Winter still... Even this far South.

namnhi

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Thursday morning forecast to be 30 where I live so the babies need to come in. Hopefully for the last time for this winter.
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I can't conprehend why more bonsai enthusiast are not in favor of using CRF or liquid chemical fertilizers that have the same ratio of elements at which plants use them. Instead, sacrificing control over the nutrients their trees get and choosing to use neem cake/compost/herbivore poop etc. and assuming it's the most ideal. While it's clear to me that you can still grow beautiful trees that way, from a trees physiological perspective -I don't understand the logic.
 

Anthony

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@namnhi ,

50% humidty, still some rain [ leap year ] and thus far no growth.
Temp range 86 to 70 deg,F [ a very few high 60's ]
February, and no growth.
Good Day
Anthony
 

sorce

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Best thing about Osmocote is they fit right in your butt and you can fart them across the room!

Second best thing ......tiny Billiards.

Sorce
 

rockm

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I can't conprehend why more bonsai enthusiast are not in favor of using CRF or liquid chemical fertilizers that have the same ratio of elements at which plants use them. Instead, sacrificing control over the nutrients their trees get and choosing to use neem cake/compost/herbivore poop etc. and assuming it's the most ideal. While it's clear to me that you can still grow beautiful trees that way, from a trees physiological perspective -I don't understand the logic.
Because Osmocote release is triggered by temperatures and can be a problem. Some bonsai nurseries and hobbyists have had extremely bad experiences with Osomote "dumping" all at once into soil when temperatures take a spike. I know of one grower who lost a number of trees from that.
 

rockm

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Thursday morning forecast to be 30 where I live so the babies need to come in. Hopefully for the last time for this winter.
View attachment 285448
We're forecast to have nighttime lows in the low 20's, after days in the 60's and nighttime temps in the mid 50's. Trees are pushing very hard at the moment. I have some maples with buds opening. Even though we're forecast to have low-mid 20's through the weekend, I'm not brining anything in. I'm hoping the low temps will rein things in a bit (hopefully without much damage).
 
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Because Osmocote release is triggered by temperatures and can be a problem. Some bonsai nurseries and hobbyists have had extremely bad experiences with Osomote "dumping" all at once into soil when temperatures take a spike. I know of one grower who lost a number of trees from that.



If that's true, why wouldn't they consider using a liquid chemical fertilizer (foliage pro 936 or similar) at a low dose and fertilizing everytime they water? Instead of using some sort of organic fertilizer/home made cake consisting of organics solids that can potentially clog portions of the soil and need to be digested in the gut of bacteria (that in pots are present in boom/bust cycles) before plants can use the nutrients they would provide at some point in time.
 

rockm

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If that's true, why wouldn't they consider using a liquid chemical fertilizer (foliage pro 936 or similar) at a low dose and fertilizing everytime they water? Instead of using some sort of organic fertilizer/home made cake consisting of organics solids that can potentially clog portions of the soil and need to be digested in the gut of bacteria (that in pots are present in boom/bust cycles) before plants can use the nutrients they would provide at some point in time.
Um, they do use liquid fertilizer. Don't know why you think otherwise...
 

Underdog

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Forecast was low 40s last night in Sarasota. I had to bring in my tropicals. Only reached 51 and they would have been fine.
Ohio winter has been mild and wet. Hope all my trees under the bench are doing well on their own.
I brought about 15 with me. Some like my Larch were swelling fast up there and I feared missing the repotting window. Some of my flowering trees looked like I would have missed the show up there had I not brought them along. A couple will be blooming any day now. Some I just brought because I wanted to.
It has been an interesting experiment watching them explode with early growth over the last couple weeks. Some like a couple hornbeams haven't done much of anything different. than they would have sitting under the bench at home. I suspect some plants are more dependent on temperature while others watch the calendar and day length. Days are about 15 min longer here.
I know when I take them back home in a couple weeks I will have to protect them from the inevitable late freezes. It would seem to me I'll be adding 2 months to my trees growing season for better or worse. Better I believe but...
My Lilac and dwarf rhodi are starting to crack flower buds. The Rhodi I had in the doing nothing category is showing purple flower edges cracking out of the buds. This is usually May. Time will tell.
 

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Cajunrider

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Thursday morning forecast to be 30 where I live so the babies need to come in. Hopefully for the last time for this winter.
View attachment 285448
I'm not far from you and it only got down to 36 but the wind was stiff. 25 mph north wind got everything looking sad Thursday. Things are warming up today. Hopefully that's the last really cold front we get.
 
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