Growing Boxes

BonifaceVIII

Let me first off exucuse my ignorance...

All a growing box seems to me, from what I read on this sites forum, is just a wooden box with dirt in it. Now my question is this, whats the diffrence then from putting the tree in the ground? Is a box better?

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Mittar

My understanding is with a growing box, it's easier to regulate the conditions. Soil quality/drainage, fertilizer concentration, etc. Also a growing box encourages the root growth in a shallow radial pattern, as opposed to straight down, which is the tree's tendency when planted in the ground.

RonMartin(deceased)

The biggest difference that I can see is when one uses a grow box it is a bit easier. After all you can pick up a grow box, set it on a table and go to work. Growing in the ground means you go down on your knees. Not good for you and not the best position for styling.
IMHO both will get you just about the same growth rate if it is done right.

Jay

There are a couple of reasons to use a grow box. 1- You limit the depth the tree can grow. This way the roots grow outward and not downward. 2- If you need to, you can move the grow box to a sheltered location for the winter. In my limited experience, I find the ground gives better growth, but the box gives more controlled growth.

Jay

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Carl_Bergstrom

That's right. With a grow box, you get a nice flat round root system. Here's a tree (well, a stump ) that I pulled out of a grow box and repotted today. It would be a lot harder to develop roots like those in the ground!

-Old Mister Crow

Attached Images

root_system_small.jpg (62.4 KB, 174 views)

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FredL

I am putting my trees into grow boxes rather than my grow beds when I first collect them rather than the ground because of the effect on the root system. I don't use dirt in my grow boxes; I use bonsai soil mix. I suppose I'm a little less particular about the mix and use courser particles and am less concerned about the aesthetics, but it is basically bonsai soil mix. After a year or two in the grow box, I'll put trees into my grow beds, but only after a root system that I'm satisfied with has developed.

I don't know whether this is the "right" way to do things, but I'm happy with it at this point.

Fred

ripsgreentree

We are back to personal taste. We use grow beds, boxes, and squat containers. Here is what I know from personal expperiance. If you create exelent soil in your grow beds and apply good pruning techniques to your material it is no problem to create exelent roots. In boxes and containers with good bonsai soil you will also get perfect roots if you apply good root pruning techniques. Think of it like this, good soil + good techniques = great roots. Techniques include pruning, watering and feeding. I can also tell you this from experiance. If you want to see real growth you had better give your tree a growing bed. (first choice) Five gallon or larger growing container (second choice) 12x12x6 in deep growing box or larger. Anything less and you will stand still for years with little growth. This brings up another point, if you are looking for a tree with no chops or healed chops you had better be prepaired to grow for years in small containers. Continous pinching prevents any overgrowth and this means no chop marks. This is really great when you see it but it takes generations to create a large tree this way.

Glenn

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ripsgreentree

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RonMartin(deceased)

I use what are called propagation trays. These are flat plastic trays about 18 inches square and about 3 inches deep. The bottom of these have a series of small holes in them. They are cheap, about $3 each.
I plant my young stuff in these. The trays are then set on a bed of granite sand in my growing area.
I water and fertilize this area just as I would if the trees were planted in the ground. After a while the fibrous roots grow thought the holes in the bottom of the pans and into the granite sand.
Doing this I get just about the same growth rate as I did when I did put them into the ground.
Every few months I take my special tool and root prune them. My special tool is something that is not often seen in South Carolina. It is a snow shovel ;o). I sharpened the front of the blade and I just slide this under the trays. This severs the roots that are growing in the sand. I then slide the tray sideways a few inches and pick it up. Put it on my work table do the necessary trimming and then put it back on the sand.
Once the proper girth is achieved I put the tree in a mica pot. styling is completed in these.
Mind you I grow a lot of trees and this is a lot easier on me than getting on my knees to trim. Using this method I can work on 50 trees in the same time that it used to take me to do ten. And I am getting about the same growth rate that I was when they were actually grown in the ground.

BonifaceVIII

But do the trees in your plastic boxes adapt better to bonsai then the trees that you grow in the ground?