A few questions about your Spring procedures

Nybonsai12

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I am generally interested in hearing the different ways people work and care for their bonsai. It helps me decide on what I think will work best for me. So with that said, I've got a few questions and would like to hear what you do and the experiences you have had and after each question i'll give my thought(not too many spring seasons in bonsai under my belt so feel free to correct any incorrect/wrong information or tell me if I can be doing something better). So, onto the questions.

1)When do you start fertilizing your trees of each variety and does it differ between them? Do you wait for candles to start moving? do you wait for new growth to harden? Do you start as soon as you consider it spring? I'd love to hear what you do and what you think has worked for your trees in your climate.

WHAT I DO: I fertilize with organic all species once i feel temps are warm enough for things to start moving. This is usually at time of very swollen buds for deciduous, before i see movement on pines and before i see new growth on junipers.

2)When do you start fertiizing your trees if you have just repotted them? How long do you wait after repot? a week? two weeks? a month? once it starts pushing growth again? Something that seems odd to me is that I hear never to fert a freshly repotted tree. I've also heard the opposite and that some just start feeding right away.

WHAT I DO: This is not something i have a great deal of time with as i only have maybe two seasons with a good deal of repotting. As of now i won't fertilize after repots on deciduous until I'm seeing decent growth and know the tree is recovering. I don't think i will wait until it hardens off to fertilize, but just want to see things going. As for pines, I'm not so sure. In the few seasons with my pines, they seem slower to take off. I'll be waiting until i see some movement in the candles and then start fertilizing.

3)If you have repotted a tree in the spring, how long are you waiting to get it back into the sun? And how does it differ among species, do you gradually give it a few hours at a time?

WHAT I DO: This is another area i don't have a great deal of experience in. But For my deciduous I will provide some sun, but mostly shade for the first week or so, then slowly start introducing more light, working up to the point of full morning sun. This is for spring only when temps won't scorch everything. For pines i'm not so sure. I've heard some folks will put right back out into full sun. For now I will give mostly shade and sun for a week, but give it more sun quicker than deciduous. I kind of feel like it should go back to full sun as soon as possible, but wouldn't want to risk the tree's health.

So tell me what you do. Tell me why you think it's right, tell me why you think I'm right or wrong on my actions. lets discuss politely and calmly folks. and as always, thanks in advance for reading all this and loaning me your knowledge.
 

Giga

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1) I start fertilizing as weather starts getting no lower then the mid 50's at night-even before I start seeing movement, and it's just organic ferts.

2) I start fertilizing as soon as I repot(all species), I've tried waiting, but I get better growth if I start right away, again it's organic ferts so as not to burn any new roots. Last year I waited on my Japanese spindle tree and got ok growth, this year I piled on the organic ferts and it's literally exploded. SO, in turn, you need to judge how much ferts you want to use in relation to where the tree is. You still need ferts no mater what, just how much is key. At least that's my experience.

3)I put everything back on the bench right after a repot, in the same spot it was. The only thing I may do is put up shade cloth for newly collected material or weaker/sensitive material. I'm in my garden in the morning and after I get home from work, so I keep a close eye on things. It's pretty ez to judge how things are growing and if they need protecting. With Japanese maple though, they get a shady spot at first as sunburn on newly exposed parts of the tree can be an issue.
 
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Paradox

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Right now, I am in full prayer mode, praying my sickly looking trees live.

General feeding:
I apply granular in mid-late April to any developing trees for maximum growth. I then use liquid at half concentration once a month. I will probably change to every 2 weeks.
More developed trees I apply when I see pines pushing candles, junis putting out new growth and once deciduous trees have their leaves mostly hardened off. I start wth granular then apply liquid at half concentration once a month.
I stop fertilizing in Sept or Oct.

After potting: I wait until I see growth starting again.
Ive had 2 professionals say put deciduous out in full sun after repotting for smaller leaves/shorter internodes. Pines and junis I put in shade or with just early morning sun for 2 weeks.
 
