Flooded Bonsai

Good day. Last January 20, 2013 our place was flooded and my bonsai's were submerged, and when the water subsided my plants are filled with mud,what is the best thing I should do.

Hi Ykcor

Welcome to IBC, I hope you will post many photos.....I am sorry for your trees, I hope you can save some of them.
Your photos is not visible, please try again.

Kind regards yvonne

Thanks, please see some of the pictures taken.

Oooh dear
It seems thick and sticky... I hope you will save your trees.
I hope someone with same experience will give you valid advice.

I would think that spraying the mud off the trees as much as possible, so the leaves can begin to feed the tree again would be a way to start. Looks like you have very nice trees, I hope they were not damaged too much.

I would think to repot as many as I could in new soil. If its the appropriate time of year.

Nellie, thick and sticky indeed. Thanks

Judy, I already sprayed the mud off my trees, but I noticed, leaves of two trees are starting to fall, what does it indicate? Thanks

Jkd2572, I intend to repot it later, not now, there's mud everywhere. Thanks

If you have sprayed off all the mud (including from the top of the soil in the pots) you should just let them drain and dry out before you think about doing anything. Some species may well lose all their leaves, but I think that repotting now when the trees are badly stressed would NOT be the best option.

But beyond the trees, how is you house and property? That looks as if it was a nasty bit of flooding.

Hi Jim, thank you for the idea, inside the house is already cleaned but outside is still full of mud. You're right the recent flood was nasty. Thanks.

[quote="JimLewis"]If you have sprayed off all the mud (including from the top of the soil in the pots) you should just let them drain and dry out before you think about doing anything. Some species may well lose all their leaves, but I think that repotting now when the trees are badly stressed would NOT be the best option.

Hello,
If, you do not repot and wait a bit, assure yourself that the roots have enough air.
This mud could dry like a solid brick inside the pot.
I do not know your soil mix but spraying will probably not remove all mud inside.
Best,
Sunip

Hi Sunip, I use pure coarse sand for my pemphis acidula and 70% and 30 % sandy loom and coarse sand for other plants. I assume air is enough if water drainage is good. Otherwise I have to repot my plants, it will be hard work for me. Thanks.

I wish you the best of luck with your trees, and your situation. Flooding can be a devastating event. Please keep us posted.

I would not do anything too hasty, as long as the trees are still draining well.

Sorry for your situation!
Did you say if it was a Fresh water flood or a sea water flood!

Mitch

I would lift the trees out of the pots to see if there is a large amount of mud/silt. If so, gently wash the rootball, or replace the rootball into the pot and flush them out with fresh water until the water runs as clear as you can get it in a short period of time. That way hopefully there will be enough air in the root zone to keep the roots from becoming waterlogged.

I doubt very much that in a short-term flood event the silt/mud would have been able to permeate deeply into the soil mass in the pot. I think that cleaning off his pots, then sitting them in the sun and tilted (if there's more than one hole in the pot bottom) to let them drain will be fine.

Most bonsai will survive submerged a heckuva lot longer than WE would.

JimLewis wrote:I doubt very much that in a short-term flood event the silt/mud would have been able to permeate deeply into the soil mass in the pot.

Perhaps, a little investigating is in order. Pull one of the trees from the pot and actually see how much of the bonsai soil has been "compromised" by the mud. I guess it might be possible you may only need to replace the upper few centimeters of the soil, instead of whole sale re-potting. I wish you the best.

Pre,
Do not re-pot. Specially the Phempis... just wash them and put them in full sun. As for the the other "tabang" trees they will make it either you repot them or not. Expect some branch dieback. when summer comes you can repot them.

regards,
jun

JimLewis wrote:I doubt very much that in a short-term flood event the silt/mud would have been able to permeate deeply into the soil mass in the pot. I think that cleaning off his pots, then sitting them in the sun and tilted (if there's more than one hole in the pot bottom) to let them drain will be fine.

Most bonsai will survive submerged a heckuva lot longer than WE would.

YES absolutely right.
We have lot of events like this happening lately. Only The Phempis species are the most affected.

leaves are allready falling off of some, the poster said.

No thoughts on polluted water have been posted, i noticed.
Sadly I know many rivers, streams in Asia are polluted or heavily polluted, with chemicals and solved heavy-metals. I hope pollution is not a big issue there. If it is, even a short period of submerging can be very devastating. And it would not be easy to 'wash' that away.

Jim, we dont know how long they have been submerged. Half a day would be more then enough to get the soil fully drained, because deposit of mud does not happen 'during' the flooding, most only happens when the worst flood has passed and particals accumulate and are left behind. So a couple of hours flood will be enough to drain the soil, before the surface is covered with mud deposit.

I only hope the pollution is not a big concern

Thank you for all the ideas