Pruning Heuristics and Pest Ballistics!

[@ebcornell23]

Just found your channel a few weeks ago and I’ve been working my way through all your content, starting with your oldest work. First time seeing a brand new vid pop up in my feed and I just wanted to say congrats on all the progress you’ve made. Same solid and helpful content, but real nice improvements in production quality. Lots of hard work must have been done - all while maintaining your trees (and the rest of your life!). Cheers from New England!

[@grobonsai]

I really appreciate your kind words Eric, thanks

[@Admiral_Pumpout]

You look and sound so much happier than a while back, here's hoping you're in a good place and keep up the good work Darren, it's good to see regular content from you once more!

[@Sirmellowman]

I remember watching your channel years ago before all these other bonsai channels popped up and got really big. you deserve more subs than you have!

[@BackSeatHump]

A delightful presentation!

[@Bonsaifly]

Darren, I liked the style of this video. It felt like an old tv show to me. Also, last year I treated my ports with an oil based mixture and they dropped nearly all their leaves and a bunch of branches. I am currently back to using straight insect poison (diluted with water). It works well on my tropicals, but if I don’t dilute they get leaf burn under the grow light. Also the yellow sticky pads

[@lunava5489]

Well I have to say that even though bonsai growing is not a hobby of mine, I really enjoy your channel and your content, and always get excited when I receive a notification of a new vid 😊❤️

[@grobonsai]

Aw thanks, that has made my week!

[@abarbadobonsai]

One of the best productions for bonsai youtube, Such amazing videos. Congrats, man.

[@grobonsai]

Thank you very much, that means a lot!

[@AdrianPiotrowski-ll5to]

Great video. Thank you for showing that bonsai are not only nice looking trees, but also a lot of work and dedication. Thanks to this, I know that what is happening to me doesn't mean that I do something wrong (but it could be 😅), but that it is a normal process that you have to deal with. 🙏

[@grobonsai]

Thank you for sharing your kind words, Adrian!

[@hyperionhelios190]

Great Darren!

[@thenaturecreater8906]

Great video Darren! I think its vierd how the pest just thriving and gets out of control fast when you bring the tropicals inside. But i guess you take away the natural predators. So they can snack and chill on are trees in peace and quiet

[@grobonsai]

Yeah that, and warm, dry conditions to breed quickly

[@paperheartzz]

That jade looks amazing! May start one of these myself.

[@mattbrennan647]

I submerge my tropicals, pot and all, in a tub of soapy water before bringing them in for the winter. Works well. Good luck with those pesky bugs. Thanks, keep growing

[@TobiasNyholm]

I appreciate the updates ❤

[@alexharrison5036]

Super helpful! Thanks so much for this!!!

[@grobonsai]

Thanks Alex

[@arctica7170]

I've heard that the way to deal with fungus gnats is to deal with what they eat, the fungus. The fungus appears as a result of the humid environment, which I assume is kinda difficult to avoid with bonsai trees. For regular house plants I use Ceylon cinnamon to kill off the fungus and it really works. I wonder if it would for bonsai trees as well.

[@twodogsyyc6729]

I get spider mites and their dam webs repeatedly through the year. I use Safers apidermite spray and switch to a soapy water mix without oil added in for jades and with oil for elms, adeniums, ficus etc. Luv your vids and my Mars Hydro light I won a couple years ago is still blessing me with winter time lighting.. all the best my friend.

[@grobonsai]

Good to hear from you, glad the light is going strong in the Canadian winters 🥶

[@missaleromanum5614]

"Growth seems to have stalled, and it looks a bit sus." 🤣

[@VladMunteanu0]

To keep spider mites under control, just watch the humidity and do regular spraying with water. You don't want to have a sterile room, so a few spider mites will not be a problem as long as they don't overwhelm your plants. Ladybugs will love them and who doesn't like having ladybugs around? LE: If things do get out of control - after a holiday or a long time away - I use something called Nissorun 10 WP locally.

[@sketsabonsai6314]

Wow very nice bonsai my friend

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Fantastic video Darren and I felt your pain when the spider mites appeared! I tried the experiment a few years ago with Afra's and cut paste and definitely found that cut paste tended to lead to rotting of the wound. It will be interesting to see if you get different results. Keep smiling, Xav

[@grobonsai]

spoiler alert: I didn't get different results :) definitely agree with you

[@maryoverton7245]

I was wondering what they were. I have been calling them plant fleas. I have heaps of them cause I store my trees in winter in shelter tunnels. I have been spraying the soil with pyrethrum during winter but now we are coming into spring the population is exploding. I have yellow sticky all over did not think of actually putting on the pots. Thanks for the tip. so glad you did this video. It is great to get information of what can go wrong and some ideas to fix it. Trying to get information for pest and disease that can occur is so hard.

[@9ballsantamaria]

I use neem oil and peppermint Castile soap. With a little hydrogen peroxide with about 90% water. To kill aphids and mites. Just sharing my methods. Love your contents!

[@grobonsai]

Thanks I’ll check those out

[@archeranglin4792]

nice! good video! 😊

[@grobonsai]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@pawelm5493]

Spider mites larvae are killed when sprayed with just water. This requires a systematic approach - spray every few days the underside of the leaves where the larvae reside. That's all.

[@BackSeatHump]

I'm not so sure water spray actually kills spider mites as much as it dislodges them.

[@Blaze07091]

One of my ficus Racemosa was fungus infested to the point I lost hope and had it isolated. Not only did it recover on its own, that tree started having growth like never before.

[@liquidxskin19]

Spider Mites are the bane of my existence. They always appear after purchasing a tree from local or online greenhosue type store. As far as treatment Pyrethren reapplying several times has worked.

