Collected Schefflera Arboricola
Posted: September 22nd, 2018, 8:35 pm
I had a last minute opportunity to collect a dwarf umbrella tree from a residence that was to be removed along with other plants. This is my very first collection attempt and I do no know if a umbrella plant is considered worth collecting!
The tree is about 10 to 15 years old and was about 2.5m tall. By the time I got to collecting the tree had been pruned down. Apparently there were the beginnings of some aerial roots above the prune line.
Most of the soils in the area were shallow (as in a foot before basalt starts) and I was lucky that the root system was indeed shallow.
I had to cut a lot of roots off to get the plant to fit in the most suitable container I could razzle together at short notice. The same goes for the soil. The bottom 2/3 is a 50/50 perlite and course grit mix, both debco products. The top third is some left over premium potting mix when the course stuff ran out. I have not idea if I have done the best thing.
I plan to water daily and fertilised three a week of those waterings eco-seaweed. I have no idea how to style this plant, I have very little bonsai experience. I figure the best thing is leave it 6 months and make sure it lives first!
Before photos are pretty slim. I did get some video of the collection which I have put up on my YouTube channel (a long time pipeline dream in the same boat as getting stuck into some bonsai!) for those who are interested.
https://youtu.be/YGn9V3-G1zw
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The tree is about 10 to 15 years old and was about 2.5m tall. By the time I got to collecting the tree had been pruned down. Apparently there were the beginnings of some aerial roots above the prune line.
Most of the soils in the area were shallow (as in a foot before basalt starts) and I was lucky that the root system was indeed shallow.
I had to cut a lot of roots off to get the plant to fit in the most suitable container I could razzle together at short notice. The same goes for the soil. The bottom 2/3 is a 50/50 perlite and course grit mix, both debco products. The top third is some left over premium potting mix when the course stuff ran out. I have not idea if I have done the best thing.
I plan to water daily and fertilised three a week of those waterings eco-seaweed. I have no idea how to style this plant, I have very little bonsai experience. I figure the best thing is leave it 6 months and make sure it lives first!
Before photos are pretty slim. I did get some video of the collection which I have put up on my YouTube channel (a long time pipeline dream in the same boat as getting stuck into some bonsai!) for those who are interested.
https://youtu.be/YGn9V3-G1zw
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk