I get pretty bad mineral buildup on my pots, trunks, leaves, etc. Notice the white residue on the trunk in the first picture, and the white residue around the rim of the pot in the second picture. Some are much worse than others. Anybody have a solution to this short of feeding my bonsai Evian spring water?
here's the second.
Id clean the pots with vinegar... are you soaking the plants when you water them? Flushing water from the top can help remove loose minerals. Do you have a filter on your faucet? That will help with keeping minerals out too.
Watering with saved rain water will help. Of course since it only rains in the winter in CA you could try distilled water in the long summer months. A bottle of distilled water only costs a buck here. Using only organic fertilizers (like kelp) will help too.
I only admire bonsai that others have created, never owned one>
This message was edited Aug 13, 2008 4:50 AM
I don't soak them ever. I only water from the top. some of them need to be watered twice a day, some every other day. I don't think bottled water is feasible given this fact. I don't think the buildup is due to fertilizers, since I do not fertilize during the hot summer months, but the buildup continues.
So, vinegar will help huh? Can i actually wash off the trunk with it. When you say i can apply it to the root ball, does this mean that if i wash it through the soil it won't damage my plants? sounds a little scary.
I'll try filtering the water, don't know why i hadn't though of that. Maybe i can find a filter for my garden hose.
dale, watch the articles section...soon some of your photos from the PF will be immortalized in my silly works,lol.
ive never put vinegar on a plant, just cleaned with it. I heard someone say its a good weedkiller so i dunno.
HTH's!
-Jocie.
Never heard of vinegar as a weed killer, but, it is acidic. Best not to use it on plants then.
Hi, The build up of calcium from the water you use can easily be removed from the pot using a cloth dipped in vinegar, avoid letting the vinegar go into the potting soil. To remove the calcium deposits from the trunk suggest using an old toothbrush dipped in water and gently rub it up and down (never horizontally or you risk scoring the bark) on the affected area which will remove the calcium.
Good luck
George
Just noticed that your wiring on the first foto looks a bit on the heavy side. If you send me fotos of some of your wired trees I could give you some advice on wiring, if you would like.
ikebana67, This is a shohin tree so it is very small. I did not wire the trunk or branches to bend them conventionally. I wrapped a length of wire around the bottom of the pot and each end back up around the trunk once to stabilize it, then used the wire as anchor points to string some branches in the direction I wanted. Anyway, the wire is very loose on the trunk since the anchoring is mostly coming from the pot, so I don't think the gauge matters.
Hi, I understand now what you have done, earlier as I only saw the lowest part of the trunk it looked odd to me.
saludos
George
It's so tiny, I just wanna huggle it lol.
haha thanks crimsontsavo. Shohin and mame styles are definitely my favorite. Check this one out. Been training it for about 2 years. It's about 4 1/2 inches above the pot.
Aweeeeeee thatll be so pretty when it finishes out! Still like that other one better though hehe.
