New to bonsai, got 3 hopefuls

[Troutnut]

Hi all, I’m brand new to keeping trees. Ive accumulated a wild amount of plants this spring & have placed particular focus on my three bonsai-to-be trees. I repotted all of them into pond baskets with well-draining substrate—a mix of espoma’s bonsai soil with organic soil that I enriched with blood meal and worm casings. They are: juniper procumbens (sold as a bonsai starter), dwarf Alberta spruce, and a blue Japanese white pine (“glauca”).

Thus far, I have applied full-spectrum fungicide at one watering, and dilute fish emulsion at another watering & some foliar mistings of the same emulsion . From what I gather, all three dislike overwatering (should prove to be a challenge to overwater in pond baskets). It seems that the JWP may be the most sensitive of the three. The needle drop seen in the JWP picture is due to removing of a less-than-useful wire application. Besides that, the dark spots on the juniper & spruce are from drippings of pruning sealer.

My questions and concerns regard watering and fertilization frequency. The spruce and the juniper are potted with higher proportions of inorganic material and they drain quite freely, while the JWB has a higher proportion of organic soil from its original pot. I’ve noticed that all 3 seem to have adequate drainage & that they all retain a comfortable amount of moisture, never staying sopping wet. Besides the organic fertilization, I also added some osmocote (15-9-12) to the soil in anticipation of 1” of rain coming later this week. These trees will be staying outdoors full time, perhaps getting sunk into larger pots (pond basket and all) when winter comes back around.

In summary: how often should I water these guys? It’s early spring, I’m in the US in a zone 7a climate, and these trees are kept on a south-facing patio area, receiving a blasting of sunlight for most of the day.

How often should I fertilize in a pond basket? How heavily? I’ve noticed that all of my plants seem to really enjoy foliar applications of fish emulsion & that all seem to spring up nicely from watering with the emulsion as well.

Thank you to any responders in advance.

 

[Mad Tabby]

Depends. How hot is it? How windy is it? What’s the humidity?

Basically you water outdoor plants when needed, not on a schedule.

 

[NateDyk47]

Welcome to the forum!

Many professionals say that watering is one of the most difficult parts of bonsai. Basically, you want to water when the tree needs it, but it depends on so many variables... species, soil type, container type, temperature, sun exposure, wind, what type/extent of work has been done on the tree recently, and more. Learning what moisture levels different species tolerate and how to recognize them just takes time. Trees with free draining soil in a pond basket are a little easier, and I water these daily unless it's really hot, then sometimes twice daily. Yours all appear to have a moderate amount of organic media, which will retain more moisture, so you may want to be more careful about overwatering.

For trees in early development like yours, I use Osmocote Plus (6 month controlled release) a couple times a year.

 

[Troutnut]

Welcome to the forum!

Many professionals say that watering is one of the most difficult parts of bonsai. Basically, you want to water when the tree needs it, but it depends on so many variables... species, soil type, container type, temperature, sun exposure, wind, what type/extent of work has been done on the tree recently, and more. Learning what moisture levels different species tolerate and how to recognize them just takes time. Trees with free draining soil in a pond basket are a little easier, and I water these daily unless it's really hot, then sometimes twice daily. Yours all appear to have a moderate amount of organic media, which will retain more moisture, so you may want to be more careful about overwatering.

For trees in early development like yours, I use Osmocote Plus (6 month controlled release) a couple times a year.

Thank you for the reply, this definitely helps me not feel like I’m hopelessly clueless.

 

[Troutnut]

Depends. How hot is it? How windy is it? What’s the humidity?

Basically you water outdoor plants when needed, not on a schedule.

Relatively humid area with decent winds as of late. I’d wager that the wind the humidity kind of cancel each other out. Thank you for the input. I’ll continue to water on the basis of soil moisture

 

[Tieball]

Adding you location and USDA zone will be helpful for replies. Tap on your square icon at the top of the Bonsainut home page. Then select Account Details. Scroll down to the section where you fill in your location. You don’t need to get to specific….the general area….and also add your USDA Zone.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Some people use a wood chopstick in the soil as a dipstick until they get a better feel for watering. Keep it in there. Pull it out to check if there is still moisture.

 

[Troutnut]

Adding you location and USDA zone will be helpful for replies. Tap on your square icon at the top of the Bonsainut home page. Then select Account Details. Scroll down to the section where you fill in your location. You don’t need to get to specific….the general area….and also add your USDA Zone.

Thank you! Gonna add that now.

 

[Shibui]

Pond baskets tend to dry out a lot faster than solid wall pots so you may need to water more often with these baskets.
Something to monitor soil moisture below the surface is a great idea for a start but given the soil mix and the open baskets I'd be erring on the side of more rather than less. I guess your summers are not as hot and dry as here but I often need to water pond baskets with open soil at least twice a day and occasionally more than that.

With regular and copious watering nutrients are quickly leached out of the containers so we need to replace them. Aim for every 2 weeks with liquid fert. Some growers fertilise every week and get good responses. Use the strength recommended for potted plants on the packet.
Solid and organic ferts are longer lasting so can be applied every 4-6 weeks.
Controlled release (Osmocote type) continue to release nutrients for the time specified so 6 month controlled release applied in spring will supply nutrients right through the growing season.
I use both controlled release for background feed and for when I'm too slack to remember or apply more but also use liquid every 3-4 weeks and some solid organic pellets a couple of times each summer.

 

[Troutnut]

Pond baskets tend to dry out a lot faster than solid wall pots so you may need to water more often with these baskets.
Something to monitor soil moisture below the surface is a great idea for a start but given the soil mix and the open baskets I'd be erring on the side of more rather than less. I guess your summers are not as hot and dry as here but I often need to water pond baskets with open soil at least twice a day and occasionally more than that.

With regular and copious watering nutrients are quickly leached out of the containers so we need to replace them. Aim for every 2 weeks with liquid fert. Some growers fertilise every week and get good responses. Use the strength recommended for potted plants on the packet.
Solid and organic ferts are longer lasting so can be applied every 4-6 weeks.
Controlled release (Osmocote type) continue to release nutrients for the time specified so 6 month controlled release applied in spring will supply nutrients right through the growing season.
I use both controlled release for background feed and for when I'm too slack to remember or apply more but also use liquid every 3-4 weeks and some solid organic pellets a couple of times each summer.

Excellent advice. I appreciate it.

 

[Mad Tabby]

Some people use a wood chopstick in the soil as a dipstick until they get a better feel for watering. Keep it in there. Pull it out to check if there is still moisture.

Good idea. I tend to use weight as my go to. But if you’re brand new and not experienced enough with potted plants to go by the weight. A chopstick (or your pinkie) are good options.

 

[Mats Hagström]

I’ve owned this tree for two years. I live in San Francisco. The summers are cool, wet and windy. Most cedars do ok in my area but this brevifolia does not want to thrive. I repotted the tree a few months ago. At that time the roots looked good.

The tree seems like it’s constantly trying to bud out but there are never any growth spurts. Needle are slowly getting discolored and dying at about the same rate or a little faster than new ones form. No single branch loss. I typically do not spray cedar trees but may try a round of anti fungal spray.

I fertilize using biogold and fish emulsion.

I typically water the tree daily in the summer. It’s a bit windy where the tree is sitting.

Does anyone have ideas or suggestions? I’m having a hard time determining if the tree has disease of what its needs are. It’s clearly not getting what it wants or it is sick.

I just can’t get this tree to thrive.

Thank you in advance for any input or experience you may have growing cedars.

Mats H