Watering bonsai .

[Paulneill]

Most of us know the importance of being able to water are trees properly , water logged pots suffocate roots which leads to problems such as root rot.
watering trees correctly increases vigor and ensures good health. There are many things to take into cosideration such as soil mix,species,weather, time of year.
I have heard on many occasions that it takes as much as 10 years to learn how to water trees properly 7 if you are good.I assume this time reduced with the use of today's modern substrates. I have only been doing bonsai for a short time and am trying to learn more about watering by creating this thread. I have also read recently on a few occasions to keep the watering up during hot summer days and think i may be over watering this summer. is it less important to let pots partially dry during the summer months?

[GavinG]

If you have a modern free-draining mix then it is difficult to over-water in summer. Waterlogging happens mainly in winter. If you check what is happening in the mix every day, there's usually not a problem. It's when you leave things until something starts to droop - then things can get dodgy. That is, something will die.

Check the mix. Summer and winter.

Gavin

[deepeetee]

Hi Paul,
A tip I was given by a member of this forum, was to pick up the pot when you think the mix is dry. Give a good watering, then pick the pot up again. Get a feel for the difference in weight between before and after. He said over time you will get a feel for how much water remains in the pot before you water.
Dave

[SteveW]

Or just stick your finger in the mix; if it feels moist check it again the next day (or that afternoon if it is a stinking hot day).

Or, spend ten bucks and buy a moisture meter at the local hardware.

After a bit of practice you will be able to recognise a pot that needs watering.

Also, if you use an open mix like the guys at the national collection use, you won't over water.

[Pup]

Any one in Western Australia this week will definatly need help. With todays temp at 30.05, tue 37 wed 38 thurs day 40 frid40 sat 41 and sun a coolchange 36.

So we will all be testing with our fingers and pot weight and any other method. For us that are retired I can water with the hose as long as I want. For the others good luck.

Cheers Pup well we can hope.

[Luke308]

Any one in Western Australia this week will definatly need help. With todays temp at 30.05, tue 37 wed 38 thurs day 40 frid40 sat 41 and sun a coolchange 36.

So we will all be testing with our fingers and pot weight and any other method. For us that are retired I can water with the hose as long as I want. For the others good luck.

Cheers Pup well we can hope.

Hope your trees survive the heat okay. Here in Adelaide it is officially a heatwave (5 consecutive days in which the temp is 5 degrees above the average January temp) Sunday was 38, yesterday was 38, today is forecast for 37, so as you can see we have very similar weather here. Bring on the coolchange!!!!

In Davaid Joyce's book, he mentions he could only water once a day, so he watered even if the trees were more than damp if it was going to be a hot day. Im not recommending that practice, but I found that quite interesting.

[alpineart]

Hi Paulnell , if you want to do an apprenticeship with a Japanese master it would probably take 7-10 years to learn how to water a bonsai correctly .If you want to learn how to water a tree in Australia , Grab a garden hose and gently spray the tree's until wet . You only have to look back to the days of old .it would take a team of men to sweep up the fallen leaves in a Japanese Garden . I can almost guarantee here in Australia most people today have a blower vac and do it them selves . Times have changed , materials are different ,methods are different , garden hoses weren't around 500 years ago , Climate is certainly different here in AUS , so a tiny little watering can won't cut the mustard here unless you have a few Bonsai .

I water every day unless of course it is cold and very wet . I use a garden hose not a watering can and it takes 1 1/2 hours to squirt the tree's here . I have learned to deal with the heat by using Sand trays and Scoria Beds to sit the Tree's/Bonsai in so as i water i doesn't matter if they are not watered properly as the pots are set in the sand and basically siphon up the moisture as required . If i never used these tray it would probably take 2 1/2 hours to water as i would have to go back and re-water to make sure the were properly watered to insure they don't dry out .

Like Pup , i can and do water twice a day on occasions but if you cant , simple set up a wet bed /sand tray and that should work in most conditions. I get temp's like Pup has mentioned most Summers and its the radiant heat that kills my tree's not under watering or over watering . I have JBP's growing in sand trays , ask a Japanese Master if it was possible or plausible and i have no doubt what the answer would be . I learned how to build a house from a plan , many different designs from scratch , far more complex than watering a bonsai ,this was done in a 4 year apprenticeship . If it was to take 7 years to learn how to water a Bonsai , someone has too much spare time on their hands or there are some are pretty slack teachers out there MASTERS OR NOT .

To much emphasis is place on methods , theories , and written literature of days gone bye .

Cheers Alpineart

[cuwire]

Being relatively new to this craft I would like to add an observation.

My reaction to a 'sick' plant is to get it out of the pot and observe. I have found on two occasions that although the mix was moist there has been a dry spot somewhere on the side of the pot and roots drying in that area.
I figure that this is because when hosing, the rose was more horizontal than vertical and the back of the pot did not get its fair share.
I also get the notion that once a dry patch is established and hardens water will capitulate to the moist area.

My solution to my problem is to rotate the pots before watering (also to get more even sunlight). More gravel/diatomite/river sand added to any proprietary mix.

Use a sorbet spoon to spot check down the sides of the pots.

[shibui]

It is hard to overwater good mixes. Its the plants you have just bought in an unknown mix and no idea when last repotted that cause most problems and need individual attention.

My biggest problem is pots that dry out then its hard to rewet - the water runs down the sides rather than soaking through the root ball and the tree stay dry. Happens even easier if the tree has not been repotted for a while because air/water spaces in the mix are all filled with roots so little room for water and air to penetrate into the mix.

My plants are all watered twice each day in summer whether they are dry or not. The mix cannot get waterlogged so it doesn't matter how much water I put on.
First watering in the evening as the sun is going down dampens the mix but probably won't penetrate to the centre of a dry pot. Moisture slowly soaks into the mix overnight.
Second watering early in the morning saturates the mix for the coming day and will now penetrate deeper into the drier pots.

When watering by hand I usually make 2 passes - water each pot well then come back around and water again so water penetrates further into the mix. note that the trees in the display area are in full sun this year though we have not had any really hot days yet this summer. I'm just interested to see whether they can manage the whole summer without shade but with proper watering.
The rest of the nursery has a timer to water each area twice during the night to properly soak the pots.

Watering like this so that water flows out the bottom of the pots every day leaches all the soluble nutrients out too so extra feeding is important to keep the trees healthy.
Like Alpine I use humidity trays for smaller pots and trees that dry out quicker. Great idea.

[SteveW]

And, anyone on the east coast now has the opposite problem with days of rain turning into weeks of rain. Will be a test of how well drained the mix is . . .