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Bonchi Project
- Thread starter Mene
- Start date
Just swapped the soil in the Bonchis from my garden bed. They were not growing nearly as well as the ones in the potting soil I made earlier this year, so I swapped to the potting soil.
A lot of my new growth has very light green leaves on my others. Seems I need some nitrogen, so I opted for Fox Farm Grow Big. I was so impressed with the big bloom and tiger bloom, I figured I'd give it a try. Anybody use this? I read it's a bit hot and shouldn't go full strength. Any other tips or ideas?
A lot of my new growth has very light green leaves on my others. Seems I need some nitrogen, so I opted for Fox Farm Grow Big. I was so impressed with the big bloom and tiger bloom, I figured I'd give it a try. Anybody use this? I read it's a bit hot and shouldn't go full strength. Any other tips or ideas?
I like those nutes. I use: 1/2 strength; 1/2 strength; plain water, repeat. Or feed full strength; water; water, repeat.
I got the Grow Big today. I decided to water at half strengthwith it today and take a time lapse of the next few days of growth (hence the GoPro) I'll post an few pictures over the next few days of all of the plants to show the results! The time lapse will hopefully be cool too. I'll post it when it's done
That would be awesome! what software for the time laps?
Go Pro! 
This is gonna be sweet!
This is gonna be sweet!The GoPro will actually stitch it together into a time lapse for me. It's pretty cool! Depending on the growth, I'll probably run a 3 day lapse. I just hope nothing goes wrongdragonsfire said:
Thank you! It's been a blast so far and I'm looking forward to the rest of the winter with them! Keep following for more updates!oldsalty said:Wow Mene really love this post!!! My plants are still producing but am very excited about trying this. Great job with the info and pics. And can't wait to see the time lapse shots!! Very Cool
Well their was some movement so it did work, just have to do it for a couple of weeks lol
Thanks!
Thanks!
Today, my worst nightmare for this project became a reality: Aphids.
I went to do some trimming on the plants and noticed the tell tale sticky crystals all over two of the plants. Luckily at this point, the problem was not an infestation. Two plants had a decent number, the rest were either very few or none at all . I immediately took my plants outside and stripped all of the new growth I have been anxiously watching for the last several weeks
along with much of the growth on my seedlings to make a little less surface area to treat, and soaked the plants in some neem oil I had left over from the season. (thank goodness) After that I let them dry out, and brought them back inside and thoroughly cleaned the pots they are in, to make sure none of the little parasites hung on that way. I cleaned and vacuumed my closet out thoroughly to ensure there weren't any buggers in there, and now I have a box fan blowing full blast in there. Not sure why I'm doing that part, but it seems like a good idea. I'll put the plants back in place in the next couple of hours
I think they got in on my seedlings within the last week or so. I have had them out in the sun on some warmer days, and some aphids probably jumped ship and laid eggs. I didn't see a single aphid all season, and now at the worst possible time they rear their ugly heads. I think I wiped the little buggers out, but I have another plan if not.
If they come back, I'm going to pull out all of the bonchis completely and dunk them in soapy water to drown the little bastards, then repot them in fresh, clean soil. The seedlings may end up being a casualty, but we will see what happens. I will try dunking them to, but they may not survive it. Wish me luck! Any tips are welcome Here's a couple of pictures:
I went to do some trimming on the plants and noticed the tell tale sticky crystals all over two of the plants. Luckily at this point, the problem was not an infestation. Two plants had a decent number, the rest were either very few or none at all . I immediately took my plants outside and stripped all of the new growth I have been anxiously watching for the last several weeks
along with much of the growth on my seedlings to make a little less surface area to treat, and soaked the plants in some neem oil I had left over from the season. (thank goodness) After that I let them dry out, and brought them back inside and thoroughly cleaned the pots they are in, to make sure none of the little parasites hung on that way. I cleaned and vacuumed my closet out thoroughly to ensure there weren't any buggers in there, and now I have a box fan blowing full blast in there. Not sure why I'm doing that part, but it seems like a good idea. I'll put the plants back in place in the next couple of hoursI think they got in on my seedlings within the last week or so. I have had them out in the sun on some warmer days, and some aphids probably jumped ship and laid eggs. I didn't see a single aphid all season, and now at the worst possible time they rear their ugly heads. I think I wiped the little buggers out, but I have another plan if not.
If they come back, I'm going to pull out all of the bonchis completely and dunk them in soapy water to drown the little bastards, then repot them in fresh, clean soil. The seedlings may end up being a casualty, but we will see what happens. I will try dunking them to, but they may not survive it. Wish me luck! Any tips are welcome
Here's a couple of pictures:
azamax! Hydro storeMene said:Today, my worst nightmare for this project became a reality: Aphids.
I went to do some trimming on the plants and noticed the tell tale sticky crystals all over two of the plants. Luckily at this point, the problem was not an infestation. Two plants had a decent number, the rest were either very few or none at all . I immediately took my plants outside and stripped all of the new growth I have been anxiously watching for the last several weeks
I think they got in on my seedlings within the last week or so. I have had them out in the sun on some warmer days, and some aphids probably jumped ship and laid eggs. I didn't see a single aphid all season, and now at the worst possible time they rear their ugly heads. I think I wiped the little buggers out, but I have another plan if not.