[@grobonsai]

I've heard of it but haven't tried it. I'll have a look... thanks

[@urouroniwa]

I've just started watching recently. I'm enjoying it! I'd be interested to know what upgrades you made to your voice over mic setup :-) I'm considering upgrading my system and have been mulling over options (I used to stream software development, though have been on a rather long break...) BTW, I like your description of a series of small decisions with heuristics to lighten the cognitive load. Also true of software development, I think :-)

[@grobonsai]

I went from recording voice overs on cam with rode video mic pro, to hooking a Blue Yeti up to my editing laptop. It's both convenient, and great quality audio. I do wish I got the arm. Coincidentally I'm also a software dev!! I don't stream coding though

[@urouroniwa]

@@grobonsai Thanks! Have been basically torn between a Rode mic and Blue Yeti so this help me a lot :-) I don't know why but for some reason several of my colleagues are ex sound engineers and they all swear by the Rode, but as you say... convenience... I'm glad to see another dev that's into bonsai. There are a lot of parallels. My favorite thing in common: It's not "finished" until it's dead :-)

[@bobmccarlie382]

This video brings back bad memories of my indoor grow setup for my topicals/sub-tropical last winter. Spider mites, mealy bugs, scale… worse winter ever. I lost a ficus Benjimina and a portulacria afra. My sheffleras, ficus religosas and Fukien tea struggled to recover this summer. I tried everything, soap-water, alcohol swabs, neem oil, various organic pesticides, and finally malathion and diazinon. Total disaster.

[@Jose-J-U]

para eliminar la araña roja lo mejor es usar un insecticida sistémico a base de abamectina, elimina huevos y larvas al 100x100. Saludos to eliminate the red spider, it is best to use a systemic insecticide based on abamectin, it eliminates eggs and larvae 100x100. Cheers

[@grobonsai]

Thank you Jose - gracias

[@richardweller2157]

I've seen the bonsai supply use limestone paste for their adeniums. Might be a good alternative for cut paste on succulents (apparently draws moisture out)?

[@grobonsai]

That's something I'll definitely look at, since filming this episode I have decided cut paste is a no-no for ports...

[@mmjnice97]

Do nematodes sometimes come naturally?? I had and still have a fungus nat problem but I thought those little Worms that squirm where the net larva.. and two I noticed when I prune my just about all my jades and Elephant I like to leave a bit of stim above the leaf because I noticed that it will branch in the direction of the leaf growth below the cut line.. I don't have a teacher so I get questions answered whenever hehehehe..

[@grobonsai]

They do although they are microscopic. Gnat larvae are 3-5mm long so much bigger. Yeah directional pruning works really well with jades 🙂

[@Chris-oq6kn]

I was just doing a lil research on bugs and i was putting bonide systemic granules on my trees for a feed to protect them and as a spray i havnt tried it yet but bought peppermint pure castile soap. Says its ok for plants and all natural. To use it as a preventative i read 1 liter of water , 1 tbsp castile soap , 1 tbsp baking soda , and 2 tbsp vegatable oil. Im in ny so its fall here right now im going to try spraying my trees with it next year. Have u ever tried this solution? Also to use it as a bug killer says 4 to 5 tbsp of castile soap per gallon of water

[@grobonsai]

I haven't tried it, I'll look into it - thanks

[@Chris-oq6kn]

@@grobonsai let me kno what u think if u use it? It is all natural and peppermint is supposed to detract pests. Read ts helpfull for bugs and fungus

[@petesavage5846]

In spring I had aphids all over last year's airlayers. I got the ratio of washing up liquid and water wrong, it killed alot of leaves, set the trees back and I lost 3/4 off one of them. I was so annoyed with myself.

[@noneminor]

Use abamectin based for spider mites.

[@grobonsai]

Definitely going to google this, thank you!

[@Dylan-ok6ft]

I treat fungus gnats with mosquito bits.

[@johnbeck3499]

You are Tooooooo funny....Damn mites!!!!!!

[@jiijino_bonsai_ch]

good video👍

[@grobonsai]

Thank you 👍

[@CeejCraft]

Neem!

[@sketsabonsai6314]

Listen to my friend's complete package

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

First!!! 😊

[@brucedeacon28]

👍😲

[@AnkitKumar-xp5wt]

Mites sure are the worst to deal with. my roses mainly die due to them

[@sbragaglia]

Heuristics you say? Are going to be the a* (star) of the show or just use branch and bound? Too nerdy? Sorry for that!

[@grobonsai]

Lost me there mate haha

[@sbragaglia]

@@grobonsai don't bother artificial intelligence when natural stupidity is enough to explain a comment... 😅

[@edinborogh]

Awesome video!

[@grobonsai]

Thanks!

[@Candice.BonsaiScience]

bAHAHAHAH loved the gunslinger action on the spray bottle! I have a video all about the fungus gnats and how I combat them in a grow tent: No organic slow release fertilizer, yellow sticky tapes to reduce the adults, and bioadvantage 3:1 slow release in the soil to kill the larvae. I tried beneficial bacteria (mosquito bits) that wasn’t strong enough to really knock it down. Our temps here during winter don’t really allow shipping of nematodes or beneficial insects since they would die enroute. Mites- direct water spray every 4th day for 14 days. Or Avid applied then day 5 going in with Floramite. Most spider mites in the US are immune to general insect and mite sprays (cough cough the reasonably priced ones)

[@grobonsai]

Pew pew

[@edinborogh]

I'm using dish soap mixed with water. Spray, leave for a few minutes and wash. I repeat as needed.

[@grobonsai]

Nice! do you know if it works for spider mites?

[@Candice.BonsaiScience]

Did you use a dormancy spray before putting them in the tent by chance?

[@grobonsai]

I did not, I do regret it!