Help-moved and the weather changed

bonsaimaniac

I moved from the midwest to the northwest and now may have some problems. All but two of my trees are japanese black pines and most are in nursery containers with a soil mix that retained a little extra water by design because very hot dry weather in the midwest and the small containers. Now that I'm in the northwest the frequent rain may be creating a problem. The soil drains well but is maybe a 30-40 organic mix. I know the basic rules with soil and pines but this worked well in my area. So do I make a switch now and risk shock or do I wait it out and risk root-rot.

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Bruce Winter

Can you protect them from rain this Winter 'till repotting?

Alasdair

I would suggest making a temporary shelter for the winter out of some 2by4 and a sheet of tarpauling. Make sure the roof slopes so it won't collect a lot of water and collapse on your trees. Then repot in a faster draining compost when the time comes. I'm no pine expert so i couldn't help you with that. Lifting the rootballs out of the pots intact and placing them in a container filled with coarse sand would increase the drainage for you until winter is through. just make sure there's some hole in the bottom of the container.

Al

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I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on...
Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth

ripsgreentree

Mainiac: Although Portland will not have Artic freezing every year you will find that you are going to need a good cold fraim to over winter your trees so this is a good excuse to build one. I do not know the extent of your collection so I don't know how big a cold fraim you will need to construct. This will serve two perposes this winter as a cold fraim will protect from rain and freezing weather. I would suggest that in the spring you switch over to a soil mixture that has little or no organics. There are several products that will hold moisture in your soil mixes with out the organic break down that causes both summer and winter root rot problems. Acadama is the best known but I have develiped Calidama which I find allows me to grow in totally inorganic soil mixtures. In my yard every thing from small liners to fifteen gallon nursery containers and Bonsai containers are all totally inorganic mixes. I control moisture content with particle size, pines like to be dryer so a larger particle. Decidious likes more moisture so a smaller particle to keep the mix wetter.
Good luck with your trees, keep us posted as to what your solutions are and how succesful-unsuccesful they are as this is how we all learn.
Glenn Van Winkle

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ripsgreentree

It requires an open hand to give and to recieve.

bonsaikc

Actually, I envy your new climate. Weren't you in the upper midwest? Like Michigan or something? I think a cold frame for the trees you brought from home will be entirely inappropriate. They are used to much harsher weather than they will see in Portland. Of course you want to protect from the rain this winter and go with a much looser inorganic soil mix in spring. I hope your trees aren't too old or valuable, a major change in climate like that can be very stressful to trees.

While Japanese black pine love water (some actually grow below the high tide line in parts of Japan and their nebaris are under seawater at high tide!), your organic material will remain flooded all year long in Portland. I wish you luck!

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Will_Heath

A simple solution that has worked for me is to wrap Saran Wrap or foil around the base of your bonsai, forming a little tent that overlaps the edges. Rain will just run off and you can peel the wrap back when you need to water. This is a cheap way to keep them dry until re-potting can be done.


Will

bonsaikc

That's a great idea, since the needles then still get plenty of moisture.

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MattPenton

"but I have develiped Calidama"

What is Calidama?