some roaring hot weather, 90-104 and almost no humidity. I am assuming that this tree got to mush heat and sun. I have picked off a lot of the fried ends. I keep it damp but think it could have used more shade during the heat. Advice and help appreciated! Thank you....

 

[WNC Bonsai]

For me hinokis do best in part shade with moist soil and a lot of misting. Mine get morning sun and afternoon shade. I water once in the morning, misting as I go and then usually mist agin mid-afternoon. Never have had this problem, or any problems with them for that matter. I have 2 in bonsai pots and over a dozen in the landscape. Those in the landscape generally don’t get watered or misted by me.

 

[August44]

For me hinokis do best in part shade with moist soil and a lot of misting. Mine get morning sun and afternoon shade. I water once in the morning, misting as I go and then usually mist agin mid-afternoon. Never have had this problem, or any problems with them for that matter. I have 2 in bonsai pots and over a dozen in the landscape. Those in the landscape generally don’t get watered or misted by me.

Thanks for the reply. So what are your temps there this time of year and the humidity factor?

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Thanks for the reply. So what are your temps there this time of year and the humidity factor?

I am up in the mountains at about 2200’ and temps are running 80-85 in the day and 60-65 at night with humidity running 60% days. We have not seen anything over the 80s this summer but in some years do see an occasional high over 90, maybe 2–3 days each year.

 

[August44]

I am up in the mountains at about 2200’ and temps are running 80-85 in the day and 60-65 at night with humidity running 60% days. We have not seen anything over the 80s this summer but in some years do see an occasional high over 90, maybe 2–3 days each year.

Ah, that is the difference. I am at 3400"+ and we have had a number of very hot (100+) days and extremely low humidity @15 +- during the day. Things even get a little toasted under 50% shade cloth. Been a hot, tough summer around here this summer. One almost needs to mist when it's like this several times a day.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Hinokis grow in Japan in lower light, higher humidity, thick mixed deciduous coniferous forests at elevations 900m to at least 1200m. These forests get decent rainfall, more than 3m a year. The average mean temperature is from 9.6 - 13.6C…. They grow in volcanic andisols or sedimentary rock.

So two ways to help your tree, more shade… the data indicates that the tree eould do best be in much more shade in your area then not. Also mist frequently and water well as @Cofga recommends. These are also the conditions my hinoki grows in.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[erich_raudebaugh]

They like shade especially in the summer, even one hot day can burn the new foliage. This happened to one of my trees this summer when I didn't give it enough shade on a hot day, about 108F, but wind will burn foliage too.

 

[August44]

Thank you all for the help. It was doing so well...I'll be on top of it next year and turn it around!

 

[Forsoothe!]

I hear suggestions of misting plants and ask myself, who has time to do this with enough frequency and duration to make a difference? Since mist evaporates momentarily and the air around a tree returns to whatever the ambient is, I think the answer is, Nobody. Even if you set up automatic equipment and do it enough to be effective, then you still have to calibrate for the other half of the spectrum of too wet. I suspect that almost nobody has automatic sprayers set up, so that's not a serious consideration here.

I think I should intervene for the sake of posterity and tell the truth: If your tree needs misting, maybe you should consider using a proper organic media instead of rocks with a token fraction of organic material, or even worse peat. I think people should consider growing trees in a media similar to what they grow in in nature. Unless, of course, you are in zone so alien to the plant as to rule that out. Only a very few places in the world are too dry for plants that people want to have, like Aridzona, or too wet like the eastern parts of Orerain and Worshington. Everywhere else that has normal (read medium) moisture conditions, normal media is a sandy loam.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

In the undamaged parts, I really like the color of this cultivar. The good news is if kept in the shade until weather cools, eventually new foliage will replace the burnt ends.

It is probably your low humidity combined with heat and sun that burned the tips. So definitely all day shade for the summer is a good idea.

Something to keep in mind. Coming from deciduous forests, in autumn and winter, the deciduous trees drop their leaves, so during cold weather hinoki get much more direct sun. So summer shade, winter sun is a good schedule for them. Though even in winter it is probably not sunrise to sunset sun, but rather more like a half day or slightly more sun.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I do agree with Forsoothe that misting is not feasible, nor really necessary.

 

[Forsoothe!]

In the undamaged parts, I really like the color of this cultivar. The good news is if kept in the shade until weather cools, eventually new foliage will replace the burnt ends.

It is probably your low humidity combined with heat and sun that burned the tips. So definitely all day shade for the summer is a good idea.

