Is my New Hose Safe for bonsai?

whidn

I recently purchased a new garden hose. Well its a cheap one you know the kind that makes the water smell and tast like rubber. Does anyone think this can be harmfull to my plants?
I mean rubber is chemical based and if it leavs a smell to the water I would think it leavs a trace in the soil too.

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TreeBay

Most inexpensive hoses are made with PVC (poly vinyl chloride) Some of those aren't drinking water safe because they oils and residues that can leak into the water. Some are carcinogenic compounds. Happily, this is no problem for the bonsai. The most expensive hoses are rubber, so your cheap hose is probably not really rubber.

Regards,

Matt

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Treebeard

while we are on the subject of hoses... a warning to others who might fall into the same trap I did.

hosepipes lying around in the sun all day get HOT.

I probably watered my trees on more than one occasion (read: lots) with water at about 40-50*C until I realised.

Now I always run the hose for a minute until the hot water is flushed out.

Regards,

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TreeBay

Very good advice! ... and don't forget to share it with anyone you ask to water your trees for you when you are gone.

Regards,

Matt

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Mittar

Ok, this has been bothering me since I started about a year ago.

When I water my trees, I either have to water them from the bottom up in a basin or slowly in small amounts to keep the soil from all washing away, or at the very least shifting around the pot like mad.

Do you guys all have moss covering your soil so it doesn't shift or what?

Please help!

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Jose_Alberto

Are you using a head sprayer? it sounds weird, my trees have not moss over it but they don't loose soil unless I left them too dry, for example now that I came back from my trip...

BTW, Thankfully I found ALL MY TREES alive...

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Bonsainut

Mittar,
This is a common problem. Several factors may be causing your problem.

1. Bonsai planted too high in pot. Sometimes we try to get by with a smaller pot and mound up the dirt. This causes the water to roll off faster causing erosion.

2. A lot of organic material in you mix. The stuff that used to be plant material (pine/fir bark, peat, compost) is light and tends to float. This gets pushed off first as you water.

3. Your drainage is bad. It can be caused by a bad mix, a pot that is overdue for transplanting and is full of roots, excess salt build-up, blocked drain holes from screen rotting or oxidizing, etc.

4. Your method of hand watering is bad. Either too much at a time, or not using a wand with a water breaker(rose).

So what can we do?

1. Make sure when repotting to put the crown of the tree( the part where trunk meets roots only slightly above the edge of the pot. Leave the soil a half inch or so below the pot edge to deflect the rolling water and direct it down into the roots.

2. Most bonsai hobbyest use some sort of organic in their mix. I encourage beginner students to have a topping mix that includes a low percentage of the organic, and is mostly rock of a natural color. It tends to break the water and direct it into pot.Use something that looks like soil, no aquarium rock,etc.

3. Drainage can be fixed on the next repot. What about an emergency fix? Sometimes a hard as roick soil can be opened up with a chopstick then culrivated on top, put on a cover rock then use a water penetrant like "Water-In" to lower surface tension and allow the water to percolate. Check for blocked drain holes. A quick fix is to actually get a long nose plier and take out the drain cover. Usually the roots are such that no soli will be lost and some addtional drainage will occur.

4. The proper tool is important here. A watering wand may solve all your problems. If you are hose end watering look for the "Masakuni" type wand. It has a very fine spray. There are some Dramm brand water breakers that are close to as good. The secret is to set the water pressure so you can turn the wand face side up to allow a very gentle dropping of the water. If you use it face side down the pressure is greater.

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