hot hot hot climate - Completely lost as to where to start..

[rikx]

Hey guys and girls.. this is my first post on this forum and joined the site as i would obviously like to get started with bonsai.. I have very little experience with this type of growing and would like to learn more as the years go by...

I have been doing a fair amount of reading and have not been able to get any definate answers to the questions i am asking.. hence i decided to join the forum..

I currently reside in mount isa qld, if you dont know where that is it is north west qld in the middle of nowhere.. tempratures out here usually hover around the 35-40 degrees 8-9 months of the year and our winter usually lasts about a month and a half with the temp not dropping below 22 deg during the day.. occasionally we get a negitive number over night..

So..i have been tossing up the best species to grow in this environment and the closet i could come are tropical plants.. however from reading, tropicals like between 25-30 and a fair amount of humidity which we do not have out here.. (very dry heat most of the year).. the only solutions that i am coming to is to create a eco chamber/growbox of somekind with artifical lighting, humidifier, temp controller, venting etc.. i dont mind having to do this as i wont be living out here for ever and can take my trees with me when i leave..

In your opinion is this over kill?.. is there other ways that i am missing?.. any suggestions would be much appreciated as i would like to get started soon.. thanks for reading the rant

[Truth]

Tropical trees are your way to go. Look into natives in your immediate area, and Ficus, which are very very hardy trees. The long warm months means you'll get continual fast strong growth on your tropical and sub-tropical trees, and short winters mean short dormancies. The only thing I want to address is your nighttime temperatures, where you mentioned that it occasionally gets negative overnight. In general tropical trees, like ficus don't pair too well with frosts, so if you keep them close to thick walls or your house, where residual heat is stored and slowly emitted throughout the night, they'll appreciate it much more.

[Jarad]

Welcome mate!

Get your hands on some figs. Yes, being tropical they like some humidity, but they also don't like too much. I'm sure you have had a read of the posts about issues caused by too much moisture. Being in such a dry environment, you can place your trees in a tray of water to increase the humidity locally.

Have a look around you to see what is growing in nature and see if you can get some similar species from a nursery or collect them sustainably. If you google "Mount Isa Native Plants" I'm sure you will find something. I would recommend Melaleucas (and check out Pups trees for inspiration).

Also Elmar has experience with keeping plants alive in hot and dry weather.

[Matt S]

Hi ricx,

Welcome. Here in Adelaide we also have stupidly hot dry summers although they don't last as long as in NW Queensland. For beginners here I often recommend Portulacaria afra - commonly called Jade, Small Leafed Jade or Elephant Grass. It's a native of South Africa and it's the only species I know that you can forget to water for a couple of days in the middle of summer (even to the point of the leaves wrinkling up) and it'll just keep kicking on. Do a Google image search for "Portulacaria afra Bonsai" and see what can be done.

I have no idea of their availability in Mt Isa but here they are popular pot plants and are even grown as hedges so there is no shortage of material, especially considering how you can take large cuttings really easily and have a reasonable looking tree in just a few years. If you can get your hands on some let me know as I've got a ton of information on how to look after them.

Other than that, have a good look at the gardens in your area and see what people are growing..

Good luck and keep us posted.

Matt.

[rikx]

Cheers for the info matt.. ill definately look it up.. do you usually keep them outside or do you rotate them in and out of shade.. its funny up here even the shade is pretty unbareable for humans aometimes.. my other thoughts were using a cutting from a huge tree i have in my yard.. unfortunately i have no idea what the tree is so caring for it may be a little bit hit and miss..

[rikx]

Tropical trees are your way to go. Look into natives in your immediate area, and Ficus, which are very very hardy trees. The long warm months means you'll get continual fast strong growth on your tropical and sub-tropical trees, and short winters mean short dormancies. The only thing I want to address is your nighttime temperatures, where you mentioned that it occasionally gets negative overnight. In general tropical trees, like ficus don't pair too well with frosts, so if you keep them close to thick walls or your house, where residual heat is stored and slowly emitted throughout the night, they'll appreciate it much more.

Thanks man.. yeah my next best bet is to pull some local plants and try to get a cutting going.. mango trees seem to thrive well here although im not to keen on a fruit tree

[rikx]

Welcome mate!

Get your hands on some figs. Yes, being tropical they like some humidity, but they also don't like too much. I'm sure you have had a read of the posts about issues caused by too much moisture. Being in such a dry environment, you can place your trees in a tray of water to increase the humidity locally.

Have a look around you to see what is growing in nature and see if you can get some similar species from a nursery or collect them sustainably. If you google "Mount Isa Native Plants" I'm sure you will find something. I would recommend Melaleucas (and check out Pups trees for inspiration).

Also Elmar has experience with keeping plants alive in hot and dry weather.

Thanks for the info mate.. i did have a brief look for native plants to mount isa but stopped when all they talked about was spinifex lol.. might dig a bit deeper..

[Andrew F]

You should start with olives, very forgiving, abundant where you are and free.

[rikx]

You should start with olives, very forgiving, abundant where you are and free.

As in olive trees.. sorry for my dumbness am kinda new at this.. well i did try once.. but it died.. lol

[kcpoole]

The Key to success will be to keep it simple
Olives, Ficus varieties, will be your best bet.

Get a tray larger than your pots and fill them with gravel, Place the pots on the gravel and when you water, they will not sit in the water, but it will keep the area humid than might be otherwise be the case

Water when the soil gets to the last of its moisture. ( probably 2 times a day)

Ken

[Andrew F]

You should start with olives, very forgiving, abundant where you are and free.

As in olive trees.. sorry for my dumbness am kinda new at this.. well i did try once.. but it died.. lol

Its ok, yeah Olive tree's they grow feral and wild in your area. Maybe someone [locally] can assist you in digging some.

[rikx]

The Key to success will be to keep it simple
Olives, Ficus varieties, will be your best bet.

Get a tray larger than your pots and fill them with gravel, Place the pots on the gravel and when you water, they will not sit in the water, but it will keep the area humid than might be otherwise be the case

Water when the soil gets to the last of its moisture. ( probably 2 times a day)

Ken

Cheers ken.. is it advisable to maybe keep them in a fish tank or something of the sorts to retain that humidity?.. water evaporates fairly quickly here..

[Andrew F]

That will magnify the rays and cook whatevers in there, a tray under each pot filled with 10mm scoria is your best bet.

[rikx]

That will magnify the rays and cook whatevers in there, a tray under each pot filled with 10mm scoria is your best bet.

Ok no worries.. thanks for the info..

[rikx]

So after a quick drive around the neighborhood spending more time looking at the trees than the road.. i noticed allot of figs.. (i think..?) And some yellow wisteria in a few spots.. might have to do some reading now i know what is availablr to me.. thanks for your help guys.. im glad i joined the forum.. very helpful and friendly.