Hi All,
I thought i'd give an update a year later so i can keep my own record aswell somewhere.
It's been a really wet winter here so they went quite light green but are slowly colouring up as i start to feed in spring.
Haven't loss one in the last year so that's some positive news!
Thanks for the advice @treeman
I used a colander more as a experiment and also i wanted to be able to see the roots are they good or bad i have no idea really.
Those in those colander were planted a few years ago and was the only size i could really get or i would have used smaller ones.
Interesting on the pH level i didn't know and i'll keep this in mind and do some additional testing.
Now for anything im using a 1:1:1 mix (1 part pumice, 1 part Red lava, 1 part Akadama) more because this is really free draining and can almost not over water in summer.
I also had a chat about water schemes here in WA and it seems i'm actually under watering both frequency and depth between Dec - March when its really hot 35-40 degrees most days.
Most people with free draining mixes seem to water 2 x a day so i totally changed how i watered.
Perhaps in my head dry feet = dryish
I can see how if its getting too dry over summer it compromises the fine white / alive roots then during other works later in the season the root system is unable to cope with pushing new buds etc.
1 watering at 7am and really soak the pot more then i ever did before
2nd watering at around 3pm where i water it deeply again this way by evening the remaining water in the soil is not sitting stagnant.
All trees are kept in full sun all day long but on those 40+ days i get them some protection.
Thoughts from any one in WA or anyone in a similar climate?
@treeman ?
Outside of that here is what some of them look like now,
I repotted 2 of my larger ones last year with the help of a local bonsai artist here interestingly into terracotta pots from a grow bags ensuring to make it a nice tight fit and slowly transitioning it to the above mix. Nice white roots but we removed all the thick root growth that hadn't been touched for years.
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They recovered well over summer.
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This is them this year.
Lots of heavy growth in the young ones.
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And all have fine roots coming through
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On the right track i have no idea?
hopefully im going in the right direction?