dry trees

[shibui]

Last week I noticed some tips wilting on a few trees in the nursery. Further investigation found one of the irrigation lines had popped off at a join so a whole bench had not been getting water. Fortunately we had some cooler weather and some rain so the damage was not as bad as it could have been. The bench affected is also the one with mostly smaller starters in 11 and 15 cm pots.

Worst affected are larger trees in smaller pots like these crab apples

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There is also a pattern of worse affected trees where the sprays don't quite overlap so those ones were probably just a little dry even before the irrigation malfunction. Here you can see green trees all round a small patch of brown Chinese elms.

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Initially they look pretty bad
but there's still some green leaves on most

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and even the worst looking ones have some green buds.


For those who are yet to experience bonsai drought all is not lost if you see the signs in time. First aid must be administered immediately. Soak affected pots in a tub of water overnight to properly rehydrate the entire root ball. I then just put the tree back where it belongs and wait for new leaves to open.

I have trimmed some of the worst affected trees a bit. This won't help them recover but it will make the new shoots a bit closer to the trunks so they will at least look a bit neater when they do start to grow.

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[Josh]

That's a bugger mate. I used to have irrigation but after finding the dogs chewing off the spray heads and trees not getting watered I went back to hand watering (not an option for you I know) The other thing with hand watering is I get to see the trees that need wire removed (doesn't always mean I do it ) It's amazing how a tree can bounce back.