BRT Vacation Watering

[cairolip21]

Hi all,
I'm a novice but have had my Brazilian Rain Tree for about 8 years now. We've been through some struggles but I think I've finally got it doing pretty well. It's indoors year round (Long Island NY) but in a south facing bay window with a 32w GE plant light above it. I also built a mini pond surround for a bit more humidity and to build an auto watering system for when I'm away. (I go away for about a week at a time every month or two).

My auto waterer keeps it alive but it's always ends up upset and starts defoliating any time I go on a trip followed by great growth when I return to normal daily watering. Do you all have any suggestions for watering while away cuz I don't think my contraption is doing the trick. I think with the soil being so coarse the water just drains straight down and some of the roots end up drying. I've tried a few different ways to get the water to disperse but no luck.
Any help would be so greatly appreciated.

Pictures of the tree and my strange brain child of a mini pond and watering system attached.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I don't know how BRT react to being flooded, but I sat my whole collection in a shallow pool (3" deep) the first couple of years I was into bonsai. At the time I had 10 different species including a couple of tropicals. No signs of distress on any of them. Most seemed to really enjoy it. In nature, it is very common that trees stand in water due to floods for days or weeks at a time. I've never seen any widespread death among trees in that scenario. Maybe try sitting the tree in water while you're at home and just observe how it handles it.

 

[penumbra]

Use a water wick.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Nice tree!

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Brazilian Rain Tree Plant Care: Water, Light, Nutrients | Greg App ð±

Learn exactly what Brazilian Rain Tree needs to thrive, get reminders when itâs time to water, and join the growing community on the Greg App.

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[Joe Dupre']

Nice tree!

Yep, really nice. It's got that African savannah feel to it.

 

[cairolip21]

Thanks so much for these responses. I'll look into the water wick and try the submersion while I'm going to be around as well. @Joe Dupre' , did you just submerge half the pot leaving some above or full submersion for a period of time?

And thanks everyone for the compliments on the tree! It's come a LONG LONG way and acquired it's savannah feel through some unfortunate circumstances (me learning the hard way how to properly care for it). I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along now though. It's lightyears ahead of where it was. Just want to make sure I keep it that way with more frequent travel coming up again.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Thanks so much for these responses. I'll look into the water wick and try the submersion while I'm going to be around as well. @Joe Dupre' , did you just submerge half the pot leaving some above or full submersion for a period of time?

And thanks everyone for the compliments on the tree! It's come a LONG LONG way and acquired it's savannah feel through some unfortunate circumstances (me learning the hard way how to properly care for it). I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along now though. It's lightyears ahead of where it was. Just want to make sure I keep it that way with more frequent travel coming up again.

I actually made a shallow pool with 2x4's on edge in a rectangle lined with plastic film. The water depth was about 3". You could prop up the tree on a brick or block of wood to adjust the depth for different sized trees. Cheap kiddie pools would work if you don't have many trees. For one tree, a flat tote from Walmart would do.

 

[cairolip21]

I actually made a shallow pool with 2x4's on edge in a rectangle lined with plastic film. The water depth was about 3". You could prop up the tree on a brick or block of wood to adjust the depth for different sized trees. Cheap kiddie pools would work if you don't have many trees. For one tree, a flat tote from Walmart would do.

Ah, I gotcha. And they sat right at the bottom not on top of anything right? so about 3" of the soil submerged? I assume the pots are about 4" high?
Just trying to figure out how much of the root system to shoot for being under water.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I would go for about half of the soil to be underwater or maybe a bit more. It's surprising how much water a few trees will respire in a week.

In 2016, Livingston parish, La. sustained a 500 year flood in which the water stayed up for a week. There was NO discernable damage to trees, shrubs or landscaping after being under 2-3 feet of water.

 

[cairolip21]

Ok that sounds like something worth giving a shot. I was thinking I might even be able to just place it in the pond I have below. Just lower it's "island". Definitely gonna give that a shot while i can watch to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Thanks for the help!!

 

[Joe Dupre']

Take a little advice from a 90 year old , 50 year bonsai enthusiast that started our local club. NO ONE will water your trees like you would. MAYBE, if you have a twin brother who's been into bonsai for 50 years, you MIGHT be able to trust him to water your trees. "Water every day" does not mean the same to the average person as it does to a bonsai enthusiast. They say they get it ..........but usually they don't.

 

[cairolip21]

Take a little advice from a 90 year old , 50 year bonsai enthusiast that started our local club. NO ONE will water your trees like you would. MAYBE, if you have a twin brother who's been into bonsai for 50 years, you MIGHT be able to trust him to water your trees. "Water every day" does not mean the same to the average person as it does to a bonsai enthusiast. They say they get it ..........but usually they don't.

That is soo true!!
I guess it's kinda why I went the route of, if I can't be here, let me build something that can do it for me. Asking someone else to do it was out of the question!

I did it once before with my first bonsai and came back to a bare tree. Never recovered.

Thanks so much for your help in this. Your advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[chlorine-queen]

No advice here but just wanted to say that pond/island is gorgeous! I always love seeing cool indoor setups.

 

[Colorado]

I also submerge my tropicals when I have to leave them unattended while I’m out of town. I use a 9x13 glass baking dish and fill it up to just below the rim of the pot.

By the time I get home a week later, the water is basically all gone. I think you could leave it for even longer if you just had a bigger container.

Good luck and nice tree!

 

[cairolip21]

No advice here but just wanted to say that pond/island is gorgeous! I always love seeing cool indoor setups.

Thanks so much! It was a fun spark of an idea to try and solve the problem and I love how it came out.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

I don't know how BRT react to being flooded, but I sat my whole collection in a shallow pool (3" deep) the first couple of years I was into bonsai. At the time I had 10 different species including a couple of tropicals. No signs of distress on any of them. Most seemed to really enjoy it. In nature, it is very common that trees stand in water due to floods for days or weeks at a time. I've never seen any widespread death among trees in that scenario. Maybe try sitting the tree in water while you're at home and just observe how it handles it.

This is what I do with mine in the winter when I'm out of town, place it In a tin baking pan and fill the water almost up to the pot rim.

 

[cairolip21]

I also submerge my tropicals when I have to leave them unattended while I’m out of town. I use a 9x13 glass baking dish and fill it up to just below the rim of the pot.

By the time I get home a week later, the water is basically all gone. I think you could leave it for even longer if you just had a bigger container.

Good luck and nice tree!

Thanks! That's great to hear you've been successful with it too.

I'm assuming the BRT will be fine if other tropicals are. I've been trying to find it specific to BRT but can't in the searching I've done.

 

[cairolip21]

This is what I do with mine in the winter when I'm out of town, place it In a tin baking pan and fill the water almost up to the pot rim.

Thank you! Any chance any of them are BRT as well?!

I'm sure it's probably the same if they're tropical but I'd just love to even hear one person say, yep I've done it and it was fine. I'd be so upset to lose this one after the comeback it's made.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Is your current irrigation system running constantly or intermittent? If constant you might want to try a timer. I usually water mine every couple of days in winter based on how dry the soil feels. Good luck, nice tree.