Ground Planting in Colanders

[coh]

Thanks for the reply, Ray!

OK, two different approaches for two different situations. The question that still remains in my mind - when you finally remove the tree from the colander (the ones that have been in the ground), do you find circling/binding roots at all, or do the root systems remain good/fibrous. Reading between the lines, I would guess that the root systems inside the pots stay in better shape than those that would have been in nursery pots.

Some other questions come to mind. I would think you'd want to establish the tree within the colander for a while before planting the colander in the ground? In order to establish that dense, fibrous root system with lots of feeder roots inside the colander. And regarding the frequency of lifting...do you find that certain species require lifting more often than others? I know that some plants, when first planted in the ground, take quite a while to establish roots before beginning significant top growth. Others seem to take off right away. I would think trees in the former category would benefit from being left in the ground longer.

I'm thinking of experimenting with this process next season. I've got a couple of semi-hardy plants that have been growing in containers, but slowly. Perhaps placing them in colanders and then putting the colanders in the ground for the growing season (lifting before winter) would allow faster growth.

Thanks again, enjoy the vacation!

Chris

[Biofusion]

If nothing else I would think that this method makes lifting ground grown material incredibly easy.

Have you found any difference in the development of find feeder root formation when using just soil in the colander compared to using a more granular bonsai mix?

[Ray M]

If nothing else I would think that this method makes lifting ground grown material incredibly easy.

Have you found any difference in the development of find feeder root formation when using just soil in the colander compared to using a more granular bonsai mix?

Hi Biofusion,
I have never used ordinary soil for planting any of my trees. I always place the tree in the colander using the same mix I would use for that species of tree. If the ground that I am going to plant in seems a little dubious I would throw a bag of good potting mix in and dig it into the existing soil.

Regards Ray

[Ray M]

Thanks for the reply, Ray!

OK, two different approaches for two different situations. The question that still remains in my mind - when you finally remove the tree from the colander (the ones that have been in the ground), do you find circling/binding roots at all, or do the root systems remain good/fibrous. Reading between the lines, I would guess that the root systems inside the pots stay in better shape than those that would have been in nursery pots.
As I mentioned before, I have been using colanders for a long time. I never find root binding using the colanders. Let me qualify this statement. If the tree is growing in a colander above ground you will get good fine roots. If the colander is placed in the ground, and you leave it there for a long period you will get thick roots both outside and inside the colander.

Some other questions come to mind. I would think you'd want to establish the tree within the colander for a while before planting the colander in the ground? In order to establish that dense, fibrous root system with lots of feeder roots inside the colander. And regarding the frequency of lifting...do you find that certain species require lifting more often than others? I know that some plants, when first planted in the ground, take quite a while to establish roots before beginning significant top growth. Others seem to take off right away. I would think trees in the former category would benefit from being left in the ground longer.
If the tree is slow to establish roots, lifting the colander out of the ground will not hurt the tree. This is one of the advantages of not disturbing the root ball.

Depending on what I want to do with a tree I will plant the colander in the ground no matter what age the tree is.

I'm thinking of experimenting with this process next season. I've got a couple of semi-hardy plants that have been growing in containers, but slowly. Perhaps placing them in colanders and then putting the colanders in the ground for the growing season (lifting before winter) would allow faster growth.

Thanks again, enjoy the vacation!

Chris

Regards Ray

[Beano]

Do you put all different sorts of trees in the colanders? Are there certain types that don't like this?


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[Ray M]

Hi Beano,
Everything I am growing on to become a bonsai goes in Colanders. I have Colanders from 50mm to 400mm diameter. If the tree is larger than the biggest Colander it will usually go into a foam box.

Regards Ray

[Fluorine]

Hi Karl,
Yes, that's where I track mine down. If you can find a good dollar shop you should be able to get a variety of sizes. I get them from 100mm to over 400mm. You may also find other types of containers that are useful. There are different rectangular and square containers that have the holes in the sides and bottom. I use the rectangular ones for planting seeds.

DSCN0026-3.jpg

DSCN0094-3.jpg

Regards Ray

Hi Ray, I've got myself the exact rectangular containers that you use for seedlings and have put my eucalypt plants in there to grow on. They're 300mm (L) x 250mm (W) x 120mm (H), would you classify these as too small for training pots? I don't have these buried in the ground, they are all above the surface. They have been in there for a couple of weeks now, too early to tell whether they're enjoying it.

Fluorine.

[Ray M]

Hi Ray, I've got myself the exact rectangular containers that you use for seedlings and have put my eucalypt plants in there to grow on. They're 300mm (L) x 250mm (W) x 120mm (H), would you classify these as too small for training pots? I don't have these buried in the ground, they are all above the surface. They have been in there for a couple of weeks now, too early to tell whether they're enjoying it.

Fluorine.

Hi Fluorine,
They should do fine in this container. When you see them getting well established you will need to separate them into there own containers. Make sure you do this at an appropriate time of year for Eucalypt's.

Regards Ray

[Neli]

One more idea for you Ray:
From Japan.

362 (550x413).jpg

[Drac0]

One more idea for you Ray:
From Japan.

362 (550x413).jpg

I do similar to this. I have no garden at the unit I live in so apart from a couple stashed in my mothers garden my colanders generally go into styrafoam boxes. For my smaller plants I use the ones they have for transporting medical goods - small, solid with very thick sides providing great insulation for the soil.

Cheers

[Ray M]

One more idea for you Ray:
From Japan.

362 (550x413).jpg

Hi Neli,
Thanks for the photos. Yes, this is the same idea as I mentioned was happening at least 25 years ago. I have also done this same thing.

Regards Ray

I do similar to this. I have no garden at the unit I live in so apart from a couple stashed in my mothers garden my colanders generally go into styrafoam boxes. For my smaller plants I use the ones they have for transporting medical goods - small, solid with very thick sides providing great insulation for the soil.

Hi Dac0,
That's a great idea. I have also used large black plastic pots filled with reasonably good potting mix and used them the same way as planting in the ground. This is a way that people with little available garden can achieve a similar effect as planting in the ground.

Regards Ray

[Beano]

I do the same thing! No garden, well not one that isn't shared anyway. I have most of my trees in those little plastic storage baskets. Some in little colanders. My latest two have been slip potted into larger storage baskets that have the holes in the bottom as well as an experiment to see if they grow faster. I only have two that I have planted in their colanders into larger containers, there were 3 but I had to remove one as I had some branch die back and wasn't sure if it was too wet in the grow box.

Here are my two "ground" plants:

[Ray M]

Hi Beano,
Did you punch any holes in the bottom of the foam box? You don't want the soil in the box to get water logged with no way for the water to escape. When you plant in the ground the water disperses naturally. With holes in the box the excess water will drain out of the box.

Regards Ray

[Beano]

Yep, definitely holes in the styro boxes. Hacked them with a knife, then covered with fly mesh


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[Ray M]

Yep, definitely holes in the styro boxes. Hacked them with a knife, then covered with fly mesh

Hi Beano,
Good to hear you have put holes in the box. Please be careful using fly mesh. The size of the holes can get blocked fairly easily. I have added a photo showing the difference between fly mesh and the garden mesh that has larger holes.

IMG_7366 -1.jpg

Regards Ray