Something to keep in mind. Coming from deciduous forests, in autumn and winter, the deciduous trees drop their leaves, so during cold weather hinoki get much more direct sun. So summer shade, winter sun is a good schedule for them. Though even in winter it is probably not sunrise to sunset sun, but rather more like a half day or slightly more sun.

Yes to this ^, and remember that the sun is lower on the horizon outside of summer peak growing season...

I keep my JM, et al in full exposure from the time I set them on the ground for over-wintering in autumn until June 1st without any leaf damage.

 

[RKatzin]

Not to disagree with any previous posts, just to share my personal experience with the hinokis and not sound like a pompous arse, but, I have three at the moment. A big obtusa, a feather leaf and one I'm not sure of the variety, and a C thyoides and a couple of pissiferas, all in the same prominent full sun all the doodah day. All are in sifted pumice and get a good soaking down and shower once a day, stepping that up to two or possibly three times a day accordingly as the temps rise.
Interesting to note that my big obtusa was getting deer munched so I brought it up onto the deck where it got full sun till about 1:00pm for two seasons. It did well and bushed out some nice fill-in. So this spring I moved it back out to a full sun position and I am seeing a wee bit of color in the older foliage as the summer heated up. All this year's growth is coming in nice and bright green.
I trimmed the feather leaf for the first time in a long while, a few years at least. The foliage on this one grows out in long fern-like fronds which overlap each other. I knocked it back pretty good removing most of the elongated fronds and leaving the smaller leaves. Where the big leaves overlapped the smaller ones they turned brown when the shaded parts were exposed to the sun for the first time. They didn't get crispy, just turned color, but still pliable. One of those live and learn lessons that makes you go, Duh!

 

[A. Gorilla]

>>I hear suggestions of misting plants and ask myself, who has time to do this with enough frequency and duration to make a difference

Absofrickinglutely.

The sun has been a pretty constant companion of trees throughout their history.

Last I checked they mostly compete for more of it by growing up.

"Frequent misting" and other walking-on-eggshells superstitions.

Ok. Sure. Large scale bonsai nurseries have time for that nonsense. And their stock lives just fine til dumbasses get their hands on things with weird meme horticulture habits.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

>>I hear suggestions of misting plants and ask myself, who has time to do this with enough frequency and duration to make a difference

Absofrickinglutely.

The sun has been a pretty constant companion of trees throughout their history.

Last I checked they mostly compete for more of it by growing up.

"Frequent misting" and other walking-on-eggshells superstitions.

Ok. Sure. Large scale bonsai nurseries have time for that nonsense. And their stock lives just fine til dumbasses get their hands on things with weird meme horticulture habits.

Gosh those are some interesting posts about my comments on misting.

Interesting, yet I have to agree to disagree to these folks on misting.

Actually I have time to mist and it works really well. Yet I’m one of the lucky ones who are finally retired, similar to at least 25% of the folks working bonsai in our local club.

I use a handheld Dramm mister and can mist all over 100 developmental trees here in less then 8 minutes. I do this twice a day on hot days, less on others, none on some. Late morning and midafternoon, especially to the Redwoods, Hinoki and the Satsuki.

Since this is the PacNW our conditions are different from many others. Maybe I wouldn’t do it if I still lived in Illinois or Michigan where I camped many summers… with high humidity, high temperatures and about 14 inches of rain evenly spread throughout the summer.. Thats not the case out here, low humidity, more moderate temps (except for the Big Heat and Big Smoke!) and drought is the rule through the summer, with about 3” of rain. I know NE Oregon is even worse, in the rain shadow and high elevation. I’ve been there many times. Also my yard is fairly protected from the prevailing winds, many days I can go out in the yard a hour later and still see water drops on the foliage unless the weather is unseasonably warm.

Now I have never done an experimental study in the effectiveness of misting in my backyard vs not, but my trees are very healthy unless I bother them with too much rootwork or add too much fertilizer. I would, however, love to see some experimental data to show the effectiveness of misting in in the Pacific NW summer?

Anyone with an opposite opinion got some good data out there? I’d love to save the 16 - 8 minutes on days I usually mist.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Misting does more than just raise the humidity of the canopy for a brief period. Many species can take moisture in through the leaves, including some conifers. The Japanese bonsai articles I have read on hinokis constantly point out misting and I would bet they also can rehydrate with a good misting. Another factor is the cooling effect of misting, not just evaporation in the canopy but it also cools the pot and the roots. That can make a big difference on a hot afternoon.