AusBonsai

yea mate, the willow leaf is hanging in, the leaves arent like you normally see on a willow leaf where they are sort of in a whorl ? dunno if thats the right word to use but i think you know what there growth habit is like. the way it is on mine which is hanging in is sporadic. leaves are bigger than the other willow leaf i got, but yea, maybe it is just trying to adjust to the medium? it is still very much alive though, but not powering on like the benji, the benji is just going for gold at the moment. will get a pic later this arvo when it cools down for ya

jamie


edit- the thing i did forget to add is the willow leaf hasnt dropped any more leaves either so thats gotta be a good thing

here is an update pic, not that much can be seen but the benji is going nuts, in a sense, the willow leaf isnt showing much like i said earlier
jamie

How are those figs going?

Damian Bee wrote:How are those figs going?

i took the willow leaf out as it seemed to be struggling plus it was getting attacked by brown scale, it has gone into a collander and been cleared of the scale, it is now pushing new shoots and has had a good inch or more of DL put onto the surface and it seems to be loving it!

then benji seems to be moving along but i think the DL has compacted even though it has been kept moist. the growth hasnt stopped but it hasnt boomed either, the other two benji i have as control trees that just have a lot of DL on the surface are foing strong and have a lot of growth, and there is one other test subject that has DL on the surface in bulk along with urea getting replaced as needed which is just absolutely booming!

Mine took a while to get going. I am not surprised though as it was plucked from another little experiment that had it in cramped inopportune conditions.
Never lost a leaf but just took a while to start growing. I had it in the shade house after transplanting and only moved it into more sun the last few days. Little bit of drooping of the fresh growth in the hottest sun but I think it will toughen up quickly and it should get a decent burst of growth now until it cools down too much and then it will be back in the shade house for Winter and hopefully it will power on next season.

How long do you usually leave them in the mix for Graeme?

I will get a pic before it goes away for the Winter.

One of the same tree I have growing out in a tub filled with Akadama and grit has put on heaps of girth but that had more of the season with free growth.
If you put heaps of DL on an already potted tree Jamie maybe that is the same reason it has gon better so far?

i put DL on a few different trees that had established in grow boxs/pots and has gone a lot better, the one in the fast grow system seems to have slowed for a bit, im not sure if it is just putting on roots, which is possible, or if the DL has compacted a bit to much and is choking the roots.


jamie

Lucky Bonsia's don't get drug/fertiliser tested!
I think there will be a sudden increase in Chook Poo sales accross the country.

Hi guys
Here is an update on my fig I am trialing this with.

The tree is definitely healthy This fig was put into a akadama and terracotta mix much earlier than the DL fig was potted up so it is not a fair comparison but it is interesting. These figs both come from Bonsai at the bay and as far as I can remember they where about the same size. The fig in the DL has definitely overtaken the akadama one in shoot growth. But although I didn't take any records it looks to me as though the fig in Akadama has increased the girth of it's trunk a fair bit?
I will go back though my pics and see if I have any of this (aka) fig when I potted it up. But it seems to me at the moment that the Aka fig has had alot of root growth and the DL fig has had alot of shoot growth.

So in any event the DL fig is obviously happy growing in the DL mix but as I started this trial towards the end of our fig growing season I think it would be unfair to draw any conclusions until I tried it with several others starting at the beginning of our temperate growing season keeping records and also inspecting roots and such as well.

Oh here is a closer look at the DL trunk. You can just see in the top of the picture how the growing shoots are now starting to thicken

So, how is everyones trees looking?

I defoliated mine the other day as it had become a bit untidy while I was away recently. Plenty of leaves, but to be honest I was a little disappointed with the growth of the tree, but then I have been away for about 3 months so it wasn't being all that well looked after I guess. Shall have to see what happens fromm here on in.

Bretts, my trees just grow in the boxes until I feel they are good enough to pot on into a Bonsai pot. None of the ones I have are good enough to enter the Maryborough Show yet so they will stay where they are for the time being.;
By the way, sorry for the delay in answering, as I said I have been away.

hi guys,

i am a little embarrassed to say but the will leaf has passed on, i think it suffocated in the DL the other one though is going very well. i have used a couple of other fig that i got at the same time one as a control and one as a powerfeeding test, i must say that the one in the fast grow system is quite lush and has some growth, but the one i have as a control and powerfeed tests are stronger, im wondering if the FGS tree is putting on girth instead of foliage like the others.

i can get some pics but there isnt much to show right now.

jamie

Ive just noticed this and love the reading thanks Graeme

Very interesting Graeme. I'm prepared to give this a go but only with something I don't care too much about losing. That's a hell of a lot of fertilizer and I hope you are all going to just stick to figs or hibiscus. The reason your azalea died was more than likely the lime in the chook poo. Please everyone, be selective about the fertilizer versus plant species!!!

Cheers Loretta

Hi Graeme

I posted a reply last night but must have done something wrong as it didn't appear. Anyway, I just want to say your method of fast trunk growth is interesting, I'm going to try it out. Also, you mention your azalea died after trying to fast grow it...azaleas don't like lime and chook poo is full of it. So er on the side of caution regarding fertilizer and plant people!!!

cheers Loretta

Mine is still going great but I am going to try it agian earlier in the season so I get the growth when the fertiliser is strongest to see if that is better. The only real change from the above picture is some frost burn. Been nice and cold this Winter usually the shade house is enough protection.

How long do you leave the figs in this without repotting Graeme?

Was just over on another site reading the non results of that forum's members who have tried the Fast Grow.
Interestingly I have also not realised the growth from my Figs that I have previously had when using this method. I have no explaination for the lack of growth over the past few months. My trees are planted in a really course gravel mix, as I didn't have any smaller grit to use at the time. In fact the trees are planted in the grit (rocks ) that were retained by a 1/4" sieve so it's pretty rough in there!! I put the lack of growth down to that, but now I wonder if it isn't something else. I intend to repot the trees now I have some smaller grit for the job, so will be interested to see if there is any improvement in growth. In short, I to am disappointed with this years Ficus growth and have no explaination for that.