Root pruning American Hornbeam

[Waltron]

just be careful with over watering, keep it up on that bench, pull it out of all day full sun once the buds pop, and be sure to use rain water, or not hard water on these. On the same note, be extra careful with chem ferts, the leaves will burn, low salt tolerance. honestly water it with only rain water if you can, and try to use mainly organic ferts if you can, if you do only water with rain water, and use organic ferts, you may be able to keep it in full sun. endo and ecto inoculation is not a terrible idea, but could be expensive. there are ways to do it cheaply though, either way not totally necessary, but throwing it out there for you.

I will say though, all these have popped buds by me already, I found a couple morels yesterday. were the buds popped on this one yet? It seems like ohio is a bit ahead of us seasonally, ive never tried to dig one after bud break, solely based off zach smith saying they wont live. I will reconfirm, that diggin these as early as possible has proven to be the most successful way.

its probably fine though.

 

[pweifan]

Thanks for the suggestions. I keep a planted aquarium and save the water from water changes for the watering can. I collect rain water also but it isn't enough to keep up in the heat of summer. We don't have softened water. I also mix Plant-tone (organic) and Osmocote Plus (slow release chemical) for my fertilization. What symptoms should I be on the lookout for?

I've been sheltering the trees a bit but will move them on the benches eventually. I have fewer trees this year so they'll lose some of the shade that they provided for each other. Do you think I should use a shade cloth or something similar?

 

[Tieball]

I have a well. The well water seems to be fine with all my trees....organic water I guess. Strained by the earth.

 

[JudyB]

I find that if you have a salt buildup sensitive tree, try using a soil mix with some kanuma in it. Solved all my beech leaf issues...
Well is fine if you aren't using the softened water. And it's really about fert buildup with the salts they are made up of.

 

[pweifan]

I will say though, all these have popped buds by me already, I found a couple morels yesterday. were the buds popped on this one yet? It seems like ohio is a bit ahead of us seasonally, ive never tried to dig one after bud break, solely based off zach smith saying they wont live. I will reconfirm, that diggin these as early as possible has proven to be the most successful way.

I think I missed this part... When I collected it MI none of the buds had broken yet, but they were awful long. Only days later in OH they broke. It was definitely my last chance to collect hornbeams for the year.

 

[Soldano666]

Good reads in here forsure. I just collected a hand full of these about a week ago. I found about a solid half acre of them at a buddies place. I have em in the green house til buds break or the 4 week repot protection from Sun and wind is done. The last one is real ugly, might make an interesting clump tho

 

[pweifan]

I think the last one is actually the most interesting I'd like to see what you do with it.

 

[Soldano666]

Yeah the others are pretty small. My back was spent after messing with that big one

 

[Soldano666]

just be careful with over watering, keep it up on that bench, pull it out of all day full sun once the buds pop, and be sure to use rain water, or not hard water on these. On the same note, be extra careful with chem ferts, the leaves will burn, low salt tolerance. honestly water it with only rain water if you can, and try to use mainly organic ferts if you can, if you do only water with rain water, and use organic ferts, you may be able to keep it in full sun. endo and ecto inoculation is not a terrible idea, but could be expensive. there are ways to do it cheaply though, either way not totally necessary, but throwing it out there for you.

I will say though, all these have popped buds by me already, I found a couple morels yesterday. were the buds popped on this one yet? It seems like ohio is a bit ahead of us seasonally, ive never tried to dig one after bud break, solely based off zach smith saying they wont live. I will reconfirm, that diggin these as early as possible has proven to be the most successful way.

its probably fine though.

Are you recommending full sun after collecting to encourage buds to pop? Then move to shade?

 

[Waltron]

yea basically, I have one in my garden bed in all day full sun and its growing very strong, the ones in pots are basically like japanese maple though.

 

[pweifan]

I'm very happy with the growth on this year's Hornbeam. I'm almost tempted to select leaders and do some trimming, but I don't think it's the right call. I want to do everything in my power to keep it healthy and growing. I think it has potential to be a very powerful tree.



And then there's the Hornbeam I collected in 2015... If you've read this thread you know I made many mistakes collecting this tree. I'm happy for the lessons I've learned so I can't kick myself for previous bad decisions.

The good news is the new leader is thickening nicely. My goal is to carve the trunk next spring to try and make the taper believable.



What's got me concerned is the health of the tree. The foliage is telling me something is wrong. The leaves are yellow in spots, dying in spots and almost all the leaves are cupping. Does anyone have any thoughts? My immediate thought is maybe too much water. I had tried Bonsai Mirai's suggestion of collecting local moss from aggregate surfaces. I sifted the moss with a screen as was suggested and kept a decent amount of it alive. However after a few months it died and started it turn into a black sludge on the surface. I removed as much as I could, but you can see how the pumice has been stained. It might not be at all related but I thought it was worth mentioning. Any thoughts?

