john blanch
Yamadori
It's tiring to have the mental map of each of my trees' and their position come to mind when I get home late and have to water them all in the dark.
What's the last thing you've learned in bonsai
- Thread starter bwaynef
- Start date
Why? I routinely put freshly repotted bonsai back up on stands without issue. I may move the stand into shade for a while, depending on the season when I’m doing the repot, but I don’t leave anything on the ground. I don’t want my trees to be within reach of the bunnies.
Last edited:
Adamski77
Shohin
wasn’t actually today but in February I did my first scion graft ever… on JBP. Started to unwrap few weeks ago and today finished removing grafting tape. Looks like it wants to work and the union is looking good. So happy as it was the first graft… place was extremely inconvenient with a lot of wire bites and scars plus scion was much smaller than receiving branch.
Attachments
BrightsideB
Omono
I had to re learn to check my wire for biting…
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Decandling...you remove ALL Candles. Giggling...at my blunder. As Adair said...you didn't remove the candles...and I was like...ummmm yeah, I did. 
first time working pine.
first time working pine.
Preamble: repot happens in spring. I have no clue how the weather is in Michigan in spring, but here in Belgium during spring there is always the concern of temperature drops and cold wind (dries out the fine roots that still need to settle). Must admit that my garden is well protected from rodents.
Benny Lu
Sapling
learned that seeds stored in fridge for more than 3 years become less viable
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
The other issue with pots on the ground is you can introduce soil nematodes to the pot which isn't good. They can wreak havoc with the root system and kill the tree.
If you need to provide protection after a repot. Putting them in a cold frame or garage for a few days works well.
bwaynef
Masterpiece
There are times when you don't remove all the candles, but less often as the tree is refined.Decandling...you remove ALL Candles. Giggling...at my blunder. As Adair said...you didn't remove the candles...and I was like...ummmm yeah, I did.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Gotcha. I removed what I didn't think I needed. Giggling...so yeah. I laughed when my reply was...I had. When clearly not all were removed. bless Adair. He was patient and explained the why.Except for tropicals, I repot almost everything in spring (occasionally, I’ll do an early fall repot, but not that often). I try to wait until I’m fairly confident that we’re out of the freeze-thaw-freeze phase of spring to get started with repotting, specifically so I won’t have to do the bonsai shuffle.
I learned the little white dots on my willow leaf ficus' leaves can be caused by spider mites, even if you don't see any webs. Unrelated, I learned how much spider mites can wreck a WLF if you don't get rid of them immediately. Separately, I learned why you should quarantine/analyze/treat new plants.
ShadyStump
Imperial Masterpiece
There are certain little white dots on ficus that are a normal part of the leaf. Make sure you're not try to treat that.I learned the little white dots on my willow leaf ficus' leaves can be caused by spider mites, even if you don't see any webs. Unrelated, I learned how much spider mites can wreck a WLF if you don't get rid of them immediately. Separately, I learned why you should quarantine/analyze/treat new plants.
Yep, but I saw the mites and webs today after a few days away, when my only visuals before then were white dots that quickly led to dying leaves. I thought I messed up watering or my lights were too close etc, but I wasn't paying attention for bugs.
Gabler
Masterpiece
Cities intentionally change the pH of the municipal water supply from one season to the next, enough to cause nutrient deficiency even in trees that can thrive in mildly alkaline soils. I miss having a well.
FreshAirSunshine
Shohin
Did not know. Maybe I need to start checking my pH on the regular. Of course - I’m sure this is city specific.
August
Chumono
Ive been mildly anxious about that for some time. In Denver our water is between 8.5 and 9.2 with a target of 8.8 . Probably too alkaline to be good for most things? Should I maybe invest in some pH down?
FreshAirSunshine
Shohin
I think that’s pretty definitely too alkaline. You’ll want down towards 6.5-7.2 or so afaik.
FreshAirSunshine
Shohin
It is species dependant of course - some like lilac do want a bit of alkalinity. Even those those I think that’s too much for
