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Banned 08JUN2005
Join Date: Dec-2001
Location: Benton County
Country: USA
Posts: 1,099
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Grow Beds
Just put one of my 4 year old Hophornbeams (Ostrya Virginiana) into my growbed. It's probably fine, but looks a little peaked and unhealthy. This seems to be commonplace for end of the Summer Hornbeams here, but this one looks a little worse than most and I'd hate to lose it. I'll probably do the same with three or four Amur Maples that just haven't come out of repotting and pruning the way I think they should have.They are part of the crop of sedlings that have grown from seeds I collected from trees in one of our local shopping malls two years ago.
The main thing I wanted to send in about is the spectacular growth my trees are achieving in my growbed. My two year old Amur Maples are now 6 to 7 feet tall despite having been transplanted twice; once soon after they sprouted and then again this past Spring. Results with Privet, Hophornbeam, Persimmon, Hackberry, Peaches grown from pits from fruit we bought inthe local supermarket, Hawthorne and others are just as spectacular. I guess I have about 200 trees in my bed. Next Spring they will have to be thinned. I can only hope I can find homes for the many that will otherwise have to be discarded.
I am finding also that it is a very good idea to correct the roots of young, fast growing trees every year. A year in the growbed, a year in a pot is a good idea. Perhaps it slows their growth down, but my experience indicates that poorly formed root systems become increasingly difficult to correct as they get older.
Grow beds are turning out, at least, in fertile, well-watered soil, to give spectacular results in moving seedlings to the stage of being legitimate "Bonsai Starters". I am also finding that frequently, trees that don't seem to be doing well potted will recover to good health if put back in a growbed.
When I started out, 3 years ago, I decided to think in terms of 10 years to produce good, solid, Bonsai. Three years into it, I am very pleased at what I'm developing. Growbeds are proving to be a big part of accomplishing this successfully.
Fred
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