51cg

This came up in the meeting tonight.?

Tree branches have some kind of antifreeze which protects the trees in he winter. Roots don't have it since they are underground where it doesn't get as cold.??

The tree we were talking about was a trident maple, an experiment where roots had been led down a pipe about 1 foot/30 cm long. After a couple of years the tree looked like it was on stilts with a pot about 5 inches/ 12 cm, tree body the same size, and roots exposed to air. The question was whether roots would ever turn into branches, acquire the natural antifreeze, and withstand cold weather or if they would always have to be insulated.?

The last several years the roots has been cased up in a pvc pipe with insulation wrapped around.

The room was divided between those who thought it was cute and those who said nothing.

I do not believe in an antifreeze compond that travels around the tree, but never to the roots. All nutrients and hormones travel back and forward during the seasons, why would there be one that does not and how can the tree regulate it? Makes no sense to me.? Did anyone at the meeting mention what this antifreeze is called, what the real name of it is.

The general feeling around here is that the roots are more sensitive to cold than the branches. I have read that in BonsaiHeresy, which seems reliable in most of what it says.

The antifreeze idea supports that notion. It may be something in the bark. The guy who made the statement has several hundred trees, most of them propagated by him, and mostly old, some thirty years old. Anything else he says I treat as authoritative. Roots are different from branches, so the question is, over time do roots change to be like branches if the are exposed to air and/or light? Is it true that roots are more sensitive to cold??

Around here we never get more than a few days below freezing, often no more than a few hours overnight. The ground doesn't freeze more than an inch or so, so roots don't get freezing temperatures. Trees in pots do get freezing on their entire root system, and the freezing is relatively fast, to a tree. Is that an issue?

It is not true that roots are more sensitive than branches. When it freezes the water turns to ice. Roots cannot drink ice. If it freezes for too long the tree will not get enought water to survive. Different species have different tollerance.

Yes, it is possible to do bonsai successfully over decades and have 100s of trees without any knowledege whatsoever about tree physiology. All you need is to find a way to care for them in your environment. Wrapping exposed roots to protect them is a very good example. It works for the owner and he continues to do so. Knowing some basics about tree physiology and you understand that they do just fine without it. The tree do no harm, but do not need it. The owner feels happy he is doing "the best for the tree"

Just like akadama. There are several members in my club that say it is absolutely necessary. I stoped using it 10 years ago. Every time I lose a tree they say it is because I do not use akadama. Every time they lose a tree, I ask "how come, you are using akadama, right?"

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So maybe the issue is that when the top thaws is wants water which the roots can't supply because they haven’t thawed yet.? But the end result is you don't need to insulate the roots particularly.?

We have meetings where we talk absolutely. Everyone says 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, but that’s not what I do. Everyone. Nobody uses akadama, everyone uses something else. This is Alabama where we have thin soil and lots of clay. Why buy clay shipped from Japan? Fertilizer the same. We have lots of chickens here. Why ship chicken manure from Japan?

The general rule for insulation is that it slows down loss of heat. It does not create any heat. Insulating something that is not heated in any way, makes no difference.

while it makes sense to insulate a pot sitting on the ground can make sense, insulating exposed roots does not. Groundd soil is often slightly warmer than the air. The rock used for the design is not.?