Useful tips and tools?

[Redsonic]

I thought I might start a thread where members share tips for locating useful items/ tools that they have found. Perhaps you buy your zeolite the right size from a swimming pool shop, have found diatomite used by a cheap kitty litter brand, or a grafting tape substitute from Bunnings.
I will start with:



Just a cheap plastic peg basket that I have found to be excellent as a substrate sieve to exclude the larger particle sizes. Approximate size of holes is 9-10mm, and you can use it like a half barrel sieve, tumbling the stones (or whatever). As a guide, the Mount Sylvia Diatomite (green) goes through this, leaving only a very few pieces excluded. So, if you want to match the particle size with your pumice/stones/whatever, it is spot on.



Smart Garden Humidity Dome. I bought these from Logan Hydroponics (Brisbane) and they are so much better than a cut down plastic bottle. I was getting sick of the plastic bottles blowing over and damaging my cuttings. These have a flare at the base and are much more stable. They come with pegs and an adjustable vent at the top, and in sizes to allow even large hardwood cuttings to take. About $7 each, and Logan Hydroponics also sells on eBay.

What have other people discovered?

[Daluke]

Great post!

I take wooden chopsticks from Asian takeaway places to use them as stakes and/or place it in the base of pots and secure trees to it.

[kcpoole]

Reo bar for bending trunks
Timber off cuts as wedges and blocks for changing potting angles

ps forgot the cable ties for attaching reo bar to trees to bend
old rubber inner tube for wrapping trunks and provide cushioning
Ken

[Pearcy001]

Alright I'll play Redsonic.

Buying mesh to cover drainage holes seemed well overpriced when you put the word 'bonsai' before it, so now I use gutter guard to cover the drainage holes in pots. From memory it was a little over $10 a roll and you just cut off what you need. A roll will last me forever. Here's a generic picture from Google so you get the gist.



Cheers,
Pearcy.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[Andrew Legg]

Plain white Alcolin wood glue as a sealer.

Rafia wound nice and thick but not too tight around olive branches to get the bark to age. Must be left on for ages.

[Rory]

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Dogs. Specialists in theft prevention, companionship and night-time bonsai security.
Not so good at anything else.

also...

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Plant ties!
These things are the gun at anchoring down branches to the pot or to another branch. Takes 2 seconds and over time you can just twist a section to get more tension and to pull the branches tighter. And they are cheap as chips, I get mine from Bunnings, lasts forever. You can instantly create a loop at the end so it isn't restricting the branch that it is pulling on as well.

[KIRKY]

Super glue for the unexpected crack, when wiring.
Cheers
Kirky

[KIRKY]

Super glue for the unexpected crack, when wiring.
Cheers
Kirky

[Mbunro]

i have a friend who used to be a gutter guard installer, and after seeing this i decided to hit him up in case he had some still lying around.
came home from work on friday and he has dumped a pile big enough for 10 lifetimes, on my driveway ha.
So now i guess ma gutters gone be gettin a guarding now too.

[hawkeyes]

Keep this going, good tips. Thanks for your effort.

[kcpoole]

I use old gutter guard too
great stuff

Ken

[Redsonic]

OK, another trick I use.
Orchid pots sitting inside regular pots, then sitting in a water tray have given me excellent growth rates. The roots eventually grow down into the water, taking what they need.

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I use this size for rooted cuttings and seedlings. There is a 200mm mesh pot that fits into a 200mm regular pot, too.\

Bring on the tips guys!

[hawkeyes]

[Firecat]

Have had an assortment of tools for the bench over time but these are invaluable as a grab and go item.

Multi tool they are marketed as and I have found only two similar tools around the stores.
The CYCLONE variant being I think the original with sharp knife edge, practical saw that actually saws a branch cleanly, depth markings and a prong.(this works great to hold a root down at a depth that you can tamp soil over without continually adding soil that eventually spills all over.
The IRONBARK 'knock off' I call it as its a far inferior tool still does all the potting criteria but the saw is more a rubbing action that does more damage than cutting.
That said I carry one of them in my work bag just in case I see a tree that is waiting for me to dig it out.

The CYCLONE I have had a year or so and does get good use and keeps cutting edges keen.
Masters at the time was $15..
Tried to source replacement but stock had run out and 'ON LINE' store was closed.
Available on Ebay for a rip off $30 and upwards plus postage.
The IRONBARK is a Bunnings job and I got a couple or three last week for around $8.
Will do a re do on the saw edge and sharpen up the knife side later but as a multi tool it does the job and my take with me to work one gets a fair bit of work.
Thanks
Steve.

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[melbrackstone]

I also use guttergard to make up different sized root pruning pots. Wire them to hold them together, add a base, or not, and you have a quick and easy solution to a distinct lack of reasonably priced colanders in my part of the world.