AusBonsai

It's time I move my plants from their temporary spot. I have 3 choices:

Spot 1 - morning shade. Sun only after 12 noon.
Spot 2 - morning sun till 12.30pm. Shade from fence after that.
Spot 3 - full day sun.

Most of my plants have been reported few weeks back and are in recovery mode. Couple of well established plants.

bonborn wrote:It's time I move my plants from their temporary spot. I have 3 choices:

Spot 1 - morning shade. Sun only after 12 noon.
Spot 2 - morning sun till 12.30pm. Shade from fence after that.
Spot 3 - full day sun.

Most of my plants have been reported few weeks back and are in recovery mode. Couple of well established plants.

Personally, I'd steer clear of any fence.
Full sun - with a bit of an exception for JM's.

Is that for radiating heat?

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Definitely full sun. Personally I think your spot 1 and 2 are not the best. Morning sun is weak and I don't believe the sun in Spring can in any way be detrimental to a tree. I try having all my trees receiving sun as early as possible. The only sun we have to consider protecting from is in the afternoon when it's at it's peek (around 3-4pm) but that also only in the peak of summer.

I would go spot 3 now while the weather is nice. Full sun will assist in keeping internode length short while growth is extending throughout spring. Additionally foliage that extends in full sun from the start will be less likely to burn in summer, keeping it more resilient to the heat.

Once the extreme heat of summer hits you can consider moving the more sensitive trees to spot 2 depending on what a Sydney climate is like, in order to protect them from the peak afternoon sun. That is if you don't trust leaving them in spot 3 throughout summer.

I personally go spot 3 in Melbourne all year round, but if your watering reigeme is inadequate for that heat you might not want to risk it. Don't forget overwatering can be corrected, but if you let a tree dry out too much just once it can be all over instantly depending on the species.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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bonborn wrote:It's time I move my plants from their temporary spot. I have 3 choices:

Spot 1 - morning shade. Sun only after 12 noon.
Spot 2 - morning sun till 12.30pm. Shade from fence after that.
Spot 3 - full day sun.

Most of my plants have been reported few weeks back and are in recovery mode. Couple of well established plants.

Go to a bonsai nursery and take a look at where they keep them. In full sun.

fishnfreak wrote:Is that for radiating heat?

No.
It's because any fence inhibits light on one side of all the trees, they grow away from the fence, die back on the side of the fence, are difficult to balance growth because of these two factors, and end up looking generally s#!t.

I think we need more information. It depends on species, the stage the tree is at, what you are trying to achieve etc.

A mame Bonsai left in full sun would cook in its pot if left in full sun. A pine in a training pot might be alright...

There’s also a need to rotate trees to ensure one side doesn’t always come a particular level of sun.

I think Daluke has raised a very important point but I'd take it further. Depends on potting mix, wind exposure, how well you water, whether the tree is potbound or freshly repotted and other factors as well as the pot size.
I give my trees as much sun as possible. I have advanced bonsai that can take full sun (NorthEast Victoria) all year round but it has taken me nearly 30 years to work out just how to water effectively enough to manage that. Most people will need to provide some degree of protection to keep the trees from dehydrating in warm weather.
My recommendation to most beginners would be to start with morning sun and afternoon shade until they are confident and capable of keeping trees alive year round. Full sun will produce compact trees with short internodes if you can manage it but can also kill.

Thankyou Neil & Daluke, very valid points.
I'm in Sydney myself and last 2 years have had all my benches in full sun. No shade cloth until this summer.
Important thing I quickly learnt was keeping trees in bonsai pots healthy meant watering minimum twice/daily.
Though that was only peak summer about 3 months. All days over 30 degrees.
I soon understood why nursery growers always have shade cloth overhead, 4 or 5 mths/yr.
Working from home it's no problem for me to water but without that luxury you need to rely on a watering system.
Before full sun benches I moved all my trees from summer to winter areas which is a pain. The more trees the bigger the pain.
This coming summer I'll have all trees in full sun again but under 2.5m high shade cloth. Last summer was a test run and in
hindsight I found I should have done the shade cloth first instead of rain tanks [which now sit dry as ]
Tree cover is a variable in parts of Sydney that may help but if no big trees around for shade you will need to water heaps.
Most of the ideas I'm using setting up benches/water/shade cloth, all come from professional nursery's, tried and tested
Full sun is best but be prepared for the heat.
cheers

robb63 wrote:Thankyou Neil & Daluke, very valid points.
I'm in Sydney myself and last 2 years have had all my benches in full sun. No shade cloth until this summer.
Important thing I quickly learnt was keeping trees in bonsai pots healthy meant watering minimum twice/daily.
Though that was only peak summer about 3 months. All days over 30 degrees.
I soon understood why nursery growers always have shade cloth overhead, 4 or 5 mths/yr.
Working from home it's no problem for me to water but without that luxury you need to rely on a watering system.
Before full sun benches I moved all my trees from summer to winter areas which is a pain. The more trees the bigger the pain.
This coming summer I'll have all trees in full sun again but under 2.5m high shade cloth. Last summer was a test run and in
hindsight I found I should have done the shade cloth first instead of rain tanks [which now sit dry as ]
Tree cover is a variable in parts of Sydney that may help but if no big trees around for shade you will need to water heaps.
Most of the ideas I'm using setting up benches/water/shade cloth, all come from professional nursery's, tried and tested
Full sun is best but be prepared for the heat.
cheers

Any pics of shade cloth set up? it is only my first season but might have to prepare something before the summer as all trees sit in full sun atm.

Agree with the "full sun with reservations" comments. If you can set up a dripper system you might be able to feel safer with leaving them during the day when it's very hot, and you don't have a lot of trees, however some shade in the middle of the day can also make the difference between fried and not.

I use a temporary cover, one of those cheap and nasty frames with shadecloth that people use at markets...and put it up for the very hottest months...think it cost me $100 12 years ago and it's still doing the job. It's tied down to substantial tent pegs on all four corners for those windy days, and I've wired some sprayers onto it so that I can quickly give the plants a hit of moisture if I can't get out to water twice a day.

Thanks everyone. Full sun it is then. Thank you.

Personally I don't have the luxury of full sun but generally erect some sort of shadecloth for the full heat of summer.
As many have mentioned I rest some of my smaller tree's on saucer type trays (with no holes) and gravel to hold water and improve resilience.

I agree with Pearcy that underwatering is much more of a killer than overwatering - In Australia one wrong move can be fatal for Bonsai.

Easy answer: As much sun as your species, quantity of trees, location, ability to shade in summer, wind protection (often overlooked), lifestyle, water availability, soil and container permit.

The hard part: knowing where you are at with all of the above criteria.

Note that trees that have been living in a soft location, can suffer a bit when introduced to a sunnier location, even in spring.

Cheers,
Mojo