Rain, rain ... hide away?

[legoman_iac]

Hey All,

Not done this before, but just moved my collection under cover. Thought it may be a little too late, after all this rain over the past week ... thinkiing to keep them there for a week or two to dry out some. Family photo here:

under_cover.jpg

- Daniel

[LLK]

Looks very friendly. Plenty of work for you there!

Lisa

[dmattar]

I'm sure you'll have it under control as long as there is still adequate airflow/circulation, although I'm not sure if you need to wait two weeks to dry them out ??? If it gets really bad, you can add more holes to nursery cans and prop up one side so that it is tilted. Change the tilted side every so often and this will help remove the excess moisture faster.

All this is relative though because how much damage or 'overwatering' is possible would depend on the regular positioning, fullness of the tree canopy and substrate. When I first started bonsai (less than a year ago), I had purchased them in the most crappy moisture retentive or compacted soils. I switched over to mostly inorganics when repotting and it helps a ton with heavy rainfall.

I'm sure some other people more experienced than me can offer more wisdom for what to do in your situation.

[shibui]

Rain for a week or so will not be a problem for most bonsai unless there was a problem before the rain. Torrential rain may cause physical damage but root rot takes months to get going.
Having the trees crowded together for a week or so should also not cause long term problems. Trees just don't work on the hourly cycles that we work on. It takes a few weeks for changes to light levels etc to affect growth of most trees.

[LLK]

Sensible dmattar! And my apology to you, Daniel, for not paying more attention.
I hope you are putting all your plants out in the open now, straight away, before breakfast! ...... if you haven't already. And separate them properly, they mustn't touch each other.
The forecast for Sydney is sunny with a temp of 30 degrees - what better conditions for drying out your plants?! The indoors "drying out" conditions you devised for them are about the worst possible, packed close together in a corner, so there would be no air circulation to speak of. They can hardly dry out and it's the ideal way of growing fungus and making your plants sick. dmattar raised the question of potting mix and indeed, the best defence against overwatering is a fast-draining soil.

The good things about rain:
Quoting the Good Earth Company: "Rainwater contains more oxygen than tap water. You might think your plants are dangerously waterlogged from sitting out in the rain. It’s a real risk from too much tap water, but the oxygen in rainwater gives you a margin of safety when soil is saturated after a downpour. (...) Rainwater dissolves the salts and other minerals in your the tap water, which remain in the soil of your plants. (...) Rainwater will also clear out the stomata or respiratory pores on your plant’s leaves, improving its ability to take in carbon dioxide and nutrients for photosynthesis. It will be healthier and grow better.

Lisa

[legoman_iac]

Sorry for the confusion ... these are not indoors, but outside, facing West, under an awning. Too many to bring inside, haha ... but thanks for checking!

In terms of soil, it's all good, free draining bonsai mix I've purchased from Ray Nesci! Will pop them back to their usual spot this morning. Was good exercise moving them all about, though had to break some roots which had gone through the pots.

Also, thanks for the tip, re: tilting ... I've seen it done in the nursuries with bigger trees, "good tip" (fun pun intended)!

Though you raise a good point re: "touching". They're always about this close to each other, probably even closer, as my collection has "grown" from 6 pots to over 30 pots these past 12 months. They usually sit in full Sun from around 11am to 430pm each day, and tend to dry out fairly well. Might see about spreading them out a bit more when I put them back shortly.

Thanks again for the comments/advice!!!

[legoman_iac]

Ahhh! Started putting them back ... not sure how they will all fit, this is why it's not a good idea to pack and move house. Might have to take over some other parts of the garden! Haha

[GavinG]

To be direct, if your mix doesn't drain well enough to cope with solid rain, you may need to fix your mix. Certainly plants should go out into the sun right now - shaded dank conditions are the best to grow fungal infections. I suspect you might be over-worrying.

Good luck!

Gavin

[legoman_iac]

Hahahl, yeh, a little over worrying ... all good, they're all back now. Thanks all!

[GavinG]

Cheers,

G