Hey, Gang! I'm still here, just lurking more these days than debating!

In a message dated 1/5/2004 1:02:40 PM Mountain Standard Time,
writes:
Vance Wood, the Mugo Man, has a "patented" planter that he developed a
few years ago, using the idea of oxygen entering the planter from all
sides and bottom, similar to the colandar.
More specifically than the standard colander, a rice strainer (still
basically a bowl with lots of holes) is great as a training pot and the holes are
smaller than most colanders. The roots are air pruned when the tips grow out of
the holes and dry out, thus forcing "back budding" along the root. The result:
absolutely phenomenal feeder roots where you want them - closer to the trunk.
When root pruning times comes along, you have so much fine, feeder roots you
can prune without worry that you are removing feeder roots and leaving only
thick roots. I have gotten to the point that I can take a tree that has been
growing in a rice strainer for a year or two and take it for a root
pruning/repotting demonstration without even lifting it out to see the condition of the
roots. The rice strainer is always full of fine feeder roots when the time
comes to pull the tree free. This is how the roots always seem to look in those
great Bonsai Today demonstration articles where they prune the roots seemingly
impossibly short but still have feeder roots close to the trunk. As you can
tell, I'm totally sold on the idea and have seen the results with my own trees
for years now.
Good luck!

Best Regards,
Daniel Avrin
No one under 17 admitted without a parent.

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