AusBonsai

That's great Mojo, they are awesome paintings Your neighbour has great style!
Thank you very much for sharing with us...
I'm all for the thread, it's a great idea for AusBonsai.
Until then, anybody got a good organic leaf catipillar deterant?
I caught one on a little Ficus and sent him packing but I can't be there all the time
Cheers

[quote="Mojo Moyogi"]Hi alpineart, great to hear that you are going natural, it woul;d be great if we could hear about your methods in more detail. When you say UV treated water,

Hi Mojo , i've never been anything else since i been here . We are blessed up hear as our water treatment plant is a state of the art U.V Plant ,no chlorine or other additives are added to the water supply . As for potting mixes {BONSAI MIX} i mix my own always have and always will .Taken a lot of time and effort to get the mix to the present stage, i don't use the commercial products that you fella's rave about .Never tried them never will .

I collect natural products where i can , wash ,sieve blend and try and try and try . Iam currently using a mixture of red scoria 8mm minus, collected aged pine bark 8mm minus {i mean aged , not bought in a bag labelled as aged "cos it aint"} .Its produced hear in Myrtleford at the pine mill ,sold buy the truck load and bagged up to be sold mis-labeled as aged pine bark .

The other additive for pines/conifers and deciduous is Amgro Organic blend , it initially works as a fertilizer and for miosture retention after which i use seasol power feed and tomatoe starter food for fertilizer in a rotation .If i require a softer mix for smaller trees or seedling i grade the sieve down to 3mm . This particular blend has seen fantastic results on all the tree potted and just for good measure some were planted in a different formula and the results are quite the opposite .

After 15 years i recon i have a good mix that i will use from now on .I blended around 1 1/2 to 2 tons of mix for last season , this season all i will do during repotting is wash the old mix and add Amgro organic blend then repot .The pine bark is good for numerous years the scoria doesn't deteriorate and the fines that are present are washed into the garden . The ratio of the blend is 60-30-10 .I water every day , pines , cedars , conifers , deciduous and seedlings with a hose and a finger over the end , tried a spray didn't agree with it .

I have never ever used a spray for pesticide , herbicide or fungicide .Cheers

bonscythe wrote:That's great Mojo, they are awesome paintings Your neighbour has great style!
Thank you very much for sharing with us...
I'm all for the thread, it's a great idea for AusBonsai.
Until then, anybody got a good organic leaf catipillar deterant?
I caught one on a little Ficus and sent him packing but I can't be there all the time
Cheers

Hi bonscythe,

Yates Dipel: http://www.yates.com.au/products/organi ... ler-dipel/
I haven't tried it, the Powerfull Owls and Bats slaughter moths by night and smaller insect eating native birds clean up catterpillars during the day, I hardly see a caterpillar any more.

Cheers,
Mojo Moyogi

alpineart, that is quite a way to grow bonsai, it must have taken a lot of trial and error to perfect, but it is obviously working for you.

Cheers
Mojo

Jamie wrote:gday craig

i would like to know what this sunlight soap is? is it like natrasoap?

also im not sure of the efects on the environment of the mining of diatomite but it has a lot of other uses than bonsai and beleive it would be similar to other minerals that are mined for industries.

jamie

Sunlight soap is a brand of pure soap. Ask your wife, Jamie. You can buy it at the supermarket, usually in the laundry section.

Glenda

Mojo Moyogi wrote:alpineart, that is quite a way to grow bonsai, it must have taken a lot of trial and error to perfect, but it is obviously working for you.

Cheers
Mojo

Cheers Mojo , i believe 50% of what i read is the truth and thats about all .Different conditions demand different processes . Most written literiture is form the Northern hemisphere reguarding Bonsai and mediums .To Quote a well known European Artist in our last conversation "until you Aussie blokes realize" your condition are vastly different to ours , climate , weather , soils ,temperatures ,fertilizers even your air , you will struggle with our methods .I have tried and tested alternative methods, mediums and fertilizers none of which i have read about .Why because i can and i dare to be different .. Cheers

alpineart wrote:

Mojo Moyogi wrote:alpineart, that is quite a way to grow bonsai, it must have taken a lot of trial and error to perfect, but it is obviously working for you.

