Clearance Rack Yaupon Holly (Illex Vomitoria)

Bearded_Jiggs

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Rescued from Wal-Mart's clearance rack, thought it would make cheap learning material. Most of the research I've done so far says its too late to try and repot it (Gulf Coast Texas), but when i water it the water goes through it very quickly which makes me think most of the soil is gone. Curious if I could get away with at least "up-potting" it? Same nursery container, but add (what I have) a 50/50 pumice/lava mix around what exists of the contents of the pot (haven't even slipped it out to take a look at it yet). Follow up question would be if I do this could I also cut back everything to a few inches? Other info on the label called this a "stokes dwarf"

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Leo in N E Illinois

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Ilex vomitoria 'Stokes Dwarf' is the full scientific name, the 'Stokes Dwarf' is the cultivar name. Probably a good one for bonsai.

You are entering your hottest season of the year. Try not to disturb the roots until cooler weather. See if tree will slide out of pot root ball intact. Look to see if the problem is really missing soil, or something else.

If it is missing soil, top up with a mix as similar as possible to the one in the pot. Yaupon hollies like organic mixes, they are not happy in an all inorganic mix.

Then in late summer, after it has cooled down, repot with root work, and use a good bonsai mix as designed for deciduous trees, like maples, it should be at least a quarter, up to three quarters organics or Akadama. Pumice is great stuff for the inorganic components, but all pumice drains too quick for moisture loving deciduous trees.
 

just.wing.it

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Ilex vomitoria 'Stokes Dwarf' is the full scientific name, the 'Stokes Dwarf' is the cultivar name. Probably a good one for bonsai.

You are entering your hottest season of the year. Try not to disturb the roots until cooler weather. See if tree will slide out of pot root ball intact. Look to see if the problem is really missing soil, or something else.

If it is missing soil, top up with a mix as similar as possible to the one in the pot. Yaupon hollies like organic mixes, they are not happy in an all inorganic mix.

Then in late summer, after it has cooled down, repot with root work, and use a good bonsai mix as designed for deciduous trees, like maples, it should be at least a quarter, up to three quarters organics or Akadama. Pumice is great stuff for the inorganic components, but all pumice drains too quick for moisture loving deciduous trees.
Good information!
 
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Try not to disturb the roots until cooler weather.

I'm in pretty much the same situation. New to bonsai, picked up an Ilex crenata 'compacta' from Home Depot. I'm in Philadelphia so it's also about to get hot, though not as hot as Texas. Is the reason to hold off on root work until cooler weather primarily the watering requirements? I work from home so it can get as much attention as it needs. If that's the reason and doing it now would let me do different work come this autumn/winter that would be nice. In my case, too much of the trunk is buried to be able to see what kind of nebari I can easily have and I need to do some untangling. Also, the trunk is leaning a little too much for my taste so I might fix that angle. I can do the "cut what you know you don't want" pruning now but I want to hold off on the heaviest pruning until I can decide which side should be the front. That's why I'd be eager to do the root work sooner rather than later.

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Leo in N E Illinois

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I'm in pretty much the same situation. New to bonsai, picked up an Ilex crenata 'compacta' from Home Depot. I'm in Philadelphia so it's also about to get hot, though not as hot as Texas. Is the reason to hold off on root work until cooler weather primarily the watering requirements? I work from home so it can get as much attention as it needs. If that's the reason and doing it now would let me do different work come this autumn/winter that would be nice. In my case, too much of the trunk is buried to be able to see what kind of nebari I can easily have and I need to do some untangling. Also, the trunk is leaning a little too much for my taste so I might fix that angle. I can do the "cut what you know you don't want" pruning now but I want to hold off on the heaviest pruning until I can decide which side should be the front. That's why I'd be eager to do the root work sooner rather than later.

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The "wait until cooler weather" was mainly for Texas, desert Southwest, and any place where temperatures will get over 95 F (35 C) more than 2 days a week. I don't think it applies to Philly. Texas and the southwest have extremely low humidity in conjunction with the the heat. Philly is fairly humid.

Ilex crenata is the Japanese holly, I think in general cultivation and bonsai techniques are similar, I've never had I crenata, so I'm relying on "internet knowledge".

When night time temperatures begin to drop in late summer, to temperatures below 65 F (18 C) most deciduous species of trees have a flush of root growth before winter. For me in Chicago-Milwaukee area this can begin about August 15. If you are going to do a summer repot, it is best to do it just before this flush of growth happens. So when does the summer night temperatures start falling in the Philly area? A week or two before that time is when I would ideally get to doing a summer repotting.

You might be able to get away with it now, but there's no guarantee, your chances are better a bit later in the summer.
 
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Thanks Leo! Philly has been getting hotter and hotter every year so 95° heatwaves have been happening. Like you said, humidity is around 60% during them.

I need to do more research on my Ilex but it sounds like it's worth waiting on the roots. I'm planning to go to a semi-local bonsai nursery this Sunday so I can ask questions there too before I touch it. Unfortunately the Philly bonsai club has no events in July.

One certain takeaway from this thread is checkout Walmart. I thought $9 was a deal for material to learn on.
 
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