Ground Planting in Colanders

[Ray M]

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... I have some in the ground and others on top of the soil. 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? Yes, if you want the best results, prepare a garden bed with good soil. The colander will contain your normal bonsai mix you would use for the species of tree. 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? That's a good question. I think the roots would work their way down throgh the mess. If you wanted to be certain. Lay the mess on the bed, cut a hole the size of the colander/s and plant it/them into the ground. This would allow the roots to grow normally and the mess would stop weeds around it/them.
Cheers Grant

Regards Ray

[Ces]

Hi Guys,

I've got a question for the contributors to this thread... I'm a little confused as to what to do with my 1st year ground grown starters. Most are in colanders, IN the ground and some are planted on top of tiles. Since I have read two seemingly conflicting methods for growing trainers in that I often read that the trees should be lifted each year and root pruned to encourage a flat spreading base but also that the benefits of ground growing are most obvious from year 2 onwards, I'm not sure what to do with my trainers this year.

To be specific I have Eucalyptus, Banksia and Casuarina in large colanders, as well as Liquid Ambar, Japanese and Trident maples on tiles. I'm planning medium sized and larger bonsai for all of this stock. So should I lift and prune this year or wait until next year?

Any help appreciated on this.

Cheers guys,

Ces.

EDIT: I should note, all the trainers are around 3 years old, 1 year in the ground.

[GavinG]

For BIG growth, leave them two years. For good control of the roots, prune them every year. It's up to you. Eucalypts might take bare-rooting better in the heat of summer - maybe test different times through the growing season. Water frequently if you bare-root them.

Gavin

[Ray M]

Hi Guys,

I've got a question for the contributors to this thread... I'm a little confused as to what to do with my 1st year ground grown starters. Most are in colanders, IN the ground and some are planted on top of tiles. Since I have read two seemingly conflicting methods for growing trainers in that I often read that the trees should be lifted each year and root pruned to encourage a flat spreading base but also that the benefits of ground growing are most obvious from year 2 onwards, I'm not sure what to do with my trainers this year. As Gavin mentioned, the longer you leave them in the ground the larger the bases. The trees that are in colanders could be lifted, when it gets a little warmer, and cut the roots that are outside the colanders and then replace them back into the ground. When you say you have some planted on tiles. Do you mean they are in colanders planted on tiles, or are they just placed on tiles?

To be specific I have Eucalyptus, Banksia and Casuarina in large colanders, as well as Liquid Ambar, Japanese and Trident maples on tiles. I'm planning medium sized and larger bonsai for all of this stock. So should I lift and prune this year or wait until next year?

Any help appreciated on this.

Cheers guys,

Ces.

EDIT: I should note, all the trainers are around 3 years old, 1 year in the ground.

Regards Ray

[Ces]

Thanks Gavin. Makes perfect sense. Just needed it spelled out like that.

Hi Ray. The trees on tiles are just by themselves, that is, not in colanders.

thanks again guys.

ces

[kcpoole]

2 different purposes for the tile and colander.

The tiles are to force radial root spread regardless of whether in a plastic pot, colander, or directly in the ground
The colander to force finer roots within the container closer to the trunk.

Repot / Lift and root prune depends largely on the growth obtained each year. Faster species, Elms, Maples, Ficus I do every year. Pines and Junis will be every 2 years or so for me.

Ken

[MOGGINATOR]

wow just wow

i have been reading this thread for the last 2 hours and all of my seedlings and small trainers will now be going out of the pots and into colanders and into the ground as soon as summer is over will also free up a lot of room in my greenhouse to grow more seedlings as the 2 and 3 year old plants will be going into the ground

[fredman]

Colanders are a great idea. I started doing it this spring. I have a lot of potted plants that i'm growing bigger. This year I replanted most of them in colanders in the ground, and they are growing at double speed. Easy to lift and trim the roots to. Only problem is the quality of the damn cheap stuff $2 shop colanders, but hey what can you expect for that kind of money.....
Because of this thread I now place the other potted plants in the ground about 2inches deep. That also makes a huge difference in the growth rate. I have some succulents that have basically been standing still for the last 3 years. This year they are going bonkers again. I made myself a growth bed and filled it with prima garden soil.
The reason they grow better is when the pot is recessed there is no water table in the pot. The new fine feeder roots aren't smothered by the suspended water in the bottom of the pot and they are free to explore....

[Beginner Bonsai]

Thanks Ray. Very interesting.

[Reece]

Great thread........

[MOGGINATOR]

yea this would have to be one of the best threads i have rea don here i am going to the $2 shop tomorrow to stock up on colanders with the grow bed have u covered it with shade cloth due to the heat and sunlight or is it in a shady sport or just gets morning sun?

[fredman]

Yep thanks to Ray it has changed my whole approach to bonsai.

[Ray M]

yea this would have to be one of the best threads i have rea don here i am going to the $2 shop tomorrow to stock up on colanders with the grow bed have u covered it with shade cloth due to the heat and sunlight or is it in a shady sport or just gets morning sun?

Hi Moddinator,
First question to answer is no I don't cover the bed with shade cloth. That is the simple answer. Depending on what species of tree and most importantly the conditions where you live will dictate if the tree needs shade of full sun. Please do some checking concerning the species you are intending to put in the ground. You may need an open area and a covered area.

Regards Ray

[MOGGINATOR]

hey ray

yea thats cool they are selling raised garden beds at kmart for $19 and tey are pretty big 2 so i have bought a few i might due one full sun and one shaded what do you do in winter with the frost? im in melbourne and the frost is pretty bad here during winter

[Ray M]

hey ray

yea thats cool they are selling raised garden beds at kmart for $19 and tey are pretty big 2 so i have bought a few i might due one full sun and one shaded what do you do in winter with the frost? im in melbourne and the frost is pretty bad here during winter

Hi Mogginator,
I don't have very bad frosts where I live. It's not really a problem for me. Maybe some of our members from the same area will chip in and give you some ideas as to what they do.

Regards Ray