Removing any algae-ridden bark at the base of a specimen upon a re-pot?

[JudyB]

The peroxide and vinegar treatment makes me nervous. I think they could potentially wash into the soil and mess w the ph. The safe way I learned to get rid of algae is a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol. When I lived in a San Francisco, the algae problem was constant because of the fog. Everyone in BSSF used rubbing alcohol, myself included. Just spray it on. Safe on foliage, bark, pots, you name it. I didn't grow Bougainvillia, but it worked on pine, maples, junipers and the other usually suspects.

When alcohol dries it disrupts and breaks the cell wall of the algae ( does the same to bacteria, hence why we use it as a disinfectant.) and kills it. A few days later, poof, algae is gone. Sometimes a white ghost of any algae growing on the outside of pots, but otherwise it worked like a charm and had no discernible drawbacks.

Test it out first if you are nervous, but I would buy the big bottle and attach a sprayer and do it about every 3 months.

So it is safe if it gets into the soil? Good tip!

 

[Gsquared]

So it is safe if it gets into the soil? Good tip!

It never seemed to affect the soil. Of course I did try to keep from getting too much on it. The alcohol seemed to kind of penetrate the algae quickly and coat the surfaces well. I am particularly thinking on shimpaku, where algae could even cover the older parts of the scale. Pots would get covered with the green crud and I'd spray them too, so some would get on the soil then for sure. Never seemed to cause problems in the small amounts that got on the soil. It is a good misting not a drenching.

 

[SU2]

The peroxide and vinegar treatment makes me nervous. I think they could potentially wash into the soil and mess w the ph. The safe way I learned to get rid of algae is a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol. When I lived in a San Francisco, the algae problem was constant because of the fog. Everyone in BSSF used rubbing alcohol, myself included. Just spray it on. Safe on foliage, bark, pots, you name it. I didn't grow Bougainvillia, but it worked on pine, maples, junipers and the other usually suspects.

When alcohol dries it disrupts and breaks the cell wall of the algae ( does the same to bacteria, hence why we use it as a disinfectant.) and kills it. A few days later, poof, algae is gone. Sometimes a white ghost of any algae growing on the outside of pots, but otherwise it worked like a charm and had no discernible drawbacks.

Test it out first if you are nervous, but I would buy the big bottle and attach a sprayer and do it about every 3 months.

Dude....I cannot *believe* I didn't think of this!! I keep a spray bottle of iso around for general-usage, I'll use it if I feel my hands are greasy before I go to the garden lol, can't believe I didn't think of it in this context! I did a vinegar treatment of the raft-style I re-potted a couple days ago, am going to peroxide another and iso a third, will try and get another specimen with each, to see how they stack-up (have already got a rough idea how well hydrogen peroxide works, have used it >5x in major cases like this)

It's not splashing foliage I worry about it's the tender root-tips, I imagine vinegar is worse, then hydrogen peroxide then alcohol- would love to know the true order- but iso sounds far closer in safety to peroxide than vinegar! When I did the vinegar treatment 2d ago I was re-boxing at the same time so was able to remove the top 1/2" substrate, lay some cloth, and really get at it safely- with hydrogen peroxide I don't worry because I hardly use any excess in the first place and know it breaks-down quickly

Thanks again, can't believe I hadn't thought of this, will see how it stacks with the others!!!

 

[SU2]

It never seemed to affect the soil. Of course I did try to keep from getting too much on it. The alcohol seemed to kind of penetrate the algae quickly and coat the surfaces well. I am particularly thinking on shimpaku, where algae could even cover the older parts of the scale. Pots would get covered with the green crud and I'd spray them too, so some would get on the soil then for sure. Never seemed to cause problems in the small amounts that got on the soil. It is a good misting not a drenching.

For sure- I use a small artists' paintbrush to apply, if it's a huge area (like a patch on a 1' trunk) then I'll use a toothbrush after applying by paintbrush, the amount that drips-down the trunk is an 'oops' and rarely happens, the problem I've found is where you've got the algae hugging the base of the 'stump' (most of my stuff is quasi-recently collected) so low that it's basically touching the roots and there's fine roots right in that area, I had several spots on that last night with the raft I re-potted (probably ~6-7mo old)
A steady hand is useful ;D

 

[fourteener]

https://www.kaizenbonsai.com/bonsai-bark-cleaner-algae-remover

I have purchased this product and I can't say how happy I am with how well it works. Technically it might be illegal to ship liquids across the pond. They'll do it as long as you promise to not complain if it gets confiscated. I've purchased it twice and not had a problem. I wish I knew the recipe!

