Ground Planting in Colanders

[Steve B]

Hi RayM, couple of (further!!) questions for you if you don't mind:

- How far up the side of the colander do you like your water retaining tray to come? Are you talking half the height of the colander? I use a "Ken's mix" of 1/3 Zeolite and 2/3 Diatomite and the capillary action seems to keep the water level quite high above the level of the water in the trays. Be interesting to know what level you target the trays and the water level to see if I'm on track.

- Do you line the inside of your colanders for those that don't get buried? I've been using geotextile cloth to help keep the medium in for some of the larger mesh containers I have. Still seems to let the roots get through but wondering if there's an issue there?

Much appreciated,

Steve

[Ray M]

Ray I have planted nearly everything this year in to colinders.
I poked around in a few Japanese maples and English elms
I'm am amazed at the nice white root growth ,roots are growing out every direction and heaps of them
Will be interesting to see the amount they put on this winter when reporting time comes
Thanks for the idea I think air flow plays a huge part in this correct me if I'm wrong but will continue using this method
Cheers

Hi Meagi,
Yes, I'm sure the extra air flow does contribute to the success of this method. Great to hear your getting such good roots forming.

Regards Ray

[Ray M]

Hi RayM, couple of (further!!) questions for you if you don't mind:

- How far up the side of the colander do you like your water retaining tray to come? Are you talking half the height of the colander? I use a "Ken's mix" of 1/3 Zeolite and 2/3 Diatomite and the capillary action seems to keep the water level quite high above the level of the water in the trays. Be interesting to know what level you target the trays and the water level to see if I'm on track. Steve, I am not quite sure what you mean. I mostly use water trays with natives, but there are some other trees I will put in trays during the hot period of summer. Privet, Chinese Elms. If you look at the dimensions of the trays shown above in the thread you will see how deep they are. One way of measuring the water needs of the trees is to check if the water disappears each day. If a tree doesn't drink all the water in the tray I would reduce the amount I fill the tray or remove the tree from the tray. Please let me know if this is answering your question.

- Do you line the inside of your colanders for those that don't get buried? I've been using geotextile cloth to help keep the medium in for some of the larger mesh containers I have. Still seems to let the roots get through but wondering if there's an issue there? My first question is. What size holes does the geotixtile cloth have? With all my colanders I don't use any lining at all. If you where using a cloth basket or something like that for a large tree, you would certainly have to line it with something to prevent the soil falling through the holes.

Regards Ray

[Steve B]

That's great Ray, confirms what I had been stumbling towards.

I've moved a batch of natives into quite large (18 litre or 450mm x 350mm x 150mm) plastic storage baskets that have a 5mm mesh. I have lined them with a fine geotextile cloth (almost looks like fibreglass matting). I hadn't been using a tray, just had them sitting on a bench with about an hour of dawn sun. The Calistimon had a bunch of leaves curl up and dry out despite having what I thought was the best collection of roots of the lot. I've been dunking it for a couple of hours a day in a seasol bath and the leaves seem to be stabilising I have some trays to sit them in now. Might keep them out of any more direct light for a while longer though

[bonsaiLov]

Great idea

[Josh]

Hi Ray,
This is such an awesome thread with so much info. I have read through but didn't see the answer for this question (sorry if it has been posted/answered already).
I have a number of trees (maples, elms, melaleuca's, eucy's etc) growing in colanders and am amazed by the amount of fine feeder roots they produce. I want to plant some in the ground to get some size to them.
If they are planted in the ground, do you loose some of the mass of fine roots in the colander as they grow out. I find it amazing how easy it is to transplant from colander to bonsai pot because of mass of feeder roots.

Thanks

Josh

[Ray M]

Hi Ray,
This is such an awesome thread with so much info. I have read through but didn't see the answer for this question (sorry if it has been posted/answered already).
I have a number of trees (maples, elms, melaleuca's, eucy's etc) growing in colanders and am amazed by the amount of fine feeder roots they produce. I want to plant some in the ground to get some size to them.
If they are planted in the ground, do you loose some of the mass of fine roots in the colander as they grow out. I find it amazing how easy it is to transplant from colander to bonsai pot because of mass of feeder roots.

Thanks

Josh

Hi Josh,
Question: Do you mean planting the colanders in the ground or removing the tree from the colanders and planting the tree directly in the ground?

Regards Ray

[Josh]

Hi Ray,
This is such an awesome thread with so much info. I have read through but didn't see the answer for this question (sorry if it has been posted/answered already).
I have a number of trees (maples, elms, melaleuca's, eucy's etc) growing in colanders and am amazed by the amount of fine feeder roots they produce. I want to plant some in the ground to get some size to them.
If they are planted in the ground, do you loose some of the mass of fine roots in the colander as they grow out. I find it amazing how easy it is to transplant from colander to bonsai pot because of mass of feeder roots.

Thanks

Josh

Hi Josh,
Question: Do you mean planting the colanders in the ground or removing the tree from the colanders and planting the tree directly in the ground?

Regards Ray

Planting in the colander in the ground. I assume this will give me a faster growth rate than on the bench, but do you loose the fine feeder roots.

Cheers
Josh.

[Ray M]

Hi Josh,
Question: Do you mean planting the colanders in the ground or removing the tree from the colanders and planting the tree directly in the ground?

