Fall deciduous repotting.

[cmeg1]

Does anyone have experience with fall repotting of deciduous trees.I am not talking about large leaf heavy trees.I have a couple mini zelkova that have a few leaves that seem to be telling me that there may be a root bound situation happening.I fear they may dehydrate over the winter if I do not give them a root trim.I made that mistake with some pine seedlings in spring.I was surprised to find like three feet of roots in such small pots and they met their demise from dehydration.The pic below is the tree.I could be totally wrong in the diagnosis,cause' the leaves did not seem to like the Ortho bug b gone.Maybe just a reaction to that.It is just a few leaves.Thanks

 

[fourteener]

If it's rootbound it's obvious. Water won't flow through the soil. It goes over the lip of the pot long before it soaks in. If it is rootbound, I still wouldn't do any rootwork until spring. I would use a small screwdriver or chopstick and aerate the soil. Back fill with some aggregate to keep it porous, then deal with repotting in the spring.

 

[cmeg1]

If it's rootbound it's obvious. Water won't flow through the soil. It goes over the lip of the pot long before it soaks in. If it is rootbound, I still wouldn't do any rootwork until spring. I would use a small screwdriver or chopstick and aerate the soil. Back fill with some aggregate to keep it porous, then deal with repotting in the spring.

Takes on water pretty good.maybe I just leave it till' spring,thanks

 

[Eric Group]

Might be a little mildew on that second pic... Hard to tell from the picture though.

 

[cmeg1]

Might be a little mildew on that second pic... Hard to tell from the picture though.

Maybe you see a bit of white fungicide, It was often wet this season.thank you

 

[0soyoung]

If it's rootbound it's obvious. Water won't flow through the soil. It goes over the lip of the pot long before it soaks in. If it is rootbound, I still wouldn't do any rootwork until spring. I would use a small screwdriver or chopstick and aerate the soil. Back fill with some aggregate to keep it porous, then deal with repotting in the spring.

I guess it depends upon what kind of 'soil' is used. I use Turface and it drains much the same regardless of the root population (and tree specie).

Maybe you or someone else can explain why the Bates Hotel remedy of impaling the root mass with a screwdriver/chopstick and filling with aggregate is a good thing. It seems to me that this just creates channels for the water to zip right though the pot and assure that the compacted soil gets really dry. I suppose these aggregate channels might become little root nurseries, but the possible growth would be very limited. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

As I recall, Vance's air-pruning planters were based on the principle that the death of the root tips, when they exit the pot, stimulates branching of roots back inside the pot, toward the tree trunk. If we accept this as scientific fact, it implies that is safe for cmeg1 to lift his tree from its pot, trim the perimeter and base of the root mass and replace it, surrounded with fresh medium, back into the pot. This seems to me to be the sensible thing to do and is what I would be prepared to do, were cmeg1's issue mine.

However, I would first lift the tree from the pot and examine pot-surfaces of the root mass (if for no other reason that to confirm/refute what I think I know). If it is actually not root/pot bound, I would put it back into the pot (no harm done) and continue the analysis to find an appropriate solution for the symptoms. But, if it is indeed root/pot bound I would deal with it in exactly the way I said I would be prepared to do, above.

 

[Zach Smith]

Don't rule out a simple seasonal change coming on. I suspect an early fall this year based on the behavior of some of my trees. We've had the coolest August I can recall in decades. I'd be very hesitant to repot your tree now, considering how long it would have to recover from the root-pruning.

Zach

 

[fourteener]

I guess it depends upon what kind of 'soil' is used. I use Turface and it drains much the same regardless of the root population (and tree specie).

Maybe you or someone else can explain why the Bates Hotel remedy of impaling the root mass with a screwdriver/chopstick and filling with aggregate is a good thing. It seems to me that this just creates channels for the water to zip right though the pot and assure that the compacted soil gets really dry. I suppose these aggregate channels might become little root nurseries, but the possible growth would be very limited. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

As I recall, Vance's air-pruning planters were based on the principle that the death of the root tips, when they exit the pot, stimulates branching of roots back inside the pot, toward the tree trunk. If we accept this as scientific fact, it implies that is safe for cmeg1 to lift his tree from its pot, trim the perimeter and base of the root mass and replace it, surrounded with fresh medium, back into the pot. This seems to me to be the sensible thing to do and is what I would be prepared to do, were cmeg1's issue mine.

However, I would first lift the tree from the pot and examine pot-surfaces of the root mass (if for no other reason that to confirm/refute what I think I know). If it is actually not root/pot bound, I would put it back into the pot (no harm done) and continue the analysis to find an appropriate solution for the symptoms. But, if it is indeed root/pot bound I would deal with it in exactly the way I said I would be prepared to do, above.

Apparently you already KNOW "Scientifically" why the idea is bad. Since that is your conclusion, I don't feel compelled to point out a few faulty presumptions of yours.

 

[Poink88]

Judging from the leaf pic, size of the tree and the pot...I won't repot until spring. I bet it is just shedding old leaves. Several of my elms are doing that now.

 

[jk_lewis]

You will/should water a LOT less in winter anyway. Keep the soil fairly dry then repot in early spring.

 

[Tieball]

Normal end of August

What I see in the photos seems quite normal for the end of August and beginning of September. Several of my Zelkova planted in the ground are displaying the same leaf color change. Some leaves are yellowing and going through color change. To me...perfectly normal. I've had cooler temps the last few weeks but it has warmed up the last few days. In Michigan we're going to warm up again for the next weeks and then begin the quick turn to cooler and then colder temperatures. I believe your tree is just doing what it is programmed to do given the time of year. Give it a good winter dormancy. Repot and check the roots in spring.

My ground planted Zelkova trees stay outside all winter but are shielded from our winter winds. I mulch the soil level heavily with fallen oak tree leaves, mostly because my outdoor soil is sand, and I believe that helps keeps the roots area moist in addition to snowfall.

 

[cmeg1]

You will/should water a LOT less in winter anyway. Keep the soil fairly dry then repot in early spring.

Very good point.The pines I was talking about died cause' I thought they would be fine for another growing season and I let them push growth without repotting when I had my chance.That is when they dehydrated.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Brent Walston at Evergreen Gardenworks has a good article on fall repotting. http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/fallpot.htm

If you're in PA, it might not be a good idea to repot in the fall. Read the article and see for yourself.

 

[0soyoung]

Brent Walston at Evergreen Gardenworks has a good article on fall repotting. http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/fallpot.htm

If you're in PA, it might not be a good idea to repot in the fall. Read the article and see for yourself.

Like all Brent's articles, this one is a great read and highly educational. IMHO, the moral of his story, from the conclusion of the article is, "I still recommend fall planting, transplanting, repotting, and minor root pruning, ... where the winter storage temperature can be kept above 28F." It isn't clear, though, how this applies to late August, a month before the vernal equinox and about two months before fall color and leaf drop.

Thanks again for bringing this article to everyone's attention.

 

[jkd2572]

Why not just slip pot it into a bigger pot until spring? That sounds easy.