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Originally Posted by Vonsgardens
Greg,
I saw parts of your workshop at GSBF, do you know how any of those plants are doing now? I have always been fascinated with Manzanita, but have heard too many horror stories to invest any time.
John
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John--thanks for your interest. I have heard through Tom Kelly of one of the participants who got a very nice one that his is doing well. I have moved to Oregon since that convention and have lost touch with the rest. Lindsay Shiba, Cheryl Manning and Mary Bloomer are three fellow bonsaiists that I know of that have been able to keep them in pots successfully (and myself
) They are prone to infestation by Phytopthera, which is the pathogen responsible for sudden oak death. I had to get my trees inspected for this before going to Anaheim. Phytopthera is water-borne and a thick gravel mulch in your growing area will greatly reduce the possibility of a tree coming down with it. You also want to keep your trees up on benches so water from the ground doesn't splash up and land on the foliage, which is the way trees become infected by this "fungus" in quotes because it isn't exactly a fungus.
I would treat one like a pine in most respects, especially with regard to the root system. I pot newly collected manzanitas in 100% pumice and they root like crazy in the stuff. Grow like weeds really if you fertilize normally with organic cakes. Hope this helps to dispel some of the horror stories
