Do you move your pines out of the rain?

[Phillthy]

Do any of you move your pines out of the rain while it’s raining all day? I know they don’t like to stay wet so I move a few of my favorite pines into an area where they won’t get wet. I was wondering if this was a good idea? Or if I should just leave out in the rain with my other trees

 

[Nybonsai12]

I've done it before with certain trees I think are staying too wet due to constant rain over the course of several days/weeks. But the majority of the time i'll just tilt the pot if it's raining a lot.

 

[plant_dr]

If your soil mix drains freely enough you shouldn't have to worry about it.

 

[namnhi]

No.

 

[M. Frary]

No.

Me neither.

 

[Dav4]

I’ll tip the pots if it’s been raining for days on end, but that’s it.

 

[Anthony]

Our J,b,pines are grown in earthenware pots and a soil that drains well.
This month is 9" of rain and thus far 9 days of intense heavy rain.

The earthenware also cools the soil on hot days.

In zone 7, the old Japanese books show, pots in the ground mulched,
or under greenhouse conditions.
I would imagine you can also just take out of the pot and place in the
ground and mulch and green house.

I believe frost is the killer, not so much snow.

So you can still use glazed earthenware pots.
Good Day
Anthony

*Glazes today also come in porous quality as well ------ called ------ Garden Glaze
I believe.
So you can have porous clay bodies and porous glazes.

 

[Thomas J.]

The only time I keep mine covered from the rain is when something like this is forecasted like we got in April of 2016.

 

[Vance Wood]

If your soil mix drains freely enough you shouldn't have to worry about it.

That is the key.

 

[Paradox]

Nope, with the soil mix I use, the pots would have to be under water for them to be overwatered.

 

[bonsai-ben]

One of my pines has been in a bonsai container for 51 years. Its never been North of Orlando and most of its time in Miami. Rain protection is for kids.

 

[Potawatomi13]

NO! Home is great Willamette River Valley and seems to rain 9 months a year. (really not QUITE so much) Trees never moved except when working on. Usually brush off heavy snow.

 

[Vance Wood]

If your soil mix is proper it will not hold toxic levels of water. This is where the idea of Akadama becomes embarrassing for those who believe Akadama can raise the dead and every bonsai should be planted in the stuff. Akadama breaks down and becomes like a barrier disallowing water to drain from the soil. The more it breaks down the more water it will hold. The more it rains the more it will break down. It is a vicious cycle that can only be stoped by taking the tree out of the weather or repotting the tree.

 

[Dav4]

If your soil mix is proper it will not hold toxic levels of water. This is where the idea of Akadama becomes embarrassing for those who believe Akadama can raise the dead and every bonsai should be planted in the stuff. Akadama breaks down and becomes like a barrier disallowing water to drain from the soil. The more it breaks down the more water it will hold. The more it rains the more it will break down. It is a vicious cycle that can only be stoped by taking the tree out of the weather or repotting the tree.

Not true. I've been using akadama in some of my mixes down here for a few years now. We average close to 50" rain here annually, and we get freeze thaw cycles all winter. I've yet to see the akadama in my pots turn to mush. In fact, the maples planted in it get re-potted every spring, and I'm essentially reusing the soil with each re-pot., minus a very small amount, maybe 15-20%, that gets lost during the root combing and tossed away with the roots that were removed.

 

[Vance Wood]

If you grow Conifers in Michigan in pure Akadama and go through one winter of below zero weather you will find it will break down, I have had and it did that. I wont use a clay of any kind that has not been fire hardened. Yes you can get away with it growing in your climate and with the plants you use for bonsai that you have to/can repot every year.

 

[Pachycaul]

No, as shown earlier, large chunks of ice are the only concern. Drainage- water comes in, water goes out. Rarely a problem where I am.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

I'm ......planning.... (on advice of local club ) to finally add ....SOME.....akadama in a repot of the Scots Pine I have put through hell and high water.
It will not be MUCH...that's for sure, but I have gotten brown tip needles and the ...local... club doctor THINKS it may be starved for water.
Which DOES show if I poke into the soil which is NOW..... just about TOTAL lava.

Now this hasn't happened yet, but my plan is to mix lava with pumice (mainly to get the thing a bit lighter to move) and .....at most....
10-15% aka.

On the theory that a BIT of "dirt" may hold a BIT more water.

And..... be a lot better than trying to figure out how much "organic" to try to accomplish the more moisture thing.

The tree is doing remarkably well considering its insults, but I'd like to get it stable and green.

Is all this BS or does it sound reasonable?

 

[M. Frary]

all this BS or does it sound reasonable

Since your recent bout with akadama I would think you would look into something alternative like D.E. or turface to add to your substrate for water retention.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

The aka I would use is the SPECIAL extra hard and baked kind. And WELL MIXED in small proportion.

 

[M. Frary]

extra hard and baked

Sounds like me.