by Larry Larimer

This article was extracted from The Midwest Bonsai Society Newsletter - ED

Drainage - Drainage - Drainage

Most important at any time is good drainage. During the winter, poor drainage is deadly to your trees (or plants). You may kill your plant using poor drainage by following these guidelines:

1. A pot with no drainage holes in the bottom.
2. A pot which has no coarse rocky material (such as lava) in the bottom.
3. A soil that is not friable - not gritty.
4. Having too much mulch in the soil mix.
5. Setting your pot in another container which has water covering the bottom of your pot.

Properly gritty soil and lava and pots may be obtained from The Bonsai Store or Ron Smith. I am sure there are other sources which I leave to you to find for yourself.

Radiators or hot air ducts are killers! Do not set your tree or plant on or even too near either one. You do not want to pour water in the top at the same time you cook the bottom of your tree. It will not do well under such conditions.

Plant Rest

Before I talk about insects, it is important for you to know your trees need a period of dormancy. In an apartment, they have enjoyed a long period of fairly uniform temperatures and periods of light and dark during the spring, summer, early fall months.

They need a rest period of about a month. If you have a room where they can be kept under subdued light in a fairly cool (50-60 degrees) place, you should move them there for a month or 6 weeks. If you have been feeding regularly, cut back on the food and even cut it off completely for that 6 week period.

Pests, Varmints, Fungus

The other things to be careful of are insect infestation and fungus. Fungus is always a problem in a nice even tempered warm house during the winter. There are two insects to watch for. The deadliest is a tiny little sap-sucker known as spider-mite. The other is one of the scale diseases of which there are several.

If you had your tree outside at all during the summer, it has spider-mite. If you have brought in other trees from any other source, they have spider-mite and now your tree has spider-mite. Spider-mite is not terribly obvious. You cannot see the little buggers - only their evidence. If you see a dead or yellow leaf which has fallen from your tree and it is suspended by the tiniest of threads that is evidence. The yellow leaf is evidence. If you hold a piece of white paper under a branch and give the branch a shake, little black spots (smaller than a period in this article) will fall on the white paper. If a spot moves, it is a mite.

The cure is a simple one. The simple expensive way is to spray with Safer’s Soap spray. The simple cheap way is to buy Ivory Dishwashing Liquid (not the degreaser kind), mix it with water in a sprayer and use that. Then there is the best way. Get NEEM - the real stuff, not the diluted stuff. You can get NEEM from The Bonsai Store or Ron Smith. It is expensive but it goes a long way. You mix the real NEEM (it is like axle grease out of the bottle) in warm to hot water. To that you should add some Ivory Dishwashing Liquid. The result will be a milky white liquid which will spray on easily.

NEEM has a slight odor but it is not unpleasant. This oil was first used in India about 4000 years ago. It works well as a first-line insecticide and fungicide. It is non-toxic to animals and fish.

You are not through yet! Spider-mite lays eggs. Fungus has spores. For those reasons, be sure to spray the soil. A week later, spray the tree again and the soil again. Two weeks after that spray the tree again. Continue to watch for signs.

The NEEM spray will also work with the scale, but you must be even more persistent with scale. Scale has a very hard shell and eggs like dust. If you find scale, you should start a program of spraying which will go on into the spring. Once a month is sufficient.

Most of the time, scale is easy to see. It shows up as a series of scab-like growths along the younger stems of your tree. Scale comes in a variety of colors and sizes.