albek
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That´s very good news. Online is good. Reality is just slightly better 😀
Enjoy and feel free to share a few pics from your meeting here.
- Morten
A quick follow up from me.
You can still repot IF it isn’t too hot. You keep the tree in the shadow for two weeks after. You do not make heavy root pruning. Only lift the tree and keep as many roots as possible. You know the tree is healthy.
No guarantees. This much depends on if you know the limits. Else, better wait until spring and give the tree time to strengthen up and grow. Give a good feed the full growing season.
If the soil drains well, there is no reason to repot this season. Only if there is a health problem, and it looks very healthy growth. So just keep it in the present pot for now if this is the case, and repot spring 2022.
I think it is an excellent material and viewed from the front is has this old look, so why not keep it that way. Stephenandra deadwood rots easily as Potentillas. They also often only shows thick trunks with several thinner trunks fused together. If you can keep them together I think you should.
The backside dead stump may be rotting away, but still, it is at the backside. I think this is a case where patience will pay off. Good luck with a very good material.
Regards
Morten
This is a yearly spring issue and can have several different causes.
First of all. Small prickles or dots appearing at leaves often is caused by aphids. Other bugs will eat the edges of a leaf.
Aphids and bugs in general likes tender new shoots and spring growth is a feast after winter dormancy. Leaves are tasty as the sugars are building up fast. Beech for example have tasty leaves, and you can eat them in a salad the first weeks after they open. Thereafter they turn bitter and insects will not like them. As you won’t.
As temperatures, rice bugs will reproduce rapidly. Look for them at the underside of leaves where they can hide.
This spring has been very cold and therefore bonsai also are weaker than normal, even if fed well last season. The awful cold unstable spring has set them back and make them more vulnerable to attacks.
Insecticides are one way to treat the attacks, and another method is flushing the leaves with water daily. Also from beneath to annoy and wash the insects away.
The advantage of the cold spring is that there will be fewer insects to attack our bonsai than normally. For the environment, this is worse, but that’s another story. On the other hand, fungus loves it.
The other part of the issue raised here is about fungus. This also thrives in this cold spring with a lot of humidity after several periods of rain.
Here treatment is trusted on fungicides. The only way to get that down when an attack is present. If it is powdery mildew low-fat milk sprayed daily will cure the mildew within two weeks or so. The milk makes the mildew break down and can be brushed off gently. Depending on the weather changes or not; else you have to continue the treatment as new attacks might occur. A very environmental friendly cure.
Or you can find products online or at garden centres. Other fungal diseases can be cured with Limesulphur diluted 1:10 with water and sprayed on the attacked areas. Avoid it going into soil and roots by covering the surface when spraying.
Preventive
To avoid both types of attacks, aphids and fungal diseases, we have to look at how we grow our trees. How we arrange them in the garden or elsewhere.
Healthy trees are less vulnerable to any attacks. A bad spring like this year will set back some trees health anyway though. But else, it is important to keep trees strong growing and healthy. This will lower the attack rate. Some species are more prone to attacks of aphids than others though. So watch out especially for those trees.
Many trees have a natural defence mechanism build in. Healthy trees will react to attacks changing their sugars that are extra tasty in the spring, so they are less tasty when experiencing an attack. But bonsai are not as strong growing as trees in nature, so they are more likely to be attacked and their ability to withstand attacks is not as good as big trees. Just the small amount of foliage makes them vulnerable because only a small group of insects can rip off the leaves and fungus will quickly spread over a small area.
Therefore we need to protect the best possible. One way is placing bonsai where they receive optimal light so they grow strong. Next is to place the bonsai where it is a little windy. Not that they should blow off the shelves of course, but if the air is not moving humidity will be high and fungus will love it. So will bugs. Some air circulation is necessary for a healthy bonsai environment. Maybe the most important aspect of placing your trees is having some air circulation. Both to protect against insects and fungal attacks.
So the answer is all of this and better weather. 🙂 Hope this helps a little. good luck with the trees.
Regards, Morten
Hi Elaine
Not much really. Both are spring flowering and demands the same growing conditions. So you can follow the guidelines for the wild cherry, and get the same good results.
Not to be compared with Prunus Mume, which is winter flowering and much more difficult to grow.
Best regards
Morten
I thought spring was late here. I apologize 😀
I hear it has been a cold spring in many places. But snow now is too much.
Thanks Geoff. It always takes some time to get people involved and figure out what time is the best to do it. It grows slowly with time.
Most important is that the ones on board are happy.
Yes, it was recorded and is online here now : https://shohin-europe.com/liveqa/zoom-archive/
I responded directly but it is almost identical to what Geoff kindly adviced.
A small cold at 0 Celcius may not damage anything, but especially thin leafed Japanese maples are easily having the leaves harmed. It will set the growth back some if the damage is severe. If only the tips are damaged it will mostly be aesthetical damages more than a horticultural setback.
Also, newly transplanted trees must be protected, as they’re more vulnerable. Especially Shohin where the roots freeze quickly in the small pots.
Hi Geoff
Look forward to trying this out. Better to send me the pictures, so I can control the meeting and put up subjects. That will be nice. Thanks.
Great topic. Thanks. Lovely pot. Great quality. Roman is doing some great work. Look forward to see something growing there later on 🙂
(German language beneath / Deutsch beneath)
It looks like a drought problem to me. Like it has lacked water at some point, caused by not watering frequently, a root problem, or the air being too dry. A combination of these also can cause dried branches and buds.
If the cambium layer is green when you scratch it, there is a chance it will live on. You have to wait and see.
A trick to (maybe) get it back, is to cover it with a black plastic back for two or three weeks. Keeping humidity high inside, and then expose it to the air again – not in the sun but shaded for a start.
The black plastic bag trick works for newly collected Yamadori trees, keeping them from drying out when roots are weak. Placing these Yamadori on a heated bed activating the roots at the same time. If it works in this case is not to know. But might be worth a try if it seems like the tree is going to die.
Deutsche Sprache: Es sieht für mich nach einem Dürreproblem aus. Als hätte es irgendwann an Wasser gefehlt, was darauf zurückzuführen ist, dass nicht häufig gewässert wird, ein Wurzelproblem vorliegt oder die Luft zu trocken ist. Eine Kombination davon kann auch zu getrockneten Zweigen und Knospen führen .
Wenn die Kambiumschicht beim Kratzen grün ist, besteht die Möglichkeit, dass sie weiterlebt. Du musst abwarten und sehen.
Ein Trick, um es (vielleicht) zurückzubekommen, besteht darin, es zwei oder drei Wochen lang mit einem schwarzen Plastikrücken zu bedecken. Halten Sie die Luftfeuchtigkeit im Inneren hoch und setzen Sie sie dann wieder der Luft aus – nicht in der Sonne, sondern zunächst im Schatten.
Der Trick mit der schwarzen Plastiktüte funktioniert bei neu gesammelten Yamadori-Bäumen und verhindert, dass sie bei schwachen Wurzeln austrocknen. Legen Sie diese Yamadori auf ein beheiztes Bett und aktivieren Sie gleichzeitig die Wurzeln. Ob es in diesem Fall funktioniert ist nicht zu wissen. Aber es könnte einen Versuch wert sein, wenn es so aussieht, als würde der Baum sterben.
