AusBonsai

I know that there are many members who plant in colanders to prevent disturbing the root ball whilst allowing fine roots to be developed after a trim. I have also read of members who plant the colander in the ground to speed up the process.

I am interested to know if anyone who performs this on their trees has been using tiles in the colander. If so, what results have you had?

I feel that the tile would have to be the right size and shape to fit the colanders and be low enough that it would still allow the roots to escape the colander holes. Or a CD would probably work better....

I have purchased some seedlings from Neil a couple of weeks ago and I will be purchasing more over the coming weeks.

Has anyone done any experiments in regard to this technique that they could show us?

I would love to see examples of seedlings at the same stage in growth with one planted in the ground with a colander and a tile/CD with the roots trimmed every couple of years compared to a seedling that has been in a pot with the roots trained each year.

My main goal would be to grow as thick a trunk as possible in the shortest possible time whilst developing the nebari.

If there are no examples around I may just have to start it here.....

I think I would need quite a few seedlings to carry out the experiment. I am planning on purchasing a lot of figs in the coming weeks so it might have to be carried out on these...

Here is the colander thread that was started by Ray https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/view ... =collander

And here is the thread started by Steven on using root modifiers https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/view ... f=7&t=1307

I grow all evergreens using in-ground colanders. Works great. Trees seem to grow at the same rate. Really easy to lift out of the ground with zero root disturbance. I use bonsai soil in the colander so it gives me an opportunity to get the trees into descent soil early.

one_bonsai wrote:I grow all evergreens using in-ground colanders. Works great. Trees seem to grow at the same rate. Really easy to lift out of the ground with zero root disturbance. I use bonsai soil in the colander so it gives me an opportunity to get the trees into descent soil early.

Thanks. How about using a tile or CD in combination?

You mention your trees seem to grow at the same rate. Do you mean at the same rate as in a pot?

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Homer911 wrote: ↑July 9th, 2020, 3:34 pm How about using a tile or CD in combination?

I don't use CDs. I use plastic chopping boards for deciduous trees

Homer911 wrote: ↑July 9th, 2020, 3:34 pm You mention your trees seem to grow at the same rate. Do you mean at the same rate as in a pot?

Same rate as a tree planted in the ground without a colander

Species?
I am guessing they are some of Shibui's tridents?

I grew a trident maple in a big colander (Not in the ground) and on a tile. I think I left it on the tile for 2 or 3 year whilst bare rooting each year and hard pruning. I had great success with it and think it will be a great tree when the branches grow out.

These photos are from 2017 but give you a good idea of the result I had after a year or 2 on the tile already. This was just a standard bathroom tile.

That's awesome Luke, thanks. You got some great results there. Fabulous nebari...

I am looking at comparisons with colander versus non colander and tile versus non tile.

I would like to use this technique on :

figs,
crepe myrtle
Juniper
Chinese elm
Azalea
JBP
casuarina
Trident maples
Olives.

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