Arakawa jm advice

[Dave E]

my Arakawa just came in today.an ebay find from tennessee.
since it was in tennesse and i live in the new england i was concerned if the tree was still dormant or not.
the seller assured me it was still dormant but said he would hold it for me to ship whenever i wanted.
since it was dormant i saw no issues and had him ship it.

as you can see it has started to leaf out.

what would your advice be to properly take care of it now.
temps are around 40 with overnight at or below freezing-the 10 day is showing 50's to even 70 with overnight in the 40's.

also i wanted to repot this to get in better soil as well as to try to move it upright and to start working on the roots-can i still do this now.

thanks in advance for any advice

and those white specs are from the packing peanuts

 

[Nybonsai12]

If it were me, I'd keep it protected from freezes. I've been doing the shuffle with trees in and out of the garage because they are moving and/or I have done work. You don't want anything to freeze now that it's active or at least thats my understanding of it.

I'll let others chime in on the repot question. My stance would be wait til next year.

 

[Dav4]

If it were me, I'd keep it protected from freezes. I've been doing the shuffle with trees in and out of the garage because they are moving and/or I have done work. You don't want anything to freeze now that it's active or at least thats my understanding of it.

I'll let others chime in on the repot question. My stance would be wait til next year.

Yup. Frost will damage the leaves and a hard freeze will kill it outright. It's the bonsai two step for you for the next two months...but it's a nice trunk so worth it. As far as re-potting, I'd go for it...tonight. If you haven't done a lot of re-pots, don't remove a ton of roots. Focus on removing the heavy and/or downward moving roots. You can remove most of the nursery soil now. Next year, completely bare root it and really work it. Good luck

 

[fredman]

Yeah that's what I would do to. When the sap starts moving the tree responds best....

 

[quietobserver]

my Arakawa just came in today.an ebay find from tennessee.
since it was in tennesse and i live in the new england i was concerned if the tree was still dormant or not.
the seller assured me it was still dormant but said he would hold it for me to ship whenever i wanted.
since it was dormant i saw no issues and had him ship it.

as you can see it has started to leaf out.

what would your advice be to properly take care of it now.
temps are around 40 with overnight at or below freezing-the 10 day is showing 50's to even 70 with overnight in the 40's.

also i wanted to repot this to get in better soil as well as to try to move it upright and to start working on the roots-can i still do this now.

thanks in advance for any advice

and those white specs are from the packing peanuts
View attachment 96457 View attachment 96458 View attachment 96459 View attachment 96460

I've had this happen to me too. 4-5 days in a nice warm box in the back of a truck and SURPRISE!.

 

[Dave E]

yeah, i don't think he steered me wrong. i'm sure it was dormant-but there are sometimes circumstances you can't control-like you said a warm truck for a few days
i'm happy with the tree it seems healthy and it looks nicer than the pics did.

one of the many reasons i like to buy from Mark Comstock is he's about an hour away so his trees are living in the same environment as mine

 

[quietobserver]

yeah, i don't think he steered me wrong. i'm sure it was dormant-but there are sometimes circumstances you can't control-like you said a warm truck for a few days
i'm happy with the tree it seems healthy and it looks nicer than the pics did.

one of the many reasons i like to buy from Mark Comstock is he's about an hour away so his trees are living in the same environment as mine

I live a few miles from Cordova TN & all of my maples are still dormant for what it's worth.

 

[LanceMac10]

F.Y.I. NE Bonsai has some instructional classes scheduled for tomorrow that will cover repotting and other "spring chores". In our area this is when you start repotting most of your deciduous material.
Dwarf Maples starting to show color and movement in the buds, I'll start those this week.
Next week we'll have a warm up, so like it or not, most stuff is gonna wake up. Then right back into the 20-30 range. This is when it gets tricky.
JM's are surprisingly tough and hardy and I have not lost one yet. Tridents? Um.....ah.....they don't like my idea of "winter storage"

Try you best to insulate the pot after repot from any hard freeze and protect against strong winds.
Repot soon, the soil should dry out a bit before the cold snap expected late next week.

