Monkey thorn advice please

[Saffa365]

Hi guys
I'm new here
I live in London and have grown 4 monkey thorn from seed , they are app 5 years old
They have been grown indoors either on a window sill or under metal halides

We have finally bought a house here so this is the first summer they have been outside

They have been hanging on for the past few years , and I've had so many issues namely bumpy leaves and black spots , probably caused by lack of air circulation and dry environments
This summer I thought they were dead but I put them outside and they have amazed me and sprung back to life , they look better than they ever have , but the leaves are pale but they are not bumpy and discoloured

I really believe they need to be reported , but it's a bit late , mid/ beginning summer here
The soil they are in is mainly silica sand with 1/3rd potting soil

Any advice would be appreciated, there is not much info about in the uk

 

[GGB]

Don't know a thing about those, not even a guess on a genus name. But I really love the bark and tiny compound leaves, cool tree

 

[Saffa365]

Thanks mate
They are acacia burkei
I just want to do them justice , especially after nurturing ( well trying ) from seed

 

[Rambles]

Sadly, all I know about acacia is that they like their sun and are sensitive to being overwatered. That said, I'd swap to a coarser well drained substrate.

 

[Saffa365]

I know the soil is a issue , that's the main reason I want to repot at a really bad time
But I am having a hard time understanding what I need , I think the soil they are in lacks organic compounds ?
I could be totally off the mark on this one

 

[Rambles]

If you go to the top of the page and look under resources, there is one about soil physics and another that explains the qualities of various inorganic soil components. Start there, and figure out what you can source locally vs order vs nowaynohow.

I say this as soil is one of those areas that is both simple and complicated, with religios adherents to certain recipes. So, understand what components do what, know what your plant needs, and mix from there.

That said, i would be tempted to start with the usual "boone's mix" or depending on what you can source, with 2-3.5 mm particles of 1 part rough chopped bark 2 parts pumice or scoria. but I say this knowing little about the tree beyond a quick google search.

In either case, you will be fertilizing, so really the bark in the second mix is mostly there for a little water retention and to be a sponge for the fertilzer to be made available to the plant later.

Hopefully someone with more direct experience with the species can be more helpful.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Inside was the problem.

What are you doing for winter?

Sorce

 

[Saffa365]

Thanks rambles
I'll start there

Winter I will probably go for a cold frame type of setup ?

 

[Potawatomi13]

First lesson well learned and amazing trees survived that long. Really look pretty good. Personally would not repot till Spring/late Winter but as others no personal experience with these. Winter keeping sounds good but are these tropical or temperate?

 

[Saffa365]

Decidious from South Africa , so sub tropical maybe , temperate , it's a mixed bag really

My problem is that there is lots of information regarding thease been grown in SA as bonsai but not much info on growing them here in uk climate

I know they need a dormancy period

 

[Saffa365]

Just read the soil info , wish I hadn't , just creates more questions and desicions but very informative

So I think I will repot the trees , into a larger pots to carry through this summer and winter ( I won't remove any soil around roots ) ?

Then next spring I'll repot when I've nailed down the soili want to use and cut the tap root , hopefully the trunks can thicken a little more .

Am I on the right track ?

They haven't been repotted for two years

Thank you for all the help thus far peeps

 

[Saffa365]

Hi peeps

Thought I would update you on what I've done , so I decided to repot without removing soil , there were a few roots starting to stick out the bottom of the pot
I got a bonsai mix from my local bonsai nursery after a lengthy discussion , I added more grit , akadama and volcanic grit at the bottom .

I've mov d them into larger pots to let them grow through until spring when I'll repot them into shallower pots and trim roots a little

The soil was very compacted and I think I've made the right desicion but I'm still not happy with the mix ratio , I think it will need less organics but this I can work on over winter

Here are some pics

 

[ConorDash]

So what was the resulting mix and ratios? Roughly.
I too have never heard of this species... trunks are quite good looking though, hope you can make it in to something cool.

 

[Saffa365]

To be honest all the bonsai peeps in SA , use lots of river sand with bark ,they call it a sandy loam mix , this means nothing to me ?

I used probably a 40/60 mix of bark(organics )and grit , years ago probably 12yrs ago I bought the same plant and it came in a very sandy substrate , I tried to recreate the soil but I fear our climate doesn't bode well for that mix

I will however keep pushing forward and come to the correct mixture eventually
Maybe I should have chosen a more popular tree

 

[Saffa365]

http://lennardsbonsaibeginnings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/acacia-burkeiblack-monkey-thorn.html?m=1

Not sure if I can post this with forum rules but I'll try anyway

 

[ConorDash]

You can post anything really. Except advertising type stuff but I think even that I have seen some of. Although it is always good if your advertising is tree/bonsai based. People advertise exhibitions.
Is this the kind of style and journey you want your tree to go on?

And no, no reason to pick a popular tree. Just is a bit more difficult for people to give advice if they haven't experienced it but its not a bad choice.

 

[Saffa365]

Thanks mate
Basically I'm a South African living in uk and I'm here for the long term , so I wanted to grow some trees that reminded me of home , it's been a long journey.
My plan is to have them until
Days end

 

[Saffa365]

Here was the start

 

[Mr.Q]

Saffa365 how's your Africa trees coming along? Have you been able to let them survive? Update please bro!

 

[Mr.Q]

Saffa365 you have some nice trees for someone living in the UK bra!