Hi everyone. I have an invasion of Soleirolia soleirolii (baby’s tears, angel’s tears). Does anyone know how to get rid of it without harming the bonsai? Manual removal is particularly difficult in rock plantings.
Wow… (sorry— I’m laughing…) I’m impressed. I have succeed in killing all of my indoors BT over the years. It will not take freezing. I used to keep a pot inside and re-establish it outside in bonsai pots each year. I’ll assume you are in someplace like… Tuskiny… and freezing is not the option…
Now I do elfin thyme… it does fine under snow.
My weed albatross is Scotch moss..
I WOULD… take a small wide (~1/4") fine paintbrush with a 1:10 dilution of (roundup…) and lightly paint the leaves, trying to NOT let it drip on the soil. It will take several rounds to get all the individual plants. Expect dead stems to pull off. (Please, do not spray…)
Be aware, it will take several days for the plants to curl up. The new formula must be in ‘happy handy’ compliance… The old formula, the weeds curled up in 2-3 hours!
Works on Scotch moss seedling infestations; and, those large patches of olive green lichens… Fine paintbrush and one swipe… Has never hurt my trees.
Try it on a corner of one pot first. Good luck.
Bonsai On!
I have sprayed vinegar on invasive weeds to kill off the top and eventually the roots after the tops are killed a few times. I like to use canning vinegar (5-6% acetic acid) or the stronger 30% diluted to 5-6% for a pH in the 2.5 - 2.6 range rather than standard household vinegar (3% acetic acid). My preferred time to spray is an hour or two after watering - the foliage is dry so the vinegar stays on the foliage and most of the acetic acid can evaporate before I water again. You obviously do not want to saturate the top of the soil and acidify soil too much, but most trees can handle a little run off.