AusBonsai

Hello, today i pulled out many weeds from my 'grow on' collection of trees. i dare say i had six times as many weeds as trees.... (not little 'pluck-out' weeds, the unfriendly -rooted- ones.) anyway i have learnt now to get em when they are young!!!!

When trees are in bonsai pots its nice, when in grow-pots bunched together, it can get ugly!

can anyone relate and any ideas to make weeds stay away?

cheers NS

Do not get that many in My Diatomite mix, and so long as you get them when young they just pull out

a small paint brush and paint on Zero direct on the weeds is usually safe.

Ken

I here your pain when in bonsai pots you take notice every day, when in grow pots you tend to forget

I hear your pain NS
I de weeded the entire yard during last Winter and that was meant to make things much easier but come spring I had weeds everywhere through my pots. A little disheartened I probably did not get onto them quick enough and now many pots are infected with weeds. Spend 1/2 a day going through my pine seedlings getting rid of as many as I can only to have them all return in no time
I thought about doing as Ken suggests even made up a roundup mix and painted on the weeds in one pot to see if it would work without killing the seedling.
That was less than a week ago and weed and seedling still look fine If something will happen it should be soon but I did not like that idea as the roundup tended to run of the leaves no matter how careful I was.

One trick that Pol showed me recently is to cover the pot with hessian or something so weds are starved of light and die. Never keen on covering up my pots like he does as I like to see what is going on with the soil when watering but I am trying it with a couple of the worst weed infested pots. I am also trying out some cardboard cut into a circle to neatly fit inside the pot. Hole in the middle with slit so it can go around he trunk of the seedlings.
Too soon to tell if it will work yet but worth a try.

thanks

all aspects need time and effort

Bretts wrote:I hear your pain NS
but I did not like that idea as the roundup tended to run of the leaves no matter how careful I was.

should not be a problem as it is supposed to be absorbed thru the foliage and not the roots

ps. I use it neat and do not dilute at all
That way only a few drops on the weed leaves shodu do enough to get rid of them

Ken

All weeds are easiest if you tackle them the moment they appear. Make a little habit of clearing out every pot or growbox before they have a chance to go feral, first leaves is the best time.

I don't have many Bonsais, but I have a fair few potted plants and find that running a small claw/hand rake over the service roughs up the small weeds well enough to kill them off.

It's worth noting that weed seeds and oxalis can be found in many retail and commercial potting mixes, despite manufacturers and sales reps claiming they are weed free. One manufacturer has in the past 12 months halved the composting time given to their mixes.

Greth wrote:All weeds are easiest if you tackle them the moment they appear. Make a little habit of clearing out every pot or growbox before they have a chance to go feral, first leaves is the best time.

Really good advice, the disciplined approach.

Cheers,
Mojo

kcpoole wrote:

Bretts wrote:I hear your pain NS
but I did not like that idea as the roundup tended to run of the leaves no matter how careful I was.

should not be a problem as it is supposed to be absorbed thru the foliage and not the roots

ps. I use it neat and do not dilute at all
That way only a few drops on the weed leaves shodu do enough to get rid of them

Ken

I notice the weed starting to die now and the pine seedlig looks unchanged. I like the idea of undiluted but with the poison running of the leaf like a water of a ducks back it is a little scary.
I will keep experimenting

I like the idea of undiluted but with the poison running of the leaf like a water of a ducks back it is a little scary.

Round-up is inactivated quickly in the soil and shouldn't be taken up by roots, although if you are using a very sandy medium without much clay or organic matter it could be possible esp. with high concentrations.
If you mean undiluted 360g/L, that is way overkill and just increases the chance of accidently harming your bonsai. 100:1 is normal, and even 1000:1 will often be enough on young seedlings.
Try adding a little dish-washing detergent (or a surfactant like Pulse) to the round-up for weeds that have shiny/waxy/hairy leaves that repel water, it should let the poison form a film on the leaf rather than beading and running off, which will greatly increase uptake.

Mojo Moyogi wrote:It's worth noting that weed seeds and oxalis can be found in many retail and commercial potting mixes, despite manufacturers and sales reps claiming they are weed free. One manufacturer has in the past 12 months halved the composting time given to their mixes.

Greth wrote:All weeds are easiest if you tackle them the moment they appear. Make a little habit of clearing out every pot or growbox before they have a chance to go feral, first leaves is the best time.

Really good advice, the disciplined approach.

Cheers,
Mojo

This is one of the benefits I have found with using a completely inorganic mix. Pumice/Akadama.

The only weeds that I have had, have been grass seeds blowing in and they come out quite easily.

I do make an effort to bareroot any deciduous trees that come into my collection, to ensure they are weed free when they go into the inorganics...

pines...hmmmm...

Bretts, try using a coagulant in the mix then, it makes it quite sticky, i use this in my mix when spraying blackberrys, it sticks like s#*t to a blanket.

works

personally i don't like toxins . if anything kills any of my bonsai it will be my lack of care. weeds feel the wrath of my fingers!

NS