My Current Collection

[Redwood Ryan]

I'm now looking at a product called AzaMax to kill the mites. It looks promising.

 

[jriddell88]

Azamax is pretty expensive from what I remember. I used it once on some Canniba bonsai, didn't work too well for me. Although I've heard of people having success, literally a waste of money for me.Just use some ortho. How bad is the infestation?

 

[Vance Wood]

That's crazy! I give mine all kinds of supplemental lighting and yet get very little or even no growth during the winter.

Sometimes where you live will influence the kind of development you get.

 

[sorce]

Glad I didn't have any supplemental lights on it, or I wouldn't have had a break from pruning all winter

What is your water\fert schedule for this over winter?

I assume it gets watered easily and a lot?

Thanks!

Sorce

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Azamax is pretty expensive from what I remember. I used it once on some Canniba bonsai, didn't work too well for me. Although I've heard of people having success, literally a waste of money for me.Just use some ortho. How bad is the infestation?

Most of the things I've read have been positive. The infestation is pretty bad.

 

[jriddell88]

I sprayed the undersides once a week with ortho and no problemos...was cheaper and easily aquired for me ...was a pretty bad mob of those little bastards too

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Which ortho?

 

[coh]

Hey Ryan, any updates? Have you had any success treating the mites and scale?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Hey Chris,

After removing all the plants, taking them outdoors and spraying them, then totally redesigning the room and vacuuming everything, there seems to be a decline in mites. I can't say for sure that they're all gone, but they don't seem as bad anymore. It'll always be a battle over the winter, but that's okay.

 

[coh]

How about the scale?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

How about the scale?

I don't see much honeydew on the trees anymore, but I'm planning on working on the room tomorrow so I'll have a good look over the trees. The damage certainly seems to have slowed, that's for sure.

 

[LanceMac10]

That's good news, Ryan!! I find scale is my biggest problem. Thankfully, none this year.
I've taken a two prong approach these last few winters. I apply a systemic powder during the last few weeks my tropicals are outside. Followed by a light spray of Bayer Natria insect, disease & mite control when I put them into shade to acclimate them to reduced sunlight.
Seems to be working.

Good luck, going forward!!

 

[Redwood Ryan]

you know amazon sell like 4' 12 bulb t5ho grow light for like 130$-that would work well and cheap

For the record, a 12 bulb T5HO is $300, in case anyone is interested

 

[Redwood Ryan]

And here I thought big trees would be easier to care for

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Today I visited the man who I bought the two large Ficus from to see how he grew his Ficus over the winter. Keep in mind that he had them for over 15 years. His method? Plain T8 fluorescents. Granted, they didn't flourish, but they did survive.



Maybe I'm just overthinking all of this...

 

[bonsaiBlake]

Half my trees are infested with mites, the other half have scale. Chris is right, it's time to go systemic and get serious about killing these b@$t@rds!

If u haven't already treated your stuff try this, used it on everything from bougainvillea to pines.
I don't like talking about it but I only use chems for my trees, so much more controlable than organic anything. . .

1-2 cap fulls, full strength seems to be safe for med to big trees,

 

[bonsaiBlake]

I'd even be willing to grab u a bottle at work and ship it to you we have pint sized for 14.99 plus whatever shipping would be

 

[Jester217300]

Maybe I'm just overthinking all of this...

 

[KennedyMarx]

I had to check because I couldn't remember if I had T8s or T5s, but turns out they're T8s. The plants grow a little bit, but nothing too crazy. I think the temperature and humidity is a bigger hindrance to growth than the lighting. I put some plants in my makeshift greenhouse, which is a just storage tote with plastic wrap over the top, and with the same lighting setup they're growing better than the plants just sitting out on my shelving.

My mindset is that I'm just overwintering them. If they grow enough to get cut back that's fine, but I'm just making sure they're surviving until they go out in spring. It's a different mindset than people trying to grow indoors year round. I'm already fighting the climate enough as it is.

 

[aml1014]

I had to check because I couldn't remember if I had T8s or T5s, but turns out they're T8s. The plants grow a little bit, but nothing too crazy. I think the temperature and humidity is a bigger hindrance to growth than the lighting. I put some plants in my makeshift greenhouse, which is a just storage tote with plastic wrap over the top, and with the same lighting setup they're growing better than the plants just sitting out on my shelving.

My mindset is that I'm just overwintering them. If they grow enough to get cut back that's fine, but I'm just making sure they're surviving until they go out in spring. It's a different mindset than people trying to grow indoors year round. I'm already fighting the climate enough as it is.

I agree that lighting is not the only issue in many cases. Liebigs law shows that growth is not Controlled by a plants total amount of resources, but the one it has the least of. So you can have the best set up ever with 1000.00 dollar lights but you could have the wrong soil components and all is lost. Its only when plants have the best of all resources do they thrive.

Aaron