Life in the desert - bonsaiTALK Community

12-Jul-2006	#1
DriftwoodDude I dream of Bonsai! Join Date: Jul-2006 Location: St. George Country: USA Posts: 31	Life in the desert I have been having a great time trying to keep my trees alive. It is so hot here already at 10a.m. the soil temps in my pots can reach over 90F. I lost a few trees already this year and thats when I checked the temp of the soil, Can you belive it 115F! After that I started bringing the trees indoors after 11a.m. for the rest of the day. What do other enthusists do in this situ. or what should I do to protect the trees from this heat? I have tried bringing them under the shade of my porch but the temp out there is still very hot. When I bring the trees in I bring them into the garage it is usually 10 or so degrees cooler and ther is a window too. I just really would like to leave them out. Last edited by DriftwoodDude : 12-Jul-2006 at 08:04 PM.

Sponsor Message	Life in the desert
Advertisement Forum Sponsor	<a href='http://adserver.bonsaitalk.com/adclick.php?n=ac8bc944' target='_blank'><img src='http://adserver.bonsaitalk.com/adview.php?what=zone:4&n=ac8bc944' border='0' alt=''></a>

12-Jul-2006	#2
TreeBay Tips:5¢ Advice:Free *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Aug-2001 Location: Silicon Valley Country: USA USDA Zone: 9 AHS Heat Zone: 4 Posts: 9,743	Where are you located? You're clearly going to need shade and possibly some misting systems to bring the temperature down. Bonsai clubs in hot, arid climates would be helpful - http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/PhxBSWing.html Regards, Matt __________________ Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today! bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

12-Jul-2006	#3
Alasdair bonsaiTALK Master Chief Join Date: Aug-2004 Location: Aberystwyth Uni Country: Wales USDA Zone: 8 AHS Heat Zone: 0-1 Posts: 1,100	Another question is... what size are your bonsai? If they are relativly small i have dreamt up a solution to overheating pots but have not tried it yet. Take a basic nursery container large enough for you bonsai to sit in the bottom. Cut away some of the height if neccesary so that none of the branches etc get damaged. They spray the outside of the pot a good bright white colour, or even cover it in tin foil. Then you can sit your trees in the larger pot and it will keep the rootball shaded and cool. A layer of damp sand in the bottom would also help by boosting the humidity (plus evapouration is an endothermic process). I dreamt this up to help my trees if i go away camping for a few nights in the summer and can't get anybody to water for me. Al __________________ I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on... Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth

12-Jul-2006	#4
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	"I lost a few trees already this year and thats when I checked the temp of the soil, Can you belive it 115F! After that I started bringing the trees indoors after 11a.m. for the rest of the day. What do other enthusists do in this situ. or what should I do to protect the trees from this heat?" If you are bringing them inside in the afternoon and then back outside later you are contributing to the problem. Trees have roots. They like to stay in one place all their lives They do not like to move around. They have not evolved to constantly readjust to such huge differences in temperatures and humidity that such movement brings. If your trees are having trouble in the heat, simply move them out of the sun. If the trees are species that need alot of sunlight--like tropicals, natives, etc. simply shade their pots with cloth. Another way to keep ahead of local conditions is to grow native species that can handle them. I have many collected native elms and live oaks. I give all of them as much light as possible in the morning and some get afternoon shade--I place their pots so they are shaded by my deck, backyard fence and in-ground trees in the afternoon. My live oak grows in full sun all summer long. It isn't happy without all that sun. I measured pot temperatures on the surface at 130F last July. I spread an old wet white T-shirt over the pot in the morning that covers the surface AND the sidesof the pot. This cuts the temperature down to about 80 or 90 degrees on the hottest days. Another thing that's already been mentioned--the smaller the pot, the greater the heat problem. Small pots heat up and cool down more quickly than larger ones. You can use that to your advantage by placing small pots in a pan of wet sand in the shade. Make sure they aren't standing in water. The evaporating moisture fromt he sand will keep them cool...

12-Jul-2006	#5
Mcspeed bonsaiTALK Master Chief Join Date: Mar-2006 Location: West Springfield Massachusetts Country: USA USDA Zone: zone 5 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 1,202	All good ideas, and thoughts by RockM, maybe not as effective( due to sun direction changing), but fairly easy to do is use wood scraps( wet helps with humidity) to shade the pots, easily put in place and removed if you have guests that will see them. But they will probably die if you cook em and cool them off regularly.

