Can rain overwater your plants?

canadianlights

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Hi there,

I have a few plants growing indoors as of now and they are doing well, lots of new growth even with just the help of a grow light (any sunlight from my windows is being blocked by another building). I will be moving into a new place where I have a place to put my bonsai outdoors once summer hits.

As of now, I have a ficus microcarpa, a portulacaria afra, and a serissa foetida. However, I am worried about rain and overwatering the trees once they are outdoors. For my p.afra, since it is a succulent I water it when the tree starts showing signs of watering (not very often), but what do I do one the rain hits? Sometimes it can be continuous rain for days on end, I won't be able to shelter them if I am at work.

Is it fine to leave them outside once the season is appropriate, regardless of the amount of rain? The soil drains well (plants bought at bonsai nursery) but it is not extremely well-draining. After a good watering, the soil stays damp enough for the plant for close to a week.

Thank you for everyone's help!
 

Orion_metalhead

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Indoors, soil will stay moist foe a week sometimes, but outdoors, thats not the case always.

The ficuses will do fine with plenty of water and sun, so long as the soil drains well.

The P. Afra you may want to shelter if you are getting a lot of rain. You can bring it inside temporarily for a few days or something with little issue. I water my P. Afra when its outside in the summer every 3 days with no issue.

Im not sure on the serissa. Never had one.
 

leatherback

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Overwatering is a thing when the substrate does not drain enough and air circulation stalls. Roots, deprived from oxygen, will die and then start rotting.

My trees stay outdoors through all weather. We have had maybe 5 non-rain days for the last 2-3 months here, with periods of continuous precipitation of several days. Not an issue as I have a very open substrate (Which in summer means .. water water water).

For some, such as portocularia, water is an issue when cold and/or dormant. No matter how much air circulated the roots just start rotting. This is typical for succulents when dormant.
 

TN_Jim

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You said outdoors, summer, Canada; so, if it is too wet you should know soon enough -the problem would be your soil rather than location or weather -repot them all into a better medium and be prepared to water them adequately once back inside. The species you mentioned should be able to handle repot if healthy and should be approached with care if not. Otherwise..I dunno, suspended umbrella?.. you can have the patent. Thats sorta dumb, but I'll probably make one at some point..it already exists😔
 

Tieball

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With good draining you shouldn’t have a problem. If you’re unsure....park a block of wood (I don’t know what the metric is for a 2x4) under one side towards a drainage hole and gravity will quickly help eliminate excess water. You can leave it that way right out in the rain. I have a couple of trees in boxes that need draining help sometimes...I rotate the block from one side to the other weekly. Something to do.
 

Forsoothe!

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I take it you're moving to western BC. Rain is only part of the condition, the temperature, wind and sun condition being as important to the whole as just the rain. The whole situation is a micro-climate which can be night-and-day different in one yard. Maybe you can start a conversation with someone from the Vancouver Island Bonsai Society and get a head start on your planning.
 

sorce

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Overwatering, as far as being associated with the fungus that causes root rot, is a myth. Poor/No drainage causes root rot.

You can even find a soil (rocks) for the Elephant Bush that you can't overwater.

However......

The problems associated with rain and overwatering are many and different.

A deluge can leave your pot soilless.

With no air circulation any fungus can take hold with too much rain.

I keep seeing this image of a Bonsai Floating down a river .......
How much Rain?
Lol.

There are other real problems of concern.

Sorce
 

canadianlights

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Hello everyone, thank you for your replies :)

So as I've taken it, leaving the plants outside should be fine in the rain should be okay even regarding my portulacaria afra. Is it necessary to change to an inorganic medium to where it can quickly get bone dry after watering or should it be fine with the medium I have right now (bonsai soil)? Or should I just leave it out when the time comes and see if anything goes wrong, then change? The medium drains well, but I don't know if it is well enough. It is not extreme rain, but when it does rain it rains pretty hard for a while. No floating bonsais though lol.

I plan on bringing the bonsai back inside once temperatures dip in the wintertime.
 

Orion_metalhead

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Bonsai soil means different things to different people. What type of bonsai soil? Is it sifted? What are the components? These things can help us give you the best answer.
 

TN_Jim

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After a good watering, the soil stays damp enough for the plant for close to a week.
This is a/the problem, sounds like the mix you describe will be too wet considering rainfall a.k.a too much organic material in mix -you will probably need to change this to maximize health.
 

Adair M

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Overwatering, as far as being associated with the fungus that causes root rot, is a myth. Poor/No drainage causes root rot.

You can even find a soil (rocks) for the Elephant Bush that you can't overwater.

However......

The problems associated with rain and overwatering are many and different.

A deluge can leave your pot soilless.

With no air circulation any fungus can take hold with too much rain.

I keep seeing this image of a Bonsai Floating down a river .......
How much Rain?
Lol.

There are other real problems of concern.

Sorce
We had a deluge of rain the other day. 5 inches overnight. We had flash floods. The local river and creeks were over their banks and flooding.

Not one of my bonsai lost ANY soil. None. Not a single grain.

I use all inorganic soil. Akadama, pumice, lava. Virtually impossible to overwater.
 

canadianlights

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Bonsai soil means different things to different people. What type of bonsai soil? Is it sifted? What are the components? These things can help us give you the best answer.

The soil does have some peat moss, coconut husk and perlite with the rest being lava rock and other types of small stones meant for draining. The exact percentages, I have no idea. Is it possible that it retains too much water? The person from the bonsai nursery told me I should be fine leaving it out, just as long as I keep it out of heavy rain and the elements. I was also told that I should just keep an eye out for the weather in general and adjust accordingly.

In the case that there is heavy rain and I want to leave my plants out, is the best option to repot the plants in new soil as TN_Jim stated?

Thanks everyone!
 

Orion_metalhead

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If theres peat and coco husk, which are organic components, they will retain water more than inorganic components. Its up to you how you want your soil to perform. If you get a lot of rain, then maybe you do want an inorganic mix. I like a mix which drains freely, but has water retentive qualities so I use Napa 8822, a diatomaceous clay product similar to turface to grow out my trees.

Look up threads on soil and components and read about each possible component. You generally want to remove fine dust and fine debris, have a mix of differently shaped particles that are all relatively similar in size (say 1/4"-3/8" / 5mm-8mm or whatever that is metric). Then fineld what works for you best!
 

Forsoothe!

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Are we talking about too much rain in Ontario? Where, exactly?
 

sorce

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some peat moss, coconut husk and perlite with the rest being lava rock and other types of small stones meant for draining

This type of mix will "settle" like cereal, even without water.

Nothing that floats is worth the trouble.

However, depending on the tree health, it may be worth the trouble for this year.

Sorce
 

Forsoothe!

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I'm really enjoying the certainty with which these recipes are reported as delivering the most important benefit of a medium for plants.😉
 

Schmikah

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This type of mix will "settle" like cereal, even without water.

Nothing that floats is worth the trouble.

However, depending on the tree health, it may be worth the trouble for this year.

Sorce

I've used vermiculite for indoor trees before and it's turned out ok. Just have to be gentle when watering
 

Adair M

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I'm really enjoying the certainty with which these recipes are reported as delivering the most important benefit of a medium for plants.😉
I’ve read, reread, and slowly tried to parse this sentence out to try to determine exactly what it is you are trying to say.

I know what your soil is... the exact opposite of yours.

Parsing this out: recipes (soil mix)(noun)... delivering(verb) ... benefit(Object)... medium(object? In a prepositional phrase).

Nope. Doesn’t help.
 
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