A tough year of bonsai

[eugenev2]

After a really tough year of bonsai...
Moving during spring repotting season, not being able to provide as much care during those times, the hottest spring/summer/autumn we have had on record (through out all those seasons 30 to 34C (86 to 94F)). Going away for a week or 2 and having someone provide less than ideal care for the trees, now finally hit by another whammy ie during this extremely hot autumn we are sitting now with day 9 without any water supply. By the looks of it, this is going to be the nail in the coffin for some of my trees....

I've been considering getting large water tanks to keep back up water storage, but there will remain a bit of a logistics problem to get the water to the trees

So regardless of this miserable state of affairs, i want to find out what you back up plans are for these types of situations?

 

[Cadillactaste]

Any water ways near you? Lake...pond or something you might ask for permission to collect water?

 

[eugenev2]

Any water ways near you? Lake...pond or something you might ask for permission to collect water?

There is a small stream/river about 2km away, but the amount of trash in it, i'm not really sure its safe for any kind of use.

I have temporary solution for my plants at the moment, there is water tankers driving water to the affected areas, and i have two 20L canisters that i'm specifically using to water my trees although sparingly as it is just barely enough. But the problem is, that it is a time consuming process and not really feasible if you have a full time job. So hopefully this will not last for much longer, but basically trying to find out what kind of setups people have that provide water regardless of service interruptions.

 

[Cajunrider]

Best of luck to you!

 

[Zac]

I'm currently working on a rain water collection system that'll have a solar powered pump on it so when the suns out hoping that it pumps water through a timed drip irrigation system that I'm trying to figure everything out so don't have to do twice. There are several YouTube videos showing and explaining this. Another option depending on soil type and area could hand drill a shallow well for water. Best of luck

 

[Bonsai Nut]

"Without any water supply" Can you help us to understand what this means? Are you on mains water and they have cut your water? Or do you have a well that has run dry?

In Southern California, my trees depended entirely on irrigation. We could easily go nine months without a drop of rain. Drip irrigation systems have dropped in price significantly, and they now have many that you can control via cell phone app (as long as you have WiFi connectivity to the controller). I would think that a large water storage tank, a pump, and an Internet enabled controller, would allow you to have access and peace of mind for watering while you are away. You could even combine it with an Internet streaming camera so that you could look at your trees while you are on the road, and water when they are looking parched.

 

[Russ1]

If you have dehumidifier you can collect water from it to use.
I collect mine from my basement dehumidifier during Summer to use in my Steam Boiler in Winter since I don't like using cold oxygen filled chlorinated water in it.

 

[nuttiest]

I would turn my plants on their side, on the ground. They would benefit from ground dew break in middle of night and also quasi-dormancy from being horizontal.

 

[eugenev2]

"Without any water supply" Can you help us to understand what this means? Are you on mains water and they have cut your water? Or do you have a well that has run dry?

In Southern California, my trees depended entirely on irrigation. We could easily go nine months without a drop of rain. Drip irrigation systems have dropped in price significantly, and they now have many that you can control via cell phone app (as long as you have WiFi connectivity to the controller). I would think that a large water storage tank, a pump, and an Internet enabled controller, would allow you to have access and peace of mind for watering while you are away. You could even combine it with an Internet streaming camera so that you could look at your trees while you are on the road, and water when they are looking parched.

So it's municipal water supply that had a major outage, still not completely recovered. I had previously planned on building a rain water harvesting system, but our rain is generally too inconsistent and also this situation has placed more urgency on getting something done, sooner than later. I have a drip irrigation starter kit already that i need to install. Any wifi based controllers that can be recommended?

 

[eugenev2]

Interesting, I've never heard of this before.

I would turn my plants on their side, on the ground. They would benefit from ground dew break in middle of night and also quasi-dormancy from being horizontal.

 

[nuttiest]

Interesting, I've never heard of this before.

just observational

 

[leatherback]

So regardless of this miserable state of affairs, i want to find out what you back up plans are for these types of situations?

COnsidering we are talking survival-of-tree level solutions..

-> Consider full defoliation for those species that backbud easily
-> Wrap rootball (And possibly full crown) in large plastic bags (AND KEEP THE PLANTS OUT OF THE SUN AFTERWARDS)

No backup fo rnot having water here. Guess that has never happened here; Luxury situation. But I do have 2 500l rainbarrels on a drainpipe. If you have a gutter-drainpipe then installing a water-harvester is a 10 minute job, and well-worth the money.

 

[leatherback]

quasi-dormancy from being horizontal

just observational

Sorry, but no. Plants do not go dormant because you tilt them. They are not chickens.

 

[R0b]

Tap water is a given where I live, but I prefer rain water and have a 1000 liter tank to capture it, next to that I have a well that didn’t run dry during the hottest and driest summers in recorded history. I plan to train my nephews to water our trees when travelling and have me brother supervise them. So a number of back ups are in place.

all the best in dealing with this

 

[nuttiest]

Plants do not go dormant because you tilt them.

Just because you don't know the old tricks doesn't mean they are inaccurate.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

After a really tough year of bonsai...
Moving during spring repotting season, not being able to provide as much care during those times, the hottest spring/summer/autumn we have had on record (through out all those seasons 30 to 34C (86 to 94F)). Going away for a week or 2 and having someone provide less than ideal care for the trees, now finally hit by another whammy ie during this extremely hot autumn we are sitting now with day 9 without any water supply. By the looks of it, this is going to be the nail in the coffin for some of my trees....

I've been considering getting large water tanks to keep back up water storage, but there will remain a bit of a logistics problem to get the water to the trees

So regardless of this miserable state of affairs, i want to find out what you back up plans are for these types of situations?

Oh man, I’m sorry to hear all of this. I hope the circumstances turn around for you and your trees!!

 

[SeanS]

"Without any water supply" Can you help us to understand what this means? Are you on mains water and they have cut your water? Or do you have a well that has run dry?

This is South Africa. We have scheduled power cuts almost every day called “load shedding”, for 2-4 hours, sometimes multiple times per day. We even have a local app that helps us track the outages. This is due to our government’s poor planning and wastage of resources. This has been in effect on and off for over 10 years.

Water is also an issue at times, poor maintenance of our water systems result in occasional outages due to repairs being carried out.

But hey, at least we’re good at Rugby

 

[BrianBay9]

Are you close enough to the coast to harvest fog/mist/humidity? Something like shade cloth hung up vertically can capture humidity from the air, funneled to barrels. In South San Francisco I could collect more than 5 gallons a day this way.

 

[leatherback]

Are you close enough to the coast to harvest fog/mist/humidity?

He is in Johannesburg, which is closer to Botswana than to the coast.. Maputo, the nearest coastal town is about 500km.

 

[eugenev2]

Are you close enough to the coast to harvest fog/mist/humidity? Something like shade cloth hung up vertically can capture humidity from the air, funneled to barrels. In South San Francisco I could collect more than 5 gallons a day this way.

Yea not likely to work, our (johannesburg area) average humidity is also extremely low, normally sits at 23% if it isn't rainy season