Am I drowning or rotting my juniper roots?

[Mike Corazzi]

This is a poser. It's a VERY old procumbens that was originally a mass of nursery stock.
Years ago I cut out a lot and it has done OK.

But.... I wanted to change pots this year. And when I took the root ball out of the old pot, there were only tiny tiny roots.
I created a thread and was told that junipers oddly don't NEED big white roots.

It seems to be doing fine except when I water I am getting a LOT of wicking up the trunk and wonder if that's ok or if it will moosh up and rot.

I try not to water ON the roots. Sometimes I do though.

You can see the wicking in the yellow circle.

As an experiment, i'm trying a soak in water only up to where the roots showed when I repotted. Thinking maybe without a huge soak the nebari would stay drier.

Illustration of the soak I'm talking about in diagram.

The other pix should be self explanatory with the whole tree pic showing where the wicking USUALLY goes.
and the larger pic of the nebari and roots shows how using this NEW method, it is already wicking into the dry part.


Any suggestions?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I try not to water ON the roots. Sometimes I do though.

Did you mean to say you try not to water on the foliage? Either way, you want to water on the roots, LOL And watering the foliage isn't harmful either, so long as the foliage isn't kept uniformly wet/damp.

One thing I will say is that tree looks severely underpotted. If it were my tree it would be in a pot twice as large. Did it come out of a small pot? Or did you move it into that pot from a larger one?

 

[Carol 83]

My bigger bougies wick water up the trunk like that, when watered. Freaked me out at first, but there seems to be no ill effects. That's just what they do.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

That's good to hear. Because in this short time between posts, it has wicked up the water it got from that complicated "theory" irrigation.
What in the pic is little bits of wet is NOW up the trunk and still going.

Oh well. I did try sticking a wire in that wet part and it wouldn't go in so that sorta relieved my mind.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Did you mean to say you try not to water on the foliage? Either way, you want to water on the roots, LOL And watering the foliage isn't harmful either, so long as the foliage isn't kept uniformly wet/damp.

One thing I will say is that tree looks severely underpotted. If it were my tree it would be in a pot twice as large. Did it come out of a small pot? Or did you move it into that pot from a larger one?

I was a bit curious about that. It was in a HUGE pot and I put it in that one because the root ball was so small and flibberty (?) looking.
I've tried to TIP the whole thing and it won't "go over."

It's balanced solid.

AND.... those meager roots I spoke of would need (from the looks of them) about 10 years to fill that pot.

But, I do know what you mean.

I've kinda grown fond of the "liddle pot/big bush " effect.

But I ...might.... go messing it around again.

Aiyee! NOOOOO!!

 

[rockm]

That wicking on the trunk could suggest old soil under the trunk? Can't tell very well from the photo, but it looks like there is denser soil just under the trunk. Since that might not drain well, water could sit with nowhere to go but soak into the trunk...?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

AND.... those meager roots I spoke of would need (from the looks of them) about 10 years to fill that pot.

You might be surprised. Good soil, healthy tree and fertilizer, and a juniper will fill that pot with roots in two years.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

You might be surprised. Good soil, healthy tree and fertilizer, and a juniper will fill that pot with roots in two years.

I can fix that.
I am 77 so if it lasts as long as I do, I will assiduously follow that suggestion.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

That wicking on the trunk could suggest old soil under the trunk? Can't tell very well from the photo, but it looks like there is denser soil just under the trunk. Since that might not drain well, water could sit with nowhere to go but soak into the trunk...?

Thats ONE of the reasons I repotted it onto GOOD soil.

I am a newly initiated acolyte in the ..... um... eek... AKADAMA order.
In my new robes, I now MIX that stuff in with some SUPER (according to my local sensei) INFALLIBLE and holy and good special source ...potting... soil.
Which I reverently add pumice to and stick it unceremoniously into the lava, aka, and pumice mix.

And THEN overwater.