12-Jul-2006	#6
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	I install simple framed shade cloth sun visors over my benches in late June for some of my more sun sensitive trees. I use 60 percent plastic shade mesh available at Home Depot, stapled to a simpel wooden frame that's mounted on angle irons hung at the top of my six foot fence. Bonsai shelves are directly below...

12-Jul-2006

DriftwoodDude

I dream of Bonsai!

Join Date: Jul-2006

Location: St. George

Country: USA

Posts: 31

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeBay

Where are you located? You're clearly going to need shade and possibly some misting systems to bring the temperature down. Bonsai clubs in hot, arid climates would be helpful -

http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/PhxBSWing.html

Regards,

Matt

I am living in southern utah... I have tried bringing them under the shade of my porch but the temp out there is still very hot. When I bring the trees in I bring them into the garage it is usually 10 or so degrees cooler and ther is a window too. I just really would like to leave them out.
thanks. Ill check out the site.

12-Jul-2006

DriftwoodDude

I dream of Bonsai!

Join Date: Jul-2006

Location: St. George

Country: USA

Posts: 31

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockm

"I lost a few trees already this year and thats when I checked the temp of the soil, Can you belive it 115F! After that I started bringing the trees indoors after 11a.m. for the rest of the day. What do other enthusists do in this situ. or what should I do to protect the trees from this heat?"

If you are bringing them inside in the afternoon and then back outside later you are contributing to the problem. Trees have roots. They like to stay in one place all their lives

They do not like to move around. They have not evolved to constantly readjust to such huge differences in temperatures and humidity that such movement brings.

If your trees are having trouble in the heat, simply move them out of the sun. If the trees are species that need alot of sunlight--like tropicals, natives, etc. simply shade their pots with cloth.

Another way to keep ahead of local conditions is to grow native species that can handle them.

I have many collected native elms and live oaks. I give all of them as much light as possible in the morning and some get afternoon shade--I place their pots so they are shaded by my deck, backyard fence and in-ground trees in the afternoon. My live oak grows in full sun all summer long. It isn't happy without all that sun. I measured pot temperatures on the surface at 130F last July. I spread an old wet white T-shirt over the pot in the morning that covers the surface AND the sidesof the pot. This cuts the temperature down to about 80 or 90 degrees on the hottest days.

Another thing that's already been mentioned--the smaller the pot, the greater the heat problem. Small pots heat up and cool down more quickly than larger ones. You can use that to your advantage by placing small pots in a pan of wet sand in the shade. Make sure they aren't standing in water. The evaporating moisture fromt he sand will keep them cool...

Wow 130F is that tree still alive? Thanks I will try that Wet T- Shirt thing!

12-Jul-2006

Attila

Attila Soos

Join Date: Jan-2002

Location: Los Angeles, California

Country: USA

Posts: 1,986

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriftwoodDude

Thanks I will try that Wet T- Shirt thing!

You gotta love those wet T-shirts. They look good on so many things.

12-Jul-2006

#10

sauce

Still Learning

Join Date: Aug-2004

Location: Florida

Country: USA

USDA Zone: 9

AHS Heat Zone: ?

Posts: 744

Quote:

Originally Posted by Attila

You gotta love those wet T-shirts. They look good on so many things

That was good!

__________________
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that's why they call it the present." Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) Thanks for the flag Zen!

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Big/Thick roots for Desert Roses help please.	Bonz	Bonsai Tips & Techniques	4	18-Jun-2006 08:23 PM
Trident Maple? Desert Rose?	Stu	General	2	28-Mar-2005 06:29 AM
Life And A Can Of Beer	bnsaijim	General	11	27-Nov-2003 01:31 PM
The Bonsai Life Cycle	FredL	General	7	19-Dec-2002 05:05 PM
Kumquat, Hyssop, Mesquite, & Desert Fern Tree	Desert_Dwarf	Beginner Q&A	0	24-Oct-2001 11:03 AM

	Thread Tools	Display Modes
bonsaiTALK Hint: Did you know you can double click any bonsai term on this page for its definition?