How to protect plants from heavy rain but still get sun

Bonbal

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I've got Bonsai, herbs and vegetables that I'm trying to grow outside but some of the herbs need shade while some of the bonsai needs sun. Regardless the heavy keeps making it hard to grow new plants. Please let me know ff anyone know of an outdoor shelf of some kind where I can keep them and control which ones get sun or shade while still protecting from the rain. Any advice or direction would be very much appreciated.

thank you,
Alan
 

Anthony

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When Bonsai trees develop full canopies, only heavy rain can
get through.

When the canopy is full, you often have to rotate the pots weekly.
Even in full sun.
Good Day
Anthony
 

Mike Hennigan

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A greenhouse of some kind is the only thing I can think of that would fill that requirement well. I think a good soil mix that drains well and holds air in the mix is going to be your best friend in this scenario. I live in upstate NY and we have been getting pounded with rain lately but all my conifers are doing just fine.

One thing you can do that will help is to tilt your pots up at an angle. Put something under one side of the pot and tilt it up to almost 45 degrees, this will help your soil and pots drain much better when they are getting water logged.
 

Carol 83

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When we're expecting a lot of rain, I have a shelving unit on the south side of the house, the trees go on. They still get sun, but the overhang of the roof protects them from too much rain.
 

M. Frary

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And if the tree doesn't have a full canopy and tilting isn't enough, cover the substrate with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or similar.
I've always found the idea of tilting a bonsai pot off. The holes arent ar the edges. They would fill up to the hole before draining correct?
Or are we saying the rain will run down the slope and not get absorbed into the substrate? You'd need to tip one up quite a bit wouldn't you?
 

M. Frary

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When we have a lot of rain I am very happy because all my trees are happy. That's the best that can happen to them. With mdern substrates heavy rain is no problem at all.
I like it too. And the trees seem to like it. I also use all inorganic substrates though.
 

0soyoung

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I've always found the idea of tilting a bonsai pot off. The holes arent ar the edges. They would fill up to the hole before draining correct?
Or are we saying the rain will run down the slope and not get absorbed into the substrate? You'd need to tip one up quite a bit wouldn't you?
Consider the case of a pot so shallow that its depth matches the saturation depth of the substrate/medium/soil. Raise one side of the pot, some water drains out (maybe by overflowing the down edge) and the roots on the elevated side are above the saturation level.

By extension, similar things happen with a slightly deeper pot and one slightly deeper yet, even with no loss of water from the pot - roots on one side are above the saturation level and are well aerated, at the price of roots on the other side remaining in saturated substrate (as opposed to all of them).

IMHO, two things are clear from this.
  1. tilting the pot 'works' only with shallow pots and is even something one might do after watering such fresh plantings
  2. tilting becomes meaningless with deep pots, hence a reason nursery and conventional gardening pots are deep
 

M. Frary

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Consider the case of a pot so shallow that its depth matches the saturation depth of the substrate/medium/soil. Raise one side of the pot, some water drains out (maybe by overflowing the down edge) and the roots on the elevated side are above the saturation level.
I knew you would know why.
It makes sense now.
 

Cable

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tilting becomes meaningless with deep pots, hence a reason nursery and conventional gardening pots are deep
Eh, I work at a nursery and the size of the pot is merely a factor of how large we want to rootball to be to support the size of the plant we're trying to grow.
 

Soldano666

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It should be tough to over water with modern substrates. Also full sun is a tough one when it's raining out. Rain just means I don't need to water that day
 

Mike Hennigan

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Eh, I work at a nursery and the size of the pot is merely a factor of how large we want to rootball to be to support the size of the plant we're trying to grow.

You’re missing the point. It’s not the size of the pot he’s talking about, it’s the shape of the pot. Nursery pots are deeper than they are wide which allows the water to drain more efficiently via some kind of science that I can’t totally explain. As opposed to a wide shallow shaped bonsai pot.
 
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