If they come back, I'm going to pull out all of the bonchis completely and dunk them in soapy water to drown the little bastards, then repot them in fresh, clean soil. The seedlings may end up being a casualty, but we will see what happens. I will try dunking them to, but they may not survive it. Wish me luck! Any tips are welcome
I just found this thread and as I was reading through, thought I should warn you about treating for aphids before you pot any more bonchi. I ran into the same problem last year. Put the plants straight from my garden into bonsai pots, under a light. 3 weeks of great growth then BAM! Aphids. Totally destroyed 3 of my plants, and the 4th didn't make it through the cleaning process.
This year, I'm going to wash the plant and roots in a hydrogen peroxide solution, and treat with neem oil before I pot them up. We'll see if that's enough to kill the little bastards
This year, I'm going to wash the plant and roots in a hydrogen peroxide solution, and treat with neem oil before I pot them up. We'll see if that's enough to kill the little bastards
Here's my chili "bonsai", after its postseason haircut, which is why it looks so sparse. It's a Tepin, about 8ish years old.
In that time i have found that there are reasons why chilis are not a popular traditional bonsai subject, this variety at least puts out lots of long leggy shoots in all kinds of directions in the summer, and these shoots, which don't work great with the aesthetic character of the bonsai, are what bear most of the flowers. Also, there's a short window of time for bending branches before the wood becomes very brittle, so i've come up with a technique of breaking branches just a little bit to train them in a particular direction.
Some years i keep up on the pruning and training in the summer, snipping off the long shoots at a certain point as they grow,m but this limits the amount of flowers and fruits i get. Some years, including this one, i let it go on "rumspringa" where i don't prune it, letting it grow wild and put on some woody growth, and get lots of peppers.
Then, after harvesting, i "edit" what the plant did, cutting it back more severely and refining the structure (that's what just happened). It's cool when i can get a happy medium because the tiny Tepin peppers are proportionate to the bonsai, like apples on a tree.
I've got aphids on mine before, in the winter. They actually got pretty bad before i noticed them, and were exclusively on the chili bonsai, even tho i have lots of other indoor plants. I misted it down with an insecticidal soap and then some permethrin spray, but the plant didn't like that and dropped some leaves, so i rinsed it down in the shower, trying to wash aphids off. On warmer days, i would take it outside and quickly blast aphids off with canned air. a few more rounds of showering, canned air, and very light insecticiding, and i defeated them
cool vid, here's a short time lapse of mine perking up after being watered :
https://vine.co/v/eTqe7uaXq9l
In that time i have found that there are reasons why chilis are not a popular traditional bonsai subject, this variety at least puts out lots of long leggy shoots in all kinds of directions in the summer, and these shoots, which don't work great with the aesthetic character of the bonsai, are what bear most of the flowers. Also, there's a short window of time for bending branches before the wood becomes very brittle, so i've come up with a technique of breaking branches just a little bit to train them in a particular direction.
Some years i keep up on the pruning and training in the summer, snipping off the long shoots at a certain point as they grow,m but this limits the amount of flowers and fruits i get. Some years, including this one, i let it go on "rumspringa" where i don't prune it, letting it grow wild and put on some woody growth, and get lots of peppers.
Then, after harvesting, i "edit" what the plant did, cutting it back more severely and refining the structure (that's what just happened). It's cool when i can get a happy medium because the tiny Tepin peppers are proportionate to the bonsai, like apples on a tree.
Mene said:Today, my worst nightmare for this project became a reality: Aphids.
I went to do some trimming on the plants and noticed the tell tale sticky crystals all over two of the plants. Luckily at this point, the problem was not an infestation. Two plants had a decent number, the rest were either very few or none at all . I immediately took my plants outside and stripped all of the new growth I have been anxiously watching for the last several weeks
I think they got in on my seedlings within the last week or so. I have had them out in the sun on some warmer days, and some aphids probably jumped ship and laid eggs. I didn't see a single aphid all season, and now at the worst possible time they rear their ugly heads. I think I wiped the little buggers out, but I have another plan if not.
If they come back, I'm going to pull out all of the bonchis completely and dunk them in soapy water to drown the little bastards, then repot them in fresh, clean soil. The seedlings may end up being a casualty, but we will see what happens. I will try dunking them to, but they may not survive it. Wish me luck! Any tips are welcome
I've got aphids on mine before, in the winter. They actually got pretty bad before i noticed them, and were exclusively on the chili bonsai, even tho i have lots of other indoor plants. I misted it down with an insecticidal soap and then some permethrin spray, but the plant didn't like that and dropped some leaves, so i rinsed it down in the shower, trying to wash aphids off. On warmer days, i would take it outside and quickly blast aphids off with canned air. a few more rounds of showering, canned air, and very light insecticiding, and i defeated them
Mene said:Well, here's the video. It did not turn out as good as I hoped. I wanted to run a nonstop time lapse, but the plants did not grow much without being given any kind of night period for a few days. I also missed the first 4 hours after watering
cool vid, here's a short time lapse of mine perking up after being watered :
https://vine.co/v/eTqe7uaXq9l