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JudyB

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I feed trees the same continuous feed that they get as soon as buds appear. It's a liquid feed, so each time they get watered they get fed. I then use a pelletized feed in addition, once the leaves are close to hardening. The only exception to this for me is beech. I wait to start feeding until the leaves are hardened off. Beech is sensitive. I put the trees especially pines into full sun right away. J. Maple I have found can handle the full sun when the temps are cooler in the spring. Just my experience though. Do what you have found works for you.
 

sorce

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I potted with some Biotone in the mix this spring. Right back out to Same spots. Low npk with microyeazzzza.

Lotta fertilizer talk is hooey.

Though the time release fertilizer I od'd my ficus with, did yellow the leaves recently.

Sorce
 

GrimLore

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If you are 6b or 7 pm me and we can make arrangements for a phone call. What you are asking depends on a lot of factors and would be impossible to answer correctly typing. A series of 2 - 3 calls related to different things could perhaps the best thing as you would get local advice based on things "you" do and habits you can maintain. Just my 1/2 penny but this thread could explode with confusion at best.

Grimmy
 

Dav4

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As with many things in bonsai, look to the plant to tell you instead of a calendar or book, and keep it simple. In regards to fertilizer, I'm a big fan of keeping it simple. The most important thing is that you do it, and do it frequently. I wait until the trees are showing signs of life then start to fertilize...tea bags with plantone on the pots and daily liquid fert via an injector for me, though weekly applications via watering can in the past worked well, too. I may or may not fertilize immediately after repot. It really depends on the tree and how the roots looked after the repot....but I'm more likely to feed then not. Same thing applies to sun exposure post repot...it depends on the tree and how the root work went. For example, my old JRP got repotted much later then it should have- it got semi shade for a week but it's getting full sun now. I truly butchered the roots on my San Jose juniper this past weekend to get it into a nicer, but shallower pot- it's in morning sun only right now, but will get moved into more sun in short order if it's color stays bright. D trees go right back on their spot on the bench, which is semi shade.
 

Eric Group

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I fert all year long. Less in the dead of winter, and I go LOWER N when dormant, not down to 0 N.... Our winters can see significant warm spots or even really early Springs (I think it was 2-3 years ago we didn't really HAVE another frost after about Feb, and I was able to grow collards and Carrots all winter long!) sometimes and I want the trees ready to grow when the wether suits them without stress from being under nourished...

The amount of time they get extra shade depends on the trees- Juniper, Pine... Really don't seem to need much protection. Maples... IF You have leaves when it was being repotted (not done prior to leaf break or not done in conjunction wi a defoliation...) prolly needs some more protection! The evergreen broadleaf trees- some do some don't... Azalea- yes. Boxwoods, big, waxy leaves- tough as nails? Prolly not as much...

As Grimmy said- real deep question with a different answer for each climate and each tree... It gets HOT 'round here... Real soon. I prolly only have a couple weeks left in prime repotting season. All my D trees are leafed out, Pines have LONG candles on 'em... At this point I am only considering repots for Azalea, Boxwood, Juniper and maybe a few other trees that won't need much root work. Already repotted... DOZENS of trees though. Mostly Maples and Elms I think.

I have another question to add to this one- when do people take cuttings and start layers? I have heard wait til the leaves harden off/ temps are in the 70s at night for air layers... Similar for cuttings. Yesterday I was talking to an older guy at my office who made about 1,000 juniper cuttings in ground about 30 years ago, and he was telling me that January and Feb. Are the best time for Juniper... I haven't had much trouble rooting them even much later in the year though. In fact I started a few EARLY last year, and they died, the ones I started late Spring were close to 100% success! Go figure...
 

sorce

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I usually take cuttings haphazardly of stuff I don't have, all summer and guess what. They fail!

Juniper cuttings left inside over winter root for me.

A\L before it's too late to remove by fall.

Sorce
 
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