A couple projects for Smoke...

[JoeR]

Are you saying neem oil is an "all in one", and that's why you wouldn't use it? I'll have to go to lowes tomorrow and look for a fungus specific "systemic" If that's the case.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Are you saying neem oil is an "all in one", and that's why you wouldn't use it? I'll have to go to lowes tomorrow and look for a fungus specific "systemic" If that's the case.

Careful using oils in the summer. Neem oil is not very effective, IMO, but at its best, it's a dormant-season insecticide that smothers eggs. Oils can damage the waxy coating on leaves, and they can desiccate very quickly without it. Diagnose the exact problem, then determine the specific solution, don't go on a carpet-bombing run.

 

[Dav4]

Nice job with the trees, Joe. Fwiw, I don't see anything on the soil surface worth worrying about. Sometimes, the soil surface of well watered and fed trees get's a bit slimy, perhaps indicating some algae might be setting up shop. Again, nothing to worry about.... you can always scrape it off the surface and replace the soil media if it's bothering you, and maybe back off on the ferts.

 

[JoeR]

Well I was expecting to cleanly separate a nice ground layer, but instead found a ballooned, calloused mass. In a good way, though! Kind of a sumo/pancake thing goin here.

Check it! And because @Adair M has been getting onto me I used a shallow oil pan this time.

Before. Note, last year a pot fell and broke the previous apex. Oh well. Should have cut it back anyway.

 

[JoeR]

Good lookin’ roots. Sizing up a board.

 

[JoeR]

I don’t know what happened here, or what I did, but I like it! The trunk is about 1.5” and the nebari is now over 5”.

 

[JoeR]

Notice how you can see the exact line where the air layer used to be.

I’m thinking I should burry it again this season? Make it even more of a pancake and remove some more bark without the actual intention of roots, rather for more callous?

 

[Adair M]

Notice how you can see the exact line where the air layer used to be.

I’m thinking I should burry it again this season? Make it even more of a pancake and remove some more bark without the actual intention of roots, rather for more callous?
View attachment 180211

Do it again! Good idea to use the oil pan. I’m assuming there’s lots of holes.

 

[Les]

Wow, great improvement on that nebari in just one season!!

 

[JoeR]

Do it again! Good idea to use the oil pan. I’m assuming there’s lots of holes.

Yup there’s plenty of holes. You think I should take some more bark off and the whole nine yards or just cover it again?

 

[Adair M]

Two things:

You ought to bare root it to get that old mud out.

And yes, cut the callous to expose the green cambium layer again. If you just cover it over, it will continue to callous over.

 

[JoeR]

Two things:

You ought to bare root it to get that old mud out.

And yes, cut the callous to expose the green cambium layer again. If you just cover it over, it will continue to callous over.

It was indeed bare rooted and washed with a hose after that picture, and that mud is akadama, which, come to find out, doesn’t hold up in my climate.

Is the callous not a good thing in this instance?

 

[Adair M]

It was indeed bare rooted and washed with a hose after that picture, and that mud is akadama, which, come to find out, doesn’t hold up in my climate.

Is the callous not a good thing in this instance?

You don’t want callous. You want roots!

 

[pweifan]

You don’t want callous. You want roots!

It's already rooted and separated, though. Or am I missing something?

 

[Dav4]

It's already rooted and separated, though. Or am I missing something?

I'll routinely rewound the callus on previously layered material to encourage new root growth.

 

[Adair M]

It's already rooted and separated, though. Or am I missing something?

I thought there was a bald spot.

 

[pweifan]

I thought there was a bald spot.

I was missing something Thanks!

 

[JoeR]

I'll routinely rewound the callus on previously layered material to encourage new root growth.

How do you personally go about re wounding the callous? Strip all the bark off like a layer or something else?

 

[JoeR]

I thought there was a bald spot.

Not really. There’s a small one on the front but that’s really it. I’m mostly just greedy and want MORE PANCAKE-ness haha.

 

[Dav4]

How do you personally go about re wounding the callous? Strip all the bark off like a layer or something else?

I might scrape the callus with a wire brush, or I'll cut away the lower edge with a knife.