I use it on my pines where the bark is precious and can't be lost. I just ordered some more, thanks for the reminder!!

 

[Gsquared]

I just repotted a root over rock and noticed the rock had a little algae growing. I will do the alcohol treatment and take pics. I just have to wait for it do dry off. Been raining most of the day...Portland...big surprise.

I would NOT use vinegar, or even try it. I used white vinegar in a spray bottle to kill weeds between the pavers, and it killed faster than most herbicides. That would not be good on a tree as a guess.

 

[BrianBay9]

I have used vinegar on trunks (not leaves) with good effect and then flushed the trunk and soil with water. I've seen no ill effects. Of course I've not used it on every species out there so I suppose there may be some that are more sensitive to it. Most seem just fine.

 

[SU2]

I just repotted a root over rock and noticed the rock had a little algae growing. I will do the alcohol treatment and take pics. I just have to wait for it do dry off. Been raining most of the day...Portland...big surprise.

I would NOT use vinegar, or even try it. I used white vinegar in a spray bottle to kill weeds between the pavers, and it killed faster than most herbicides. That would not be good on a tree as a guess.

Damn, I'm glad I really flushed-out after using it (and am still kind of worried lol, will water it heavily again today!), I left the vinegar-container I was brushing from on my back porch so I could see if it 'broke down' / just see what happens, it's been days and still reeks of vinegar lol, am glad I've got 1 test-subject done with it in case there's some drastic difference but happy my next ones will be w/ alcohol and (and/or, maybe!) peroxide

 

[Gsquared]

I promised a demo of algae eradication with rubbing alcohol some time ago. Been out of town all week, but here it is. Mind you I moved from San Diego last fall, so algae wasn’t much of a problem down there. I had a little develop on one of my root over rocks. This first pic was taken on March 30. I had to wait for a dry day to spray. Just did a generous two or three sprays (including the roots and foliage and DIDN’T try to avoid the soil) on all sides with iso rubbing alcohol and waited it out.

Note the pics are a little less dramatic that they appear in real life, but I wanted to show unaltered photos so didn’t pump the color.

Notice the emerging foliage was not damaged at all. Algae gone where ever it hit. Alcohol disrupts and bursts the algae cell walls and a few days later it is all gone. Same affect of hand sanitizer on bacteria.

 

[SU2]

I promised a demo of algae eradication with rubbing alcohol some time ago. Been out of town all week, but here it is. Mind you I moved from San Diego last fall, so algae wasn’t much of a problem down there. I had a little develop on one of my root over rocks. This first pic was taken on March 30. I had to wait for a dry day to spray. Just did a generous two or three sprays (including the roots and foliage and DIDN’T try to avoid the soil) on all sides with iso rubbing alcohol and waited it out.

Note the pics are a little less dramatic that they appear in real life, but I wanted to show unaltered photos so didn’t pump the color.

Notice the emerging foliage was not damaged at all. Algae gone where ever it hit. Alcohol disrupts and bursts the algae cell walls and a few days later it is all gone. Same affect of hand sanitizer on bacteria.

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Thank you SO much for this!!! That is incredible, if I'm understanding properly you didn't even brush it or anything, just sprayed, and it was a done deal!!

(really cool root-over-rock BTW- do you happen to have a link to any albums of this tree or others of yours? )


Thanks again I really appreciate that, apologies for my delay - between the two of us that was about a month haha but definitely worth it for me lol! I'd defaulted back to peroxide and am totally going to switch-over to alcohol for a while now (hopefully forever! I live in an area that gets absurdly humid so algae is probably always going to be a problem for me....am now making my mixes w/ higher and higher organic% for the WHC/water-hold-capacity, as well as - and I hate this but it is what it is - as well as doing more watering by hand instead of just spraying the garden down with the hose and soaking the entire tree 2-3x a day!)

 

[Gsquared]

Thank you SO much for this!!! That is incredible, if I'm understanding properly you didn't even brush it or anything, just sprayed, and it was a done deal!!

Yes, just a standard spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol. I specifically chose this tree, not only for the algae, but it was leafing out and you can see there were no detrimental effects from the spraying. Easy as pie.