Watering 101

bonsaial1

While perusing Home Depot today at work (killing time before lunch), I wandered over to the outside nursery. While passing the indoor plants I noticed this young lady watering the tropical plants. She had the coolest watering cart, pressurized by electric motor and everything.

She was watering this raised planter in the store, full of very ovate, large leaved rubber type tropical plants. She was watering from the top, and the water was just running off the leaves like a large umbrella. She watered in the same spot for about 45 seconds and then moved on. I don't think one drop of water ever touched any soil. The water just ran off like a ducks back.

This got me to thinking, how could this happen in bonsai. If one watered to high, you could water just the leaves and not drench the soil very deeply. What about the area behind the trunk? Does it get adaquate water? Has the branches begun to wither there? The roots will dry up, or grow towards the front of the tray towards the water and distort the nebari if not turned occasionaly.

Turning the pots will help in making sure the plants get watered on all side evenly. I also noticed my own pots get white scale on the fronts but the back always looks good. This could be a potential problem. Even though the water comes from the front, and the angle is not going to wet the back of the pot directly, I should get some runoff from the pot to discolor it back there too. Not getting white scale there means not enough water is given to the back of the plant, and roots could be drying out.

A conversation was had at the local bonsai nursery recently about spider mite. The bonsai monger said that the first line of defense against spider mite are daily jets of water on the foliage of the plants. This will deter the spiders from taking up residency in your plant in the first place.

Watering the pots and the benches and the surrounding area will also help to raise humidity and keep plants from roasting on those extended summer days.

Invest in a good watering wand from Joshua Roth, Yoshiaki or Futaba. I think TreeBay has some watering wands for your investment. These wands have super fine watering heads and deliver great amounts of water with a spray so fine that it will not disturb the soil. Turn the head so that it points up and water the undersides of your foliage canopy's as often as possible. This will wash away dust and any insect eggs and larvea that may be trying to hide there.

Check soils with a chop stick once and awhile, this will give you a measure just how much water the plant is usuing. After watering, let the plants stand for a few minutes, about 10. Pick the plant up and tilt it ever so slightly. If water runs out of the holes, you have a drainage problem. What happens is, when the pot comes in contact with the bench, the water starts to flow out of the hole. When the flow exceeds the capacity for the bench to run the water away, surface tension builds a block under the pot and no more water will flow out. It just stays trapped in the pot. Elevate the pot on some sticks. Make them some nice sticks so they don't look stupid. You could cut them to just fit under your pots and be hardly noticable. This added height will keep the water flowing out of the pot. Salts from fertilizer will not build up now, and can be dosed more frequently.

That should cover it. Water when needed and keep the green on top.
.:|:. Al

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agraham

Al,

i would only disagree with one statement.....there is ALWAYS a thin layer of water at the bottom of a pot after watering because of surface tension within the pot....it does NOT indicate a problem with drainage.

if you then tilt the pot,the water column becomes taller and the force of gravity will overcome the surface tension...thus draining excess water out of the drainage holes.

i only mention this so that others don't all of a sudden think they need to change their soil mix or that elevating their pots will necessarily get the last bit of water to drain.....it is a good idea though because it definately increases airflow and gives insects a less cozy place to hide

andy

Will_Heath

Al,

thanks for the post. Elevating the pots also allows air to flow underneath the pots, helping with drainage, preventing mold and mildew on your benches, and allowing that bottom layer of soil to dry out.

I switched from checking with my finger to checking with a chopstick awhile ago and I believe I was over watering before since the chopstick has led me to water less than my finger did.

Thanks again Al for a informative post.