Ooohhh! What a wonderfull couple of years…
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Been way too hot for the last 5 weeks. 90F+ every day. Our NORMAL average is 78F. Air temps ranged up to 108F. Bonssi soil in the 90F range. The large ceramic pot outsided have been in the 115F+ range.
Analog thermometer in largest pot. Digital laser spot thermometer on outsides.
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Keeping up on watering. Moving things around.
Watching the temps of the pots and soil… Lots of shade…
Already lost a Brislcone and a Grand fir. Lost several Hemlock, pines and most of my oaks from last years heat, and frosts (17F) this spring. Fried roots…
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Thought you guys might be interested…My wife made several ‘skirts’ for my larger pots. Just cotton muslin, a folded seam and a drawstring. Sewn edges.
Seems to help with the heat. Dropped the temps by 15 degrees… Keeps the pot outside way cool! Soil not drying out so quick…
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That’s a really good idea. Do you soak them when watering? If yes, does it keep the pot even cooler as I’m thinking it would also promote a bit of humidity before cloths dry out.
Our local temps right now usually average in the 75-80F range.
This is an emergancy safety fallback. I already have 60% shade pergolas and shade trees (grown specifically…) This application is for the trees that are suffering most… and the more older pricy ones…
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Cheep and easy. (My wife whipped them out in 10 minutes… thnx!) Cotton, medium weight. Old sheets work. Slightly heavier unbleached muslin… second hand store… $3 for several yards…
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I water in the traditional way. Once to wet the soil, once for the pot, once for the tree… Especially the larger pots.
Yes, they absorb water and wick it. Keeps the pot face 10-25 degrees cooler. They do dry out, keeps the pot cooler then, too. The sun is here now is BRUTAL. The soil stays moister all day long.
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I have been to the Dallas Tx. area several times. I DO NOT see why, and how, people (and bonsai!) survive in THAT heat for 3 months. I appreciate my summer weather more now… and my winter cold and snow!
Yup… Still waiting…
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Still 97F and 18% humidity… brutal sun… Lost two more 15 yo Japanese larch in my forests… just dried up and gone… My 20 yo Austrian black pine has lost three limbs…gonna be an odd literati…
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Watered early AM. Spent a pleasant afternoon doing odd trimming and wiring.
My trident is going nuts… took 30 slip cuttings and started in soil. Have about 15 from the previous round alive and doing OK.
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Supposed to slip to 75F this weekend, with rain.
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Wating.
Had ONE day at 75F and rain-0.01". 95- 101F last 9 days…
80+ fires in the US Pacific N. W. 200+ ppm air quality (smoke) today, that’s in the very unhealthy range.
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Supposed to be in the 80F range after Sunday 15th, with light easterly winds. WOOHOO!
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Can’t wait!
Last summer we had brutal temperatures here… the thermal probe between my pots had regular 111F @ 24% readings and had one reading at 133F. I kept the trees alive by moving them to the shade below a larger tree so they’d have some sun in the morning, some sun late in the afternoon and full shade from 11am to 4pm. I also had to increase the watering as the pots would still fully dry up every few hours.
This year it is the opposite problem and I had to move them to the hottest spot of the garden while finding ways to keep the pots on the dry side. The needles on my JBPs first flush only started growing in mid-July…