Regards Ray

Planting in the colander in the ground. I assume this will give me a faster growth rate than on the bench, but do you loose the fine feeder roots.

Cheers
Josh.

Hi Josh,
When the tree is growing in a colander it is self root pruning. As the roots grow out through the holes the sun will burn off the roots. Once you place the colander and tree in the the ground the roots that grow out through the holes will continue to keep growing. If you don't monitor this, the roots can become quit large. These new roots will throw out new feeder roots and some of the feeder roots within the colander may tend to dye off. When I am conscientious and monitor the tree properly I will lift the colander, cut off the external roots and replace back into the ground. New roots will form and you will get some new roots growing back within the colander confines. If you think the roots are filling the colander too much, don't be afraid to lift the tree out of the colander and do a root prune. Replace the tree back into the colander with new mix and replace the colander and tree back into the ground. Some will argue that this is not going to give as quick a result as planting the tree in the ground. There are always compromises. Do you want to keep a root ball that is easy to deal with, or are you willing to let the roots run wild and deal with them when you want to pot up into a bonsai pot? Hopefully this is some food for thought and discussion. Yes, the tree will certainly develop quicker then on the bench.

Regards Ray

[Josh]

Hi Josh,
Question: Do you mean planting the colanders in the ground or removing the tree from the colanders and planting the tree directly in the ground?

Regards Ray

Planting in the colander in the ground. I assume this will give me a faster growth rate than on the bench, but do you loose the fine feeder roots.

Cheers
Josh.

Hi Josh,
When the tree is growing in a colander it is self root pruning. As the roots grow out through the holes the sun will burn off the roots. Once you place the colander and tree in the the ground the roots that grow out through the holes will continue to keep growing. If you don't monitor this, the roots can become quit large. These new roots will throw out new feeder roots and some of the feeder roots within the colander may tend to dye off. When I am conscientious and monitor the tree properly I will lift the colander, cut off the external roots and replace back into the ground. New roots will form and you will get some new roots growing back within the colander confines. If you think the roots are filling the colander too much, don't be afraid to lift the tree out of the colander and do a root prune. Replace the tree back into the colander with new mix and replace the colander and tree back into the ground. Some will argue that this is not going to give as quick a result as planting the tree in the ground. There are always compromises. Do you want to keep a root ball that is easy to deal with, or are you willing to let the roots run wild and deal with them when you want to pot up into a bonsai pot? Hopefully this is some food for thought and discussion. Yes, the tree will certainly develop quicker then on the bench.

Regards Ray

Cheers Ray. That is what I was thinking. I have a couple of trees I want thicken a little, don't need a huge amount but figure a little up wont hurt.

Thanks
Josh.

[Ray M]

Hi Josh,

If you think the roots are filling the colander too much, don't be afraid to lift the tree out of the colander and do a root prune. Replace the tree back into the colander with new mix and replace the colander and tree back into the ground.

Thought I should qualify this a little more. If you life the colander and cut off the external roots the tree will still be quite happy as there will be sufficient roots within the colander. If you remove the tree from the colander and root prune I would do this at the most desirable time for that species of tree. Doing this is the same as if you were going to do a root prune and pot the tree into a bonsai pot for instance. As you are aware some trees are very fussy as to when you would do a root prune and repot.

Regards Ray

[Josh]

Hi Josh,

If you think the roots are filling the colander too much, don't be afraid to lift the tree out of the colander and do a root prune. Replace the tree back into the colander with new mix and replace the colander and tree back into the ground.

Thought I should qualify this a little more. If you life the colander and cut off the external roots the tree will still be quite happy as there will be sufficient roots within the colander. If you remove the tree from the colander and root prune I would do this at the most desirable time for that species of tree. Doing this is the same as if you were going to do a root prune and pot the tree into a bonsai pot for instance. As you are aware some trees are very fussy as to when you would do a root prune and repot.

Regards Ray

Thanks Ray, I figured that would be the case although the idea of lifting the colander and pruning the external roots is appealing. Thanks

Josh.

[Elmar]

G'day all,
Is there a list of what species to root prune at what time of year?
And a list if helpful hints to look for (buds, leaf colouration, etc) so as to be able to 'tweak' the timing of the root pruning...
This would help us newbies to utilize this procedure as well from the get-go.


Cheers
EZ
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ray M]

G'day all,
Is there a list of what species to root prune at what time of year?
And a list if helpful hints to look for (buds, leaf colouration, etc) so as to be able to 'tweak' the timing of the root pruning...
This would help us newbies to utilize this procedure as well from the get-go.


Cheers
EZ
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi CoGRedeMptioN,
I have started another thread on Potting. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=17363 Have a look at it and see if it is any help.

Regards Ray

[bonsaibeginer]

Hi Ray
I just wanted to ask about being on the ground. I've had the majority of my trees in colander now since you first posted this idea and up until a week ago thought you had them in the ground... The only reason I have had my trees on the ground is time restraints and was always planning to bury them. I understand why it's on the ground but my question is what ground? I take it it's a bed dug up? If so can you see a fault with laying weed matting on the bed (as I spend more time weeding than bonsai-ing) and having the trees sitting on the mat?
Cheers Grant