Maintenance Schedule

0soyoung

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It is likely good enough to get you started. You should, however, tune into your trees and their behavior in your climate.

The easiest example I can give you is that the standard guideline is to decandle 100 days before the average first freeze date. This advice works superbly in zone 8 Birmingham, Alabama - they decandle in early July (if I recall correctly). I am also in a zone 8 climate but I must decandle by 1 June. When I tried 100 days, I just got a few shoots with extremely short needles but mostly just new buds that didn't push until the following season. So, I tried earlier dates and eventually, voila! = end of May for me.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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As soon as you start sticking to schedules, your trees are going to let you down.
They base their schedule on themselves, their internal clocks, the weather conditions, the part of the world they come from and the part of the world they're in.

Sometimes we have frosts until May. Sometimes we have 28 degrees C in March. Last year, or the year before that, we went from -15C to +23 within a week. I try to keep visual ques, like the underside of the pot or the swelling of buds. If you can "read" the plants you own, then there's no need for a schedule.
 

Orion_metalhead

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Its a nice layout! You can create something similar in format for your trees in a spreadsheet and then adjust as you guage responses. I really like this sheet and will probably make one similar for my trees after seeing it now.
 

sorce

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The trees are really reading the Solstice's.
(Not to start ANOTHER garage war, but they need to read the winter solstice too.)

That's what tells them when to grow, if temperatures agree.

The important thing to remember, is regardless of wether they begin growing in February or June, they are reading and Growing according to that Solstice.

So even though the "middle" of the "growing season" is not always in the very middle, the Summer Solstice Signals the Center.

So you can have 2-8 months of "spring growth" before the center, and 2-8 months of "fall growth" after.

Every "schedule" needs to float under this reasoning.

We as Bonsai Horticulturalists, do everything we can to blur the temperature line, but we will never be able to blur the Solstice line. Or rather, doing so, is confusing for the tree, confusing always equalling unhealthy.

Moon phases also then play a roll for pruning continuously growing trees.

Where something like an elm can be pruned at every moon phase, something else may take 2 or more moon phases to regrow from pruning.

In this way, one understands the real number of times they can prune before and after the Summer Solstice.

I can usually prune an elm twice before and twice after the solstice. There really is no squeezing in any more, because attempting to do so leads to a weak flush either in the beginning or end, due to the colder temperatures.

You can't bullshit a tree. It will always call your bluff. That is why I am technically against any kind of shelter regardless of how well it works. I feel like we are merely "pretending" to BS them. See the "Maximum Requirements" thread.

True Sustainability for me includes understanding that even the diesel in the generator can run out. I love my trees to much to take those chances!

Everyone is of course, welcome to enjoy this dance however they please.

But obeying the Solstice is where success becomes imminent.

Resorce.

Sorce
 

Japonicus

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Maintenance Schedule
Is this schedule good enough/legit to be used as a basic guideline?
I would not follow it for the Mugho repot.
Never repotted a WP in Aug-Sept, not willing to try yet.
Edit- I don't want my WP waking up on the heels of an insult.
I've seen schedules omit pruning and drastic pruning like this, so I got you guys to draw on ;)
 

Orion_metalhead

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I think people are looking for some way to organize their thoughts, their care, and have a gentle reminder of when is a good season to do what and when, especially for those not long into the hobby such as myself. I don't have a huge amount of experience with most things so having some idea of when is a good time to begin looking at doing certain things helps remind me to be aware of things. For instance, I know now that deciduous should be repotted as buds are swelling, but for someone else, to have an idea that this happens about this time of the year in their area will make them aware to keep an eye out or to check their trees at that time.
 

MrWunderful

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And before that comes knowing how to recognize when the tree needs it.
It is not intuitively obvious to many, many people.
Yeah its a good guide to follow, but people should get in the habit of seeing if the tree “needs it” before they do a technique or something.
 

Carol 83

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And before that comes knowing how to recognize when the tree needs it.
It is not intuitively obvious to many, many people.
Very true, and that is why I and probably many are here. To learn from those more experienced what to do and when and how to recognize what the tree needs.
 

Orion_metalhead

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Worked this up pretty quick with two trees and how i treated them last year and how I would use the guide in future. I also show that you can add comments into the workbook to take some notes if you want.

Bonsai Workbook.png

Color coding is easy and you can insert a key with little effort. I show the health of my trees as I observe them through the year... if they go south, I'll use various red shades in the health bar. Each year, you simply copy and paste a new set of plans for the tree and keep it going year after year. You can also group areas to be expandable and such... I'm an excel nut. I can create a google sheets template for those interested.
 

ConorDash

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And before that comes knowing how to recognize when the tree needs it.
It is not intuitively obvious to many, many people.

All still learning, I’m starting my 4th year in the hobby, in March. I don’t feel confident I can read my trees properly yet. I feel more confident in knowing what they cansuffer, and when and how they will grow, to what extent, their reactions.
For example I’ve 2 big hornbeams, both were in airpots, huge great big things and full of root, very established.. I don’t know if they can stand another growing season without repotting or not. I’m going to ask Bobbys advice (and I’m gonna regret it cos he is gonna lay in to me for not knowing!!) but he had one of them before me so also has hands experience with the tree I’m talking about.

Takes time and experience :)
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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All still learning, I’m starting my 4th year in the hobby, in March. I don’t feel confident I can read my trees properly yet. I feel more confident in knowing what they cansuffer, and when and how they will grow, to what extent, their reactions.
For example I’ve 2 big hornbeams, both were in airpots, huge great big things and full of root, very established.. I don’t know if they can stand another growing season without repotting or not. I’m going to ask Bobbys advice (and I’m gonna regret it cos he is gonna lay in to me for not knowing!!) but he had one of them before me so also has hands experience with the tree I’m talking about.

Takes time and experience :)
You already know the answer. They're happy and healthy now. So they don't need a repot. Sometimes trees can be that simple.

It's winter time, we're bored and we start thinking too much!
 

PABonsai

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I think people are looking for some way to organize their thoughts, their care, and have a gentle reminder of when is a good season to do what and when, especially for those not long into the hobby such as myself. I don't have a huge amount of experience with most things so having some idea of when is a good time to begin looking at doing certain things helps remind me to be aware of things. For instance, I know now that deciduous should be repotted as buds are swelling, but for someone else, to have an idea that this happens about this time of the year in their area will make them aware to keep an eye out or to check their trees at that time.
In that vein wouldn't revising the schedule to just show season rather than month be most helpful?
 

Orion_metalhead

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Well, it can be adjusted to whatever you think is the best guage of when to work your trees...

if you want to set up by season, go by season.

If you are Sorce, you can set up based on the cycle of the moon...

If you are walter pall, you can lay out based on your hedge trimmer charge interval.
 
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