I have one on the way from Mr. Blackmond in Michigan and I know he is repotting now. I'll be in the same boat as you. Well almost, I won't have to remove 5 gallons of potting soil!!!
Deshojo....



I love repotting season!!

 

[sorce]

Try you best to insulate the pot after repot from any hard freeze

I was gonna get this in 4in. ID to wrap my baskets......didn't "find" any so didn't, but I assume. You could rip em and wrap any pot pretty easy.


Sorce

 

[Dave E]

In our area this is when you start repotting most of your deciduous material.
Dwarf Maples starting to show color and movement in the buds, I'll start those this week.
Next week we'll have a warm up, so like it or not, most stuff is gonna wake up. Then right back into the 20-30 range. This is when it gets tricky.
JM's are surprisingly tough and hardy and I have not lost one yet. Tridents? Um.....ah.....they don't like my idea of "winter storage"

if you're repotting d's in NH than i would say i could down here in CT
with that warmup this week (which i'm sure won't last)i was picturing alot of things waking up too-so if i did some repotting this weekend do you think those trees would be safe as long as temps don't drop to freezing.

 

[sorce]

I'd wait..

People have success repotting before and after leaf out.

I have only had things die that went to frozen again.

Sorce

 

[LanceMac10]

Try to let anything you repotted get a little dry before the cold that's still coming so the roots don't freeze and you should be good.
It's still a little early for my tastes, but the tree makes the decision.

 

[LanceMac10]

March 15, 2014. April 5, 2014.
Coldest winter I can remember in awhile, 20 straight days of zero degrees or worse!!
Sawzall party and didn't miss a beat!
Stop treatin' your trees like a date, at least not the first date!

 

[sorce]

We cut down a tree in my Buddies house the other day.
It was leaking antifreeze.

See that dark stain?

I wouldn't repot anything that needs a lot of rootwork.
The reason to do it early is to not disturb the new root tips, but if you're cutting them off anyway......it's better to wait.

Individual tree by individual tree.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Stop treatin' your trees like a date,

Agreed! Emphasis on reed....you gotta read em right.

Just Don't treat em like ANY of Carps dates!

Sorce

 

[LanceMac10]

Well, just hum this when you repot.....or lay your seed....

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Fwiw, my Arakawa is still dormant too. But it's been out in the elements all winter, no greenhouse or shipping box.

IF you're going to repot it, as Dave said, do it soon, like this weekend. If you aren't experienced in repotting, here is an old thread on a few Arakawa maples that show some basic root work. The important things to remember are to remove downward-facing roots, drastically shorten long, coarse roots, and spread out the feeder roots. Then plant everything deeper so what's left thickens up a little bit.

 

[Dav4]

Try to let anything you repotted get a little dry before the cold that's still coming so the roots don't freeze and you should be good.
It's still a little early for my tastes, but the tree makes the decision.

Duuuuuude.....water releases heat as it freezes....which is a good thing as far as protecting roots (your busted pot may not like it though). I would actually go out and water my trees prior to a freeze if I thought they were a little on the dry side.

 

[LanceMac10]

I don't let anything freeze after repotting. Or I try not to. I wouldn't want to over water a newly potted tree. Maybe I shouldn't refer to it as dry but a newly potted tree soaked before a freeze seems risky. Most of the winter everything I have is frozen solid. I'm not sure of the OP's wintering situation, but if it's insufficient to keep above freezing any new root growth could be compromised by disease and/or frost damage, correct? Not arguing, just referring to this particular circumstance. Trying to stress the importance of maintaining an above freezing environment for a tree repotted outside of an ideal time.

Personally? Hehehee....I just get in there, cut out what ain't pretty, get as much of the old nursery crap out as I can, soil up, water in and let the chips fall where they may....

 

[LanceMac10]

Duuuuuude.....water releases heat as it freezes....which is a good thing as far as protecting roots (your busted pot may not like it though). I would actually go out and water my trees prior to a freeze if I thought they were a little on the dry side.

Would you suggest this on a freshly-potted tree?