Tuberstock

[Petra]

hi guys, When preparing tuber trees for bonsai i noticed, after many attemps to keep them alive that when potting up after trimming & teasing the roots and adding dynamic lifter with the soil mix they go down hill fast & die in 4 days. But if i pot up after triming & teasing the roots, & leave out the dynmic lifter the survival rate is higher.
If some one could explain why this is so. Am i right to say maybe im using too much dynamic lifter in the mix. Mix; 1 bucket of soil & river sand sifted & 1/3 dynamic lifter added to that.

[Jamie]

it sounds like to much dynamic lifter, you are probly killing them with kindness, cut out the lifter until they have settled and see how they go with that? just my thoughts on it anyways


good luck.


jamie

[Jamie]

oh, the other thing, if i am to add dynamic lifter i would do it slow, a small amount to start then build it up

[Pup]

Hi Petra,there is a lot of disscussion on this site and many others of the virtues and non virtues of adding fertilizers in general to your mix.
I am one of the anti brigade, it is a personal thing. What has come across from your predicament is the reason I do not do it.
I have found that roots that have been cut have to repair themselves before they can take up nutrients.
So any roots that are not clean will suffer. Now this is going to get a lot of debate.
Remember it is JMHO though.

As you your self have said the ones without did not have problems. Bearing in mind that Dynamic lifter is chook poo which is high N.

Cheers Pup

Ps no scientific facts just observation over the years I have been trying to grow Bonsai.

[Bretts]

Now this is going to get a lot of debate

I have been giving this more thought latley. Although this seems to me to be a case of just too much fertiliser.
I have killed trees by putting on less dynamic lifter when the roots wheren't trimmed. Yet I think Fly has used a similar mix to this with great results which got me experimenting with using more again.
I would reduce it down to an 1/8 and see how you go.

[Petra]

Thanks for all your replys, Brett i will give it another go with the 1/8 dynamic lifter in my mix, and Pup i am whole hartedly with you on the idea that tender roots are wanting to repair rather than feed. There is plenty of time to feed up later. Good to be on the right track again, Cheers!

[NathanM]

I recently got a monterey pine tube stock tree, only a few mm thikc.. I slip potted into an 8in pot, didn't touch the roots, then got some 3mm wire and twisted the absolute a$$ outta it and feed it with 1.5 strngth miracle grow ^_^ It's going well. personally I wouldn't add mix in fertilisers to the tiny ones either.