shaggybirdman

well i was in the hospital from 2 dec till 25 dec, and came home to see my 1 new brush cherry in critical condition i did a quick watering, and have been misting the leaves, but they seem to have dried up. the trunk still has green under the bark, but all the new growth has died off.

i need to bag her, and get her on some heat in hops she decides to back bud. i hope she back buds anyhow. i'm very depressed over this. she was my tree for the next BOTM. not now

i took off as many leaves as i could, but still need to prun off the dead wood. i gotta get some elmers glue to use as cut paste. the real bonsai paste is way to hard to use on the tiny branches, or should i just leave some of the dead wood to seal it? i'll post pics tomorrow.

Phil

Shaggy, sorry to hear you were in the hospital.

Seems as though there is some debate on the benefits of cut paste and as to whether it's all that necessary. Here is an excerpt from a question that I asked Harry Harrington from the interview that he did here not long ago in the "Verbatim" section in the Articles.

Phil -

Also, are you a firm believer in the use of cut paste and have you ever heard of any dispute/opinions amongst bonsai artists as to cut paste not being necessary? I would just like to hear your opinion as to both of these arguments or debates.

Harry -

Well……..I always used a sealant of some kind until I read Brent’s observations on cut paste. And I largely agree with him now. I just don’t bother to seal most wounds now and in all honesty, I haven’t noticed any difference in the amount of dieback or callus formation in any of my trees. I still religiously seal wounds on Acer species and slap Vaseline on the cambium of large wounds, particularly during the Winter (for the slight insulating effect that it may have), but to be honest, I think that’s done more to make me feel better.
One MAJOR caveat to this is with resinous coniferous species such as Pines or Spruce. I always use Vaseline/petroleum jelly (only) on all wounds as it quite definitely reduces the amount of sap that bleeds from the wound.

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centaura

On the reverse side, I am a firm believer in cut paste - though I prefer the more liquid stuff that comes in a tube and has the growth hormone in it. I have seen a marked difference between how much the wounds die back before callousing over when using it. A regular wound dries out and dies back, and then callouses over. When you've applied the tube cut paste, the callous starts right at that point - without the die back. As for more traditional cut paste, the stuff that's stiff like clay, its marginal - I don't think you get as good a seal as the stuff from the tube, so it really isn't doing much to stop things drying out. The other think I like about the tube stuff is that I can use a toothpick to seal tiny wounds on mames that I would rather see seal over more smoothly.

As for a brush cherry coming back from drying out - I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but they're a bit like serissas when it comes to drying out. Its not a good sign. Sorry to hear that you were in the hospital and that you didn't have anyone to care for it.

-Centaura

shaggybirdman

to be honest i'm bout ready to toss out the fast draining soil. the other brush cherries i have are in a organic soil. got watered at the same time the dry one was, and not a hint of drying. ya my watering schedule/habits are poor, but i gotta do what keeps my trees alive, or i should just get out of bonsai. it's getting expansive.

M.B.

Shaggybman, even though fast draining inorganic soil is all the rage there are those that adapt soil to thier own watering practices and tree species. I just bought a bunch of bonsai from a local guy that potted all his plants in alot of organic (actually store bought potting mix) and sand. It retains way too much moisture for my pretty much daily watering practice so I will need to repot everything if I want them to live. Adapt and adjust is the way we learn what works for us.
Mary B.

shaggybirdman

well i agree, but it would seem that you are watering too often unless the soil you use is dry everyday. daily watering works for my outdoors trees, but would probably rot the roots off my indoor stuff.

if it works for you though keep at it. for my indoor stuff it runs roughly every 3 days or so. this tree was probably in need of water the day i went in the hospital i think.

she was going to be my BOTM tree, but no more. i just hope she comes back. she was a real beauty too

JLDoggett

Shaggy, soil composition should be what you are most comfortable using. For some; daily watering is an easy task, so inorganic soil works fine, for others; more organic material helps keep their trees alive. I continue to use my mix of potting soil and rotten granite. So far the trees I have lost have been due to extremes of weather and never to overwatering issues.

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shaggybirdman

Jim

i agree, but i have yet to hit the right mix, and my watering habits lacks much as well. what's the mix ratio of your soil? i'm open to new mixes. where do you get the rotten garnet from? is it basically chicken grit?

Mattbonsai

I went through a stage of being able to water my tropical trees daily, but with the work I'm doing at the moment its not possible, so I'm taking them all out of the pure Kyodama they're in now and putting them in a very organic mix (the one we use at work(if it works for them it'll work for me)).

-Matt-

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shaggybirdman

Matt

what's the mix ratios?