Eric Group
Masterpiece
One liners or ideas that take some explaining... One best or multiple good ones? Just thought it might be cool to compile a thread full of valuable nuggets of wisdom we can all use!
I will start us off with a few nuggets of wisdom I have been given:
One regarding soil composition- I asked my friend what he thought of the soil debates we have had on here in recent years and he told me something a "master" had once told him (Kimura . Think is who he credited with this one): "you can grow a tree in marbles if you care for it properly"! Thought that one was funny because it is true basically... Proper watering and feeding and you can grow a pretty happy tree in most anything! This is why the discussion always comes up with so many varying view points because many people have success with many different substrates. He also gave me some pointers on oxygen exchange and how the act of watering your trees FULLY and Heavily until to he water runs out of the bottom of your pots is not just an exercise in adding water, but is also- and perhaps more importantly- exchanging oxygen! Forcing out the old "stake" air in the roots, and replacing it with fresh air. This discourages fungal growth and encourages root growth... This is why- even if a tree is perhaps not really dry- it is important to water your trees often, and speaks to why we should get the best results from porous, fast draining soil.
A piece of advice regarding general plant care that my mother was once given by a "master gardener": you don't truly know a plant until you have killed it at least three times"... Kind of makes you feel better about losing a tree but teaches a valuable lesson too- the death of that tree/ plant wasn't a TOTAL loss if you learned something from it that might help you keep one from dying in the future.
I have been given some solid wiring advice recently as well- John taught me how to use two sets of pliers to bend the wire instead of using your fingers to bend the branch and wire... And Arhtur Juror gave me some advice on how to select the correct gauge of wire to bend a specific branch by testing a small section of it by pressing it against the branch- if it bends the branch, it is strong enough (obviously) if the wire bends is read of the branch, get some bigger wire!
Obviously it is hard to pick just one, so nobody is saying you have to! I don't care if the source is Kimura, or Joe across the street from you or if the source is... YOU... Just drop some knowledge on us!!
I will start us off with a few nuggets of wisdom I have been given:
One regarding soil composition- I asked my friend what he thought of the soil debates we have had on here in recent years and he told me something a "master" had once told him (Kimura . Think is who he credited with this one): "you can grow a tree in marbles if you care for it properly"! Thought that one was funny because it is true basically... Proper watering and feeding and you can grow a pretty happy tree in most anything! This is why the discussion always comes up with so many varying view points because many people have success with many different substrates. He also gave me some pointers on oxygen exchange and how the act of watering your trees FULLY and Heavily until to he water runs out of the bottom of your pots is not just an exercise in adding water, but is also- and perhaps more importantly- exchanging oxygen! Forcing out the old "stake" air in the roots, and replacing it with fresh air. This discourages fungal growth and encourages root growth... This is why- even if a tree is perhaps not really dry- it is important to water your trees often, and speaks to why we should get the best results from porous, fast draining soil.
A piece of advice regarding general plant care that my mother was once given by a "master gardener": you don't truly know a plant until you have killed it at least three times"... Kind of makes you feel better about losing a tree but teaches a valuable lesson too- the death of that tree/ plant wasn't a TOTAL loss if you learned something from it that might help you keep one from dying in the future.
I have been given some solid wiring advice recently as well- John taught me how to use two sets of pliers to bend the wire instead of using your fingers to bend the branch and wire... And Arhtur Juror gave me some advice on how to select the correct gauge of wire to bend a specific branch by testing a small section of it by pressing it against the branch- if it bends the branch, it is strong enough (obviously) if the wire bends is read of the branch, get some bigger wire!
Obviously it is hard to pick just one, so nobody is saying you have to! I don't care if the source is Kimura, or Joe across the street from you or if the source is... YOU... Just drop some knowledge on us!!
