Some ficus nerifolia hacking

Dale Cochoy

Jim,
I was hoping I WAS growing them right!

Too many bugs, too much rain and humidity, hurricanes, rebuilding, in tropics. If I "retire" to anywhere it wuld be Phoenix.
365 day/year bike riding!

Tiny yard so limited bonsai
Dale

__________________
________________________________
If you want to be Different....
You have to DO something Different!
__________________________________________

Some people NEVER take the time to do a job right the first time....
but, they always seem to make the time to do it over again...
____________________________________________
Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

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bnsaijim

Growing 'em right for OH! I'm about to have a flashback- heading to Big Lake in Maine for a business retreat (aka) fishing trip. Gonna freeze my duff off! Maybe I'll find a few rocks to bring home since there aren't any in my neck of the woods. I hate cold... had to buy a real jacket just for the trip.

I've got about half my "yard" taken up... can never have too much yard!

Phoenix- TOO HOT and dry for my liking... I like my hurricane season waterings. Compensates for lazy habits...

L8R

Jim

__________________
Jim Stone
Seki Bonsai Studio
sekibonsai.com
Santa Fe, TX

ericN

nice green house and tropical trees dale. i wish i have a green house. maybe i should move away from high-rise living and get myself a yard.

Dale Cochoy

It's really tough doing bonsai without some yard or outside area to yourself.


"I've got about half my "yard" taken up... can never have too much yard!"

Well, I SUPPOSE I can agree about the yard ( at least I did 20 years ago!) , BUT, you can DEFINITELY have to many bonsai! In fact, I find, If you have too many "bonsai" that you really wind up just having too many potted plants!
If you can't keep them all healthy, styled and repotted....then you have too many. I can speak from experience!!
Dale

__________________
________________________________
If you want to be Different....
You have to DO something Different!
__________________________________________

Some people NEVER take the time to do a job right the first time....
but, they always seem to make the time to do it over again...
____________________________________________
Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

ckesselring

Dale, what in your experience is good for spraying tropicals to keep the bugs off? Just curious, since I did have a few issues last winter. Especially scale. Yuck!

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Christian Kesselring
Salt Lake City, UT - Zone 7a
Member, Bonsai Society of Utah

Repotter

I'll give my input on the bug treatment. We at Tellys Greenhouse use all seasons oil spray for scale and Marathon as a systemic that takes care of all the rest of them.

__________________
http://www.tellys.com

http://www.Fourseasonsbonsai.com
The original Four Seasons Bonsai Club of Michigan.
Guest master in August is Pedro Morales on August 30, 31 demo and workshop.
Tellys Greenhouse, 3301 John R road, Troy Mi. 48083

Four Seasons Bonsai Club meetings monthly.
Troy, Michigan

"Anything is possible when you don't know what you are doing"................someone famous I think.

ckesselring

Thanks Repotter. Just one more question and I will relinquish the mic. Would Neem oil work for that purpose? I have a bottle that I picked up at random on some shopping trip. For scale in the past I have used a soap/vegetable oil solution, but I can't imagine it would work as a preventive measure.

__________________
Christian Kesselring
Salt Lake City, UT - Zone 7a
Member, Bonsai Society of Utah

treebeard55

Let me also say, nice trees, Dale!

Good point about mentioning where one lives, because possibilities and restrictions do vary by climate.

I'm also in USDA zone 5, and my tropicals spend 5-6 months every year under lights. I use a 4-bulb fluorescent fixture, and a pair of standard 2-bulb fixtures side by side for my second bench. Forty-watt bulbs, and every tree is as close to the bulbs as possible. (Remember the inverse-square law of electromagnetism.) The trees -- especially the willow-leafs -- don't grow as fast there as they do in sunlight, of course, but they seem to get by until spring.

Provided I keep the humidity up! Low humidity seems to be the problem issue for me during the winter. I run a humidifier, and still try to mist the trees at least once a day. If I do keep the humidity reasonable, the trees do OK until spring.

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Treebeard 55

"To do bunjin is easy. However, to do a bunjin masterpiece is difficult." -- Susumu Nakamura, at MBS '07

treebeard55

On the bugs issue, let me add a postscript.

I've had problems with both scale -- especially on my neriifolias -- and whitefly. Horticultural spray oil works OK for me, since it smothers the beasties. I also use a systemic, which does wonders, but must, repeat must, be kept away from children. I haven't tried Neem oil, except mixed with an insecticidal soap.

Anyone else have success with some other product?

__________________
Treebeard 55

"To do bunjin is easy. However, to do a bunjin masterpiece is difficult." -- Susumu Nakamura, at MBS '07