Anyone repot using "pucks?"

[Mike Corazzi]

One of our club members raises trees and gives informal easygoing lessons in the middle of the week.

He repots with what he calls a "puck." It's descriptive but I never heard of it before. He can keep trees in very shallow pots with the process.
He doesn't comb out the roots but leaves them in a pyramid shaped ball or "puck" directly under the tree.
When he repots, he simply trims up roots that have found their way out of the puck but mostly the roots come out of the BOTTOM and he simply cuts them and adds a thin layer of soil over both the "puck" and the fine roots teased out of the newly opened bottom.

Reason for asking is I'm trying to decide on a pot for an oak and a SHALLOW pot would ....look... great with the tree.
But I worry it wouldn't hold enough water for our hot summers.

And... the "puck" I would have to make would be gathering the prolific oak roots and forming them into the little hill and then seeing if I could arrange them with the fine stuff radiating out from the bottom of it.

Sound reasonable?
Or not?

It gets HOT here.

 

[JudyB]

I have not heard of this method, sounds like you'd be creating a mound shaped base though and in a shallow pot that can look unattractive if it sits up too far. Also wouldn't that make the top part more prone to drying out? Perhaps liberal use of sphagnum moss covering and a auto watering system can help you out?

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Yep. My thoughts exactly. It looks great when he does it. Not at all too high. It's not like it's perched on a triangle.
Gotta see it I guess. I know he can keep trees in small pots with his process. I'd say the key is the angle of the final "puck" not being a drastic slope.

I think I'll end up going the deeper pot route.

 

[LanceMac10]

I'm going with....."or not"...….

"pyramid shaped ball".....ummm…..what?

doesn't sound like a process that would produce an orderly, attractive root area....more like a writhing snake group-grope.....

 

[Adair M]

Mike, the rootball should be cut flat and smooth as possible on the bottom. Don’t tease any roots off the bottom unless you cut them off flat and smooth. The idea is to discourage roots from growing down.

The edges of the rootball should have about 1/2 inch of fine roots teased out. When reported, these fine roots will be in the new soil, and will grow out into it. The top of the rootball should be slightly sloped downward from the trunk.

Trident screwed to a board, before repotting:



Unscrewing the tree from the board:


Still on the board, we had to hunt around and find all the nails that held the roots in position. We loosened lots to soil, and had to find the nails by feel:



Off the board! Trimmed it back, and then washed the root ball. The picture below shows it after trimming, but before washing it off.



After washing it off, I brought it inside, and trimmed again. I’m sorry, I forgot to take a picture. I was focused on finding a pot!

Anyway, here it is, repotting complete. Notice, the soil surface is flat, no mounding.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Yes, that's what it looks like only on smaller trees.