AusBonsai

kcpoole wrote:I notice that a few leaves have little "Bubbles" on them. Any idea what this is?

kcpoole wrote:Thanks Lennard
Probably right as lots on mine seem to have opened
I will just remove any leaves showing signs, but as I am surrounded by Eucs, I doubt I can be rid of them

Ken

MattA wrote:Does the hollow extends up to the uro between the first & second branches or is that part of your future plans?

MattA wrote:

kcpoole wrote:Thanks Lennard
Probably right as lots on mine seem to have opened
I will just remove any leaves showing signs, but as I am surrounded by Eucs, I doubt I can be rid of them

Ken

By all means remove the leaves if the galls bother you but in my experience they have no real effect on the health or vigour of my eucs so i just let them be, they look a bit ugly but I accept it as part of there natural cycle.

Pyrethrum would most likely be effective in preventing the galls if you know when the eggs are laid & keep the tree sprayed during that period.

Matt

The hollow is an extension of a large hole on the upper back of the tree, and the uro you mention is attached in turn to that. The tree is essentially completely hollow now, thanks largely to the chop-and-grow treatment it received before I collected it.

MattA wrote: that old lady for hacking it to bits as long as she did

Despite our wet Spring/Summer/Autumn, growth on this one had virtually come to a standstill since the last update. Jarrod and I discussed this issue recently, and we speculated that the Summer may not have been warm enough for the Oz native plants to grow properly, yet I observed massive growth on ground-grown Eucalypts in my area. So, I turned my attention to the roots of this one to see what was going on...

I am beginning to suspect that I have made some serious errors in terms of my potting mixes of late: I had already concluded that the addition of sphagnum was a mistake, as the small particles prevented water and air from penetrating the soil. It appeared that there were still some remnant bits of sphagnum in the soil of this tree, but the problem was compounded by the abundance of small particles (under about 2mm) of organic matter, sand, attapulgite and vermiculite. These had all compressed over time to create a big block of semi-permeable dirt, which was clearly not ideal for growing Bonsai in. (Of course, a percentage of the small particles had appeared by way of natural decomposition, but most were there because of laziness and me not paying heed to what I had learned many years ago... )

As has been discussed on AB.c numerous times before, the general consensus is that a healthy root system requires not only water, but also air in order to thrive. Small particles in a Bonsai soil can slow water uptake, and therefore limit air penetration. If this continues for too long, the entire structure of the soil can be altered to such a point as to be useless.

When I first got into Bonsai via Internet Forums, the importance of sifting one's soil mix was paramount. Mrs Fly gave me a soil sieve with various screens from 2-3mm up to 8-10mm, and I used it religiously when sifting (at the time) general purpose potting mix and gravel. Then at some point, I took heed of a counter-claim that it was not at all important to sift Bonsai soil so long as one's trees were properly watered. That's when I stopped being so vigilant about sifting my mixes, believing that I knew how to water my trees "properly". (However, the "proper" way to water one's Bonsai is almost entirely dependent on the soil mix, so it is a two-way street.) Looking back now, I see that many of my trees - including this one - were more vigorous back then.

So, I decided to sift the soil from this one in order to open up the mix and get the roots back into order. I removed all particles under 2-3mm, which was quite a few handfuls. Interestingly, the effect on the overall potted volume was almost negligible (and I'm excited about how much air/water space I've freed up).

Roger wrote:Is it a yellow box?

FlyBri wrote:Well, it is probably not the best time of year to repot a Euc, but it is far from being the worst time.

Dario wrote:I really like this Euc and I guess I will find out in the updates to come if you get a new shoot in a good spot to regrow a new apex, and how you develop the it from here.
Good luck with restoring its vigour...did the hailstorm also affect this tree?

kcpoole wrote:The story continues thru its twists and turns.
I liked that top section fly, and is a pity you lost it I reckon . I love the Carved section now, Has a wonderful grey aged look now