Bonsai for parents.

[Damian Bee]

Hi there,

I was thinking about this issue this morning and now have time to type.

My family recently welcomed a new member for spring, with this event has come tight work life and a rigid chores schedule. It is difficult to maintain a re-potting/watering/feeding/maintenance/etc schedule and apart from getting up at or staying up till ridiculous times to achieve some goals, things get near impossible as there is only so much time in the day and the windows for certain jobs close up very quick.

Are there any others on here with similar issues?

If you like, use this topic to post your tips or problems so that we can perhaps make Bonsai life for the time poor a little easier.

[Jarrod]

I'm in the exact same position, and have found that down sizing your collection helps. Also having bigger trees is an advantage as the pots hold more water and are less likely to suffer from drying out if a water was missed. I left a number of my trees without repotting this year as it just wasn't possible with the time and effort required next year will be a must for much of my collection.

[Jarrod]

Also, congrats on the little one! Boy or girl mate?

[Haydenmc]

Hmmmm something I never considered whilst I was madly growing my collection. My wife is due with our first in may.....at least I have a few months of (plant) dormancy to figure out what to do

[Damian Bee]

Thanks Jarrod, 'twas a girl
I have down sized a few but then I re potted some Azalea and found some ground layers

Hayden, make sure you get a solid routine if you wanna keep the Collection the size it is, Jarrod is right about pot size, I put a lot of stuff into 33cm+ pot size and mulched with 20-40mm pine bark to reduce moisture evaporation. Problem is that the 2 year potting cycle came around too soon

[Handy Mick]

Get the kids to help,
Take the trees that need re-potting, wiring or trimming to meetings/club days or
Have a home work shop day with your club at your house during the rush season or have a few friends to help.
With watering use a watering system, when you re-pot put some slow release fertilizer into the mix.

Although my kids are now 13 up to 16 I now longer have your problems, BUT, I run my own business which much busier I think now, I do all above but the watering system.

Regards
Mick

P.s. Or get the wiff to do more!