Cheers
Mojo

Cheers Mojo , i believe 50% of what i read is the truth and thats about all .Different conditions demand different processes . Most written literiture is form the Northern hemisphere reguarding Bonsai and mediums .To Quote a well known European Artist in our last conversation "until you Aussie blokes realize" your condition are vastly different to ours , climate , weather , soils ,temperatures ,fertilizers even your air , you will struggle with our methods .I have tried and tested alternative methods, mediums and fertilizers none of which i have read about .Why because i can and i dare to be different .. Cheers

Cheers to you alpineart for finding what works for you in your locale. Australias climate is unique, there can be violent differences in wether at a given location from one day to the next, even from hour to hour. I agree wholeheartedly that the horticultural aspects of bonsai in Australia are poles apart from what would be best practice in the UK, Europe, USA or Japan.
I do think we have horticultural advantages. Air and water quality for one. Pests and diseases. Perhaps our native fauna is less harmful or more beneficial to our trees.

Mojo Moyogi

im keen to find out a more natural way of looking after trees and pests....sounds like a "mighty fine idea" good to see someone tthinking outside of the circle....

HiMojo i have a mate in Melbourne who would retest my methods down there , different altitude , opposite side of the great devide and the results were just as good .The temps in Aus are radical alright humidity , cold air , stiffling heat just to name 1 area .I have had snow here 3 times in the lat decade or more and only 666 feet above sea level , once on a day that started out as a 30-35 degrees sunny day temps plumitted to around 3 degrees i recieved a dump of 2 inches . Cheers

Krittas, gotta challenge yourself and your conditions , i wont say my methods will work every where but it should work in most cases .I use local materials both made and collected where possible .Cheers

Krittas, you can use off the shelf organic products to begin with and then gradually experiment to formulate your own. To start with, fertilisers are the easiest to swithch from chemical to organic.

Cheers
Mojo Moyogi

Krittas, gotta challenge yourself and your conditions , i wont say my methods will work every where but it should work in most cases .I use local materials both made and collected where possible .Cheers[/quote]

dont worry if it is on this forum i will give it a go...have already tried a few of the guys ideas with getting rid of ants and they seem to work....best thing about the forum is its guys who are here in oz so problems are very similar no matter where you are in OZ....

Ron wrote:I had my fortnightly 'fertathon' yesterday and used Seasol's Powerfeed for the first time. Backyard smelt like a fish processing factories for a couple of hours - wonder what the neighbours thought (my family's thoughts on it are not fit for a family-friendly forum )?

I decided to try Powerfeed as it's supposed to be suitable for all plants - natives, azaleas etc. This would save me from switching between what I normally use - Miracle Gro general and Miracle Gro for Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendron and natives. I keep all pots together and used to have to sort the before fertilising. (PowerFeed has a fish base which is fortified with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The ratio of which is 12:1.4:7 )

I used the Powerfeed on my garden plants as well and now I notice my 2 metre rhododendron which I've had for 20 years is almost dead. Since March 15 when it got the Powerfeed the leaves have turned yellow and are now going brown then black. This has never happened before and I really think the tree's very close to death.

Anyone else experienced a similar problem with Powerfeed?

http://www.seasol.com.au/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=54

Another point: I notice my dogs love to lick up Seasol and Powerfeed overflow so it might be worthwhile pointing this out:

"Is Seasol safe for pets?
What do I do if my dog licks Seasol?

If your pet drinks Seasol, it would be advisable to supply him/her with plenty of fresh water to dilute the contents in the stomach. Due to its alkalinity, gastric irritation may result if significant quantities of the concentrate are ingested. In this case please contact your vet."

http://www.seasol.com.au/index.php?opti ... emid=67#11

Hi Ron I can understand how that whould be really fustrating to have the rhododendron damaged. I did not see anything stating it can be used on azalea's but after a bit of a google I found this that definatly states it can be used on azalea's
http://www.seafeed.com.au/

I would be calling up seasol and see what they have to say. Bloody weekend though

Hi Brett,

I rang their number before using it and was told it could be used on all species as shown in your link.

I just don't think the rhodo's sudden apparent demise is a coincidence.

Interestingly, the rhodo has never had Seasol on it either.

I'll call them again on Monday.

Ron ...