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Summer Finale
By Thomas J.
I titled this months article "Summer
Finale" because
for many people here in the U.S. and especially those
in the northern states, summer
is just about over. For those
of us in the south, it won't
be long for us either.
With
that in mind, maybe this would
be a good time to reflect back
a few months to both Spring
and Summer. Remember how nice your trees looked right
after the leaves opened. everything looked so good
and so green, and you said to yourself, "this
year I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep everything
looking this good no matter what".
You made sure
your trees were always watered whenever they even
showed a hint of dryness, and no one had to remind you
about fertilizing them that's for sure.
But then the summer
months started rolling in, and with them came the heat,
and for some, like us here in the Lone Star State, that
heat was relentless and seemed to drag on forever. Summer
heat is not only bad for humans as it taxes their body
to extremes, but is just as bad for plants, because it
puts stress on them to dangerous levels also. Just because
you water your trees two or three times a day, doesn't
necessarily mean all is well.
As the heat begins to
take its toll, your trees become susceptible to stress,
and when that happens, insects,especially the kind you
really can't see, will start to wear your trees down
even more. All of a sudden your trees are looking just
the way you hoped they wouldn't, leaves turning yellow,
and some even browning out, and because they are mixed
in with the many green leaves that are still holding
on, you just hope for the best and pray that things will
turn around soon enough. You think that maybe you over
watered, so you cut back a bit on your watering, but
the problem persists.
The insects that are almost microscopic are
usually the ones that will cause you the most problems,
mainly because it's "out of sight, out of mind".
One
thing that every bonsai owner should develop a mindset
for, is Preventive Maintenance.
Just as you should be going to see a Dr. on an annual
basis to try and stop something before it becomes life
threatening, so should you be trying to prevent life
threatening or even minor damage to your bonsai.
Everyone I'm sure
would like their trees to look in the best of health
all year long, and even minor yellowing can take away that
possibility.
Aphids are just one of the very hard to see
pests that can play havoc with your trees. Spider mites
and Scale are another of the very hard to see also.
Some
scale is microscopic and so camouflaged on some trees,
that the damage isn't apparent until it's too late causing
major damage to tree limbs. One of the things to counter
an attack of scale, is horticultural oil, because the
oil will smother the scale and cause them to die. But
using this product in the summer could be dangerous for
your trees as they might not be able to transpire as
well as they should causing just as big a problem or
even worse than the first. Even a summer type horticultural
oil might cause problems.
For me, I found that Neem
Oil, which is an organic product, works very
well for scale on my ch. elms, and with no side effects.
Any type of oil should be used with caution though
in the summer.
Some problems as with aphids, will show
signs that are quite apparent that something is not
right. One of these signs is ants. If you notice ants
traveling up and down some of your trees, it's not an
ant problem, but most likely an aphid problem, because
the ants are harvesting the aphids. In the pictures below,
notice the dead aphids on the leaves and even on the
wire, after being sprayed with an insecticide.
There are quite a few different
kinds of aphids, some dark in
color, and some looking like
tiny white spots on your leaves
with the naked eye. The picture below also shows some
dead aphids, and some of the damage to the leaves that
they will cause.
This ch. elm shows heavy damage from an aphid infestation.
But remarkably in just two weeks, new foliage is
abounding throughout, and all this simply from a few
squirts of insecticide.
The best chemical insecticide
that I've come across is Rose and Flower Insect
Spray.
You always have to be somewhat cautious when using
chemical insecticides because you may end up with more
damage than you started out with, and could even lead
to the death of the tree. Rose and Flower Insect spray
is very light in it's chemical contents and on some brands
will even state that it won't harm plants, yet is effective
enough to do a really good job in killing off those microscopic
insects. All the foliage on the tree above is due
to the insect spray and not a super fertilizing plan.
The tree was simply brought back to its normal healthy
state, and taking away the stress of the insect infestation,
allowed it to flourish normally.
So with all this in mind
now, wouldn't you agree that now's the time to begin
a spraying routine whereas maybe once a month or even
sooner if need be, you will automatically spray your
trees making it impossible for those unseen pests to
get a hold of your trees, and thereby keeping them looking
just as healthy and happy as the really can be? Winter
months will also have its share of insects pests trying
to hide somewhere in your trees especially if you keep
them in a closed in environment such as a garage or heated
greenhouse. Believe me, when your trees look good, you'll
feel good.
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