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Bonsai in a barbecue ice bucket
Erica68
Posts: 65
I rescued a tiny oak sapling last year and planted it in a barbeque ice bucket and it thrived but then it got powdery mouldy patches(?) all over the leaves. So I took off those leaves and more grew back and it looked splendiferous and now the mouldy powdery patches are back. I think the tree must be about 3 years old.
What are these patches and when can I do about them?
0
Posts
Powdery mildew is caused by under watering, the dry spell earlier caused a lot of this
Not a silly question philipa smith 2 as I did not when I first put it in and someone pointed out my mistake on the same day...........fortunately. I don't have enough room for an oak tree in my tiny garden so maybe it needs rescuing?
Under watering is a distinct possibility Fleurisa,as I have under watered other plants.
For a relatively new gardener it is difficult to know what to water and when. I get told that if I water too much I make the roots lazy and if I water too much I dehydrate the plants and make them ill. Such a steep learning curve.
I have just realised that you asked what I planted it in. It was put in ordinary potting compost. Could that cause the problem?
I've got one too (from a very special acorn
) - its 5 years old, so pleased to hear i've got another 25 years before I need to worry about getting it in the ground
Where I walk my dog there's an area with about 150 oak saplings. They're all smothered in mildew again this year. But they seem to come back fine each year.
Maybe it's a bit like acne.....
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
both English and sessile oaks are suitable for making true bonsai's (I have a home grown 10 year old English oak and a 12 year old sessile oak bonsai), they can be difficult however. you must have the right soil mixture and they can get neither too wet or too dry or they sulk terribly.
oak leaves are susceptible to mildew if you spray water on the leaves (including being rained on) instead of watering from below. high humidity environments can cause it along with reduced air flow.
incidentally what sort of ice bucket is it? as galvanised stuff can damage roots.
I've been growing an Oak tree from an Acorn in a tiny pot on my Bonsia stand for quite a few years and it seems fine. I think next Spring it will need to be replanted, so hope yours recovers and does well.
I have another one in a bigger pot also on the stand, this one is a lot older and I don't really do anything different to the Oaks than I do for all the others on there, but they do have wooden slats over their heads so perhaps this keeps off some of the rain and bad weather.
Good luck.