PROTECT YOUR BONSAI IN THE HOT WEATHER
By Carole | January 30, 2009
I certainly fear for the health of some of the bonsai in the Southern parts of Australia at present.
In this searing heat bonsai should have some light shade. In our nursery we remove the shadecloth from our shade houses in winter and put them back on from November to early March.
The heat doesn’t affect the top of the tree as much as it damages the roots by heating the pot. Any temperatures over 35 degrees are likely to cause the pot to heat up and damage the roots of the bonsai.
If you can’t provide a tempory shadehouse, there are other measures that can be taken to keep the pots cooler.
A geat solution is to place the bonsai in its pot in a white foam box, then pack sphagnum moss in the space between the bonsai pot and the white box. Don’t forget to mulch the soil surface as well. The sphagnum moss can be kept moist without soaking the roots of the bonsai.
Misting the foliage twice a day is also a great help, but unfortunately not always possible for some of us.
An alternative is to install a sprinkler system, on a timer that comes on twice a day for a few minutes at a time.
The concern here is that the pressure of the water might blow the hose joiners apart and waste water.
If you have rain water tanks or a dam, it is possible that the water pressure won’t be as strong as town water.
The beauty of rain water tanks is that we have separate pumps for them so a simple timer can be placed at the powerpoint and when the power is off the water is also off. If something did blow apart it couldn’t waste very much water as the misters only need to be on for (say) 5 minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon.
As well as warm weather, we in Queensland are getting a lot of rain at present. It really is essential in our climate that we use a fast draining mix. Otherwise we could find our trees dying from root rot.
I hope this helps save some trees. Good luck
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Protected: Newsletter June – August 2008
By Carole | July 3, 2008
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Southern Hemisphere – Australian Climate
By Carole | July 3, 2008
Gold Coast Climate
Our minimum and maximum temperatures would average around 7 to 24 degrees in winter. In spring they can be about 10 to 26 and in summer it gets quite hot. During mid summer it is not unusual to experience overnight temperatures as high as 22 and daily maximums average low to mid thirties, although it is not unusual for us to have two or three days a year in the low 40s. Autumn is my favourite time of year, the nights average a pleasant 12 – 15 and the days about 26 degrees. Ours is a temperate to sub-tropical climate with dry winters and wet summers. It is important for readers to note that the Gold Coast is in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore readers in the Northern Hemisphere will need to add six months to a specific month quoted in the body of the newsletter to correspond with the same climate. I try to refer to seasons as much as possible but I am sure there are times when I forget.
Below is a conversion chart:
MONTH SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
January Mid Summer Mid Winter
February Late summer Late Winter
March Early Autumn Early Spring
April Mid Autumn Mid Spring
May Late Autumn Late Spring
June Early Winter Early Summer
July Mid Winter Mid Summer
August Late Winter Late Summer
September Early Spring Early Autumn
October Mid Spring Mid Autumn
November Late Spring Late Autumn
December Early Summer Early Winter
Therefore when it is winter in Australia is will be summer in the northern hemisphere.
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Shopping at Bonsai World
By admin | January 12, 2008
Trading Hours and Services
Listed below are the services we will still be offering:
1. By Appointment
Open by appointment only for sales and service. We are normally closed to the general public through the year and re-open in November and December when we have our stock reduction sales. This coming November and December we will have some big reductions on both plants and bonsai. To check the actual days and hours we will be open please ring 0755 305 425 where a recorded message will have constantly updated times.
2. Repotting / Maintenance
Our repotting/maintenance service which has grown into a very busy business will still be available, call the number below to make arrangements.
Just call 0412 135 030 or email us bonsaiworld@aapt.net.au for further information or an appointment
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Melaleuca – Australian Native Bonsai
By admin | April 4, 2007
I had not previously been too interested in them as bonsai because they dry out so fast and are the first to succumb to the drought.
However on a visit to Read the rest of this entry »
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Drought, Bonsai and Japanese Gardens
By admin | April 2, 2007
Do Bonsai Require Less Water Than Normal Plants?Many people are mistaken about bonsai when they say they use less water. Any plant that is captured in a pot and Read the rest of this entry »
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Do Chrysanthemums Make Good Bonsai Plants?
By admin | March 28, 2007
Chrysanthemums are one of the very few plants that the Japanese use for Bonsai which is not classed as a shrub or a tree. Their lifetime as a bonsai may Read the rest of this entry »
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Bonsai Care in Autumn
By admin | March 23, 2007
Autumn in our part of the world is March, April, May. This is an equal best time with spring to root-prune, but do it early in Autumn before the temperatures drop too much as the cut roots need a warm temperature to enable them to regrow. A good guideline is to Read the rest of this entry »
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“Water Wise†Bonsai Plants
By admin | March 21, 2007
With South East Queensland approaching level five water restrictions, many people are looking at more ways to conserve water. At Bonsai World, we are not affected so much by the government imposed water restrictions, as we are not on town water.We rely on nature to provide us with sufficient water to keep our water tanks topped up. Recently we have been experiencing less rain, and have been looking at ways of further conserving water usage.
Many of our customers have been asking which bonsai plants and trees would survive with less water, and we have put together some suggestions.
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Bonsai World Restructuring
By admin | March 19, 2007
Bonsai World is not closing down! Local residents on the Gold Coast were shocked to read reports in the recent editions of the Gold Coast Bulletin and Gold Coast Sun Newspapers that were suggesting that Bonsai World at Mudgeeraba was going through hard times.
What started out as a simple story researching “water wise†bonsai plants, ended up as a totally misleading article in the local newspaper. Everyone knows that the local press in any town or city likes to be “sensationalist†believing that if they can publish stories that have a little bit of truth, they will sell more copies.
Why let the truth get in the way of a good story?
At Bonsai World, we’ve been inundated with visitors looking for bargains. The telephone has been running hot†with customers concerned about their bonsai trees that are at the nursury for repotting. Where are they going to get their supplies from? What about purchasing more bonsai plants, plant pots and potting equipment.
Be not alarmed, give us a call or send us an email, and we’ll organise a time to catch up with you.
See you soon at Bonsai world in Mudgeeraba
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