 

[Soldano666]

I got the same sludge from my moss and am experiencing the same curled and yellowing leaves, lava pumice soil mix so it cant be too wet. I was thinking maybe it got too dry. However they were colloected this spring and ive noticed leaf abnormalities in the first year of collection with a few diffrent species after chopping down a trunk and cutting off lots of roots. If be curious about this leaf problem as well

 

[americanelmer]

You can get rid of the black crud by drenching it with straight Hydrogen Peroxide (available at any drug store or box store -- cheap too) It is really satisfying to watch the peroxide foam up and release clouds of fog as the gunk dies a well deserved death. Your trees will love it as it disperses oxygen thru the soil as it does its work.

A_E

 

[Soldano666]

I just lifted it off like a piece of melted rubber. And replaced it with some scissored spagnum.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Is it getting a lot of water on its leaves? Have you sprayed for fungus? I have never seen this on any of my hornbeams, but the first thing I would consider with curling leaves is fungal issues.

Check out @Smoke post on tree fungus... https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/bonsai-fungus.28631/

 

[pweifan]

I think you're right, Greg. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

"In contrast, anthracnose can continue to progress through summer months on trees like hornbeam." Thank you @Smoke for the nice writeup!

Now I need to get a fungicide. Should I be isolating the tree then? I'm guessing yes.

 

[pweifan]

Is it getting a lot of water on its leaves? Have you sprayed for fungus?

Yes, when I leave for long weekends or vacations, I use the "lawn sprinkler on a timer" method of automation. I'm not very careful about not getting the leaves wet when I water by hand. I'll need to work on my accuracy.

I've never sprayed for fungus before. I was hesitant to use unnecessary chemicals. I guess I need to re-evaluate that as well.

 

[Smoke]

"In contrast, anthracnose can continue to progress through summer months on trees like hornbeam." Thank you @Smoke for the nice writeup!

Now I need to get a fungicide. Should I be isolating the tree then? I'm guessing yes.

Yes, when I leave for long weekends or vacations, I use the "lawn sprinkler on a timer" method of automation. I'm not very careful about not getting the leaves wet when I water by hand. I'll need to work on my accuracy.

I've never sprayed for fungus before. I was hesitant to use unnecessary chemicals. I guess I need to re-evaluate that as well.

Water on leaves in general is not a problem as long as there is adequate sunlight afterwords to dry the leaves and the trees are spaced apart enough to allow good ventilation. About unnecessary chemicals. All chemicals that prevent or cure something are necessary. Only a fool would turn down penicillin when needed, yet there are those that feel it unnecessary. Your choice.

This is my Go To fungicide year round. Tell the naysayers that will tell you not to use it above 90 degrees they have no idea what they are talking about. In the last three months I have only had 7 days below 103 F and I use it all summer.


The most common underlined.



Keep in mind that signs of fungus on a plant cannot be cured by spraying with fungicide. The damage is already manifest and can only be removed and destroyed allowing fresh growth to take over on the plant. It is the use of fungicide from this point on that will keep the plant from having future attacks. Keep the plant watered, and fertilized. Adequate and protected sunlight and prophylactically treat the plant monthly with fungicide and this should not be a problem.

 

[pweifan]

This is my Go To fungicide year round. Tell the naysayers that will tell you not to use it above 90 degrees they have no idea what they are talking about. In the last three months I have only had 7 days below 103 F and I use it all summer.

This is exactly the product I used. I think you mentioned it in the other thread so it's what I looked for.

Keep in mind that signs of fungus on a plant cannot be cured by spraying with fungicide. The damage is already manifest and can only be removed and destroyed allowing fresh growth to take over on the plant. It is the use of fungicide from this point on that will keep the plant from having future attacks. Keep the plant watered, and fertilized. Adequate and protected sunlight and prophylactically treat the plant monthly with fungicide and this should not be a problem.

Do you think the Hornbeam is too stressed out to do a partial/full defoliation? I know it's not a majestic tree, but I'm hoping to learn a lot from it.

 

[Smoke]

This is exactly the product I used. I think you mentioned it in the other thread so it's what I looked for.



Do you think the Hornbeam is too stressed out to do a partial/full defoliation? I know it's not a majestic tree, but I'm hoping to learn a lot from it.

I have no idea about your climate, but where I live I could do it now with no problem if it's the only one it had for the year. If it were going to be the second one for the year I might just remove infected leaves and let it gain strength for the rest of the year.

Most people me included for many years had no idea about the importance of winter treatment of fungus for the new year. The fungus starts to set in around Dec. and is not seen till well into the late spring or early summer and the damage is done. Spray thru the fall and winter and enjoy a beautiful plant all year.

For the last two weeks we had temps every day straight at 107 or more. I am keeping lush THIN moss and super nice leaves all year due to keeping up on the spraying. I show this cause if anyone was going to have leaf scorch it would be me. I do not have it, and anyone that tries to keep a maple show ready thru summer knows it won't be done with moss all year. So far I am keeping that very well mostly due to the new soil and the monthly spray. You be the judge.