salad drainer as training pot?

[ptnull]

as anyone used a salad drainer as bonsai training pot?
something like the picture attached.
it seems to have very good drainage conditions, on the inner part, and some extra air between the outer part.
With some added holes on the bellow outer part so does not retain water inside.

 

[bonsaibp]

They work well but don't last very long.

 

[Poink88]

How about pond baskets? I see them at Home Depot for cheap (less than $3.00 for 9" square), do they last longer? My only problem is that the holes are bigger than my substrate. I can always re-line it with mesh though. Thanks.

 

[AboveBeyond]

I've using both colanders and pond basket. Both seems to be work well.

 

[bonsaibp]

Don't know never used them. I use cut off nursery containers because I have 1000's of them.

 

[Vance Wood]

How about pond baskets? I see them at Home Depot for cheap (less than $3.00 for 9" square), do they last longer? My only problem is that the holes are bigger than my substrate. I can always re-line it with mesh though. Thanks.

When I could no longer find the material to make my bonsai training planters at a price I could afford to make and sell I recommended pond baskets. They work pretty well and last four or five years.

 

[cmeg1]

Watch out cause' if you put a somewhat larger deciduous tree in them they grow really quick and can really start drawing up a lot of water.

 

[Vance Wood]

When I could no longer find the material to make my bonsai training planters at a price I could afford to make and sell I recommended pond baskets. They work pretty well and last four or five years.

These planters are those of which I speak.

 

[jkd2572]

Those look fancy.

 

[Bill S]

The bottoms came out too if I remember correctly, to help them out.

I had some drying issues w/ a pond basket, that one tree(can't actually remember which one it was), but it dried too much in a day, so I put it into another pond basket, which took care of the issue. I think it was just too open, but just that one.

The colanders and pond baskets get worked over by the sun, and the plastic degrades, someone said about 5 years, if that.

 

[Paul2229]

I've using both colanders and pond basket. Both seems to be work well.

I do the same.

I fill my colander with diatomite, then stick the whole thing in the ground and just lift it once a year to keep the roots in check. I find it is a good compromise between the increased growth you get from ground growing stock, and the convenience of growing in pots

 

[k2bonsai]

This is something many of us Aussies have started doing now. You can pick them up cheaply in the $2 dollar stores around Australia. From everything people have seen by using this it really helps the tree to develop a much finer compact root structure as the roots get near the outside of the pot and don't circle like a conventionbal pot. Instead the roots stop their growth and then restart new finer growth back inside the pot.


[url]http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14986&hilit=colander
[/URL]

 

[Anthony]

Now you see Paul2229,

I mentioned that I do the same as you. I allow the tree to form a core in the colander, easy to lift out or if the colander decays, no sweat, the soil is fully bound.

AND I also,place the colander into the growing troughs, so a few roots can escape. I will even place a tile under the root zone in the colander, and after it forms a core, place into the trough.

I was told that I was doing a silly thing, on this list.
Good Morning.
Anthony

*Plastic colanders are abundant down here, from China, and very cheap, lasts about 2 or 3 years in our sun.
But if you cover them in soil with stone, brick or soil, they can last for years.

 

[Vance Wood]

I do the same.

I fill my colander with diatomite, then stick the whole thing in the ground and just lift it once a year to keep the roots in check. I find it is a good compromise between the increased growth you get from ground growing stock, and the convenience of growing in pots

You guys miss the whole point of using pond baskets, collanders or something better: Air pruning. You plant these devices in the ground you are essentially buying a boat to take a trip to the Mojave Desert.

 

[coh]

You guys miss the whole point of using pond baskets, collanders or something better: Air pruning. You plant these devices in the ground you are essentially buying a boat to take a trip to the Mojave Desert.

I agree that it does seem like planting the colander in the ground would defeat the main purpose (air pruning)...but if these guys are claiming good results using this approach, I want to know more about it rather than dismissing it. Would like to see the root systems, know what types of plants are being used, etc. Anyone tried this approach? Or have more information from those who have tried it?

Chris

 

[Poink88]

I agree with Vance.

Chris, they may show good results not because they are using the colander, but because they are digging the tree regularly...thus roots are getting pruned regularly.

 

[Vance Wood]

I agree with Vance.

Chris, they may show good results not because they are using the colander, but because they are digging the tree regularly...thus roots are getting pruned regularly.

This is pretty accurate----but unnecessary. People just can't get their minds around the fact that you can actually leave a tree planted in a device that is exposed to the air on five sides and have the tree survive. The fact is yes you can, I have been doing it for over twenty years.

Why dig up and do manually what you can have done automatically? Look--I haven't gone here in a long time but; the technology to do this started with the Bonsai Training Planter, the item I posted earlier------- an item I patented a technology I basically pioneered. I am pretty much well acquainted with whats going on with this method. And before anyone says that the Japanese were using colanders years ago, my patent predated the Japanese publications by months concerning the use of colanders in Bonsai.

 

[coh]

I agree with Vance.

Chris, they may show good results not because they are using the colander, but because they are digging the tree regularly...thus roots are getting pruned regularly.

Maybe...but maybe not. I'd like to hear from those who are actually doing it this way.

It would seem to me that if you put a plant in a colander and plant it in the ground, the roots will grow through the spaces into the soil. Then either (1) the roots grow large enough to break through the colander, or (2) the roots are unable to break through, get constricted and die off as they get larger.

I imagine the first would occur...and you'd quickly lose the benefits of planting in a colander in the first place. But things don't always go as we expect...so I'd like to see the results and have those who have done it this way explain why they choose to do so.

One thing I've observed is that many plants, when planted in the ground, tend to produce wide-ranging root systems without a lot of fine growth near the trunk. For these, perhaps having good soil contained within a pot or colander near the trunk helps maintain a decent, fibrous root system while at the same time allowing some roots to escape and spread, which could allow faster growth. But I would think the same thing could be achieved by placing the colander on the ground and allowing some roots to escape from the bottom.

Chris

 

[jkd2572]

Couldn't you just make this with any plastic training pot by drilling a bunch of holes in it? Seems like a easy way to use old plastic pots you already have. And they would last quite awhile if you made them from good plastic pots. You would then not be limited by size. I have a bus tub I'm going to try this with.

 

[Poink88]

Couldn't you just make this with any plastic training pot by drilling a bunch of holes in it? Seems like a easy way to use old plastic pots you already have. And they would last quite awhile if you made them from good plastic pots. You would then not be limited by size. I have a bus tub I'm going to try this with.

If this is directed to me...I don't find the effort worth it. I am just curious anyway and not planning on doing it much since our weather (and my watering) won't permit much use of it.