Field grown juniper, j. squamata "Meyeri"

James W.

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I got two of these j. squamata "Meyeri" from a local nursery. Freshly dug, balled and burlap. Ball is about 2 feet in diameter. Soil is typical gumbo clay. I have removed the bottom half of the ball before finding roots, so it is fairly shallow.
My question: how much of the original soil can I remove safely for it's first potting?
DSC_0274.JPG
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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I have no experience with squamata, but 5 out of 5 of my junipers that came in a ball and burlap survived bare rooting.
I washed the old soil out for 90% or so, as much as I could without damaging anything.
They didn't lose any branches in two years, so I think they're good.
 

James W.

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I have no experience with squamata, but 5 out of 5 of my junipers that came in a ball and burlap survived bare rooting.
I washed the old soil out for 90% or so, as much as I could without damaging anything.
They didn't lose any branches in two years, so I think they're good.
That is good to know. Thank you.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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I think the key to them surviving was that I damaged as little as possible, and the fact that I did the work in/before spring (and not in summer, which seems to be advised more often than I'd like to see because it doesn't work for me). As far as I know the communis juniper is the only juniper that doesn't respond well to touching their roots.
A good draining soil seems to be the best option. Don't use bark! Or as little as possible.

Some personal notes I have on the 'why' (almost) bare rooting is better: If you leave a lot of soil, the roots will not escape that patch of dirt and you'll have to do the work on a weakened specimen next year. The roots will grow in that patch of dirt, and they'll grow in a fine and dense mat that you're going to have to chop up or comb-and-break at the next repot. I believe that that's more damaging than managing the right soil, right away.

One of my two collected junipers from 2019 was basically bare rooted, the other one was left in the original dirtball. The latter is still trying to survive, the first one, even though it's 20+ years old, is very healthy.

I know it's blasphemy to some, but I've seen the differences first hand. You might want to hear what others have to say before you dig in.
 

James W.

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I was thinking I would knock off as much clay as possible, especially right under the trunk, but not wash anything with a hose and not worry too much about a little stuck in the finer roots.
The mix I have ready is diatomatious earth (NAPA 8822) and lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) (Haydite) 1/8 - 1/4" (3-6mm) particle size.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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The advantage of using a hose to wash off the clay is the water does not usually damage the roots, where chopsticks, trowel, or other implements including fingers can tear roots loose.

The repotting is done, and looks like a good job. So despite my comments below, do not change it this year. Wait 2 or 3 years then repot.

Myself, I would have chosen a different mix. I find Napa 8822 to be too fine a particle, though it does pair well with Dry Stall brand pumice, or a fine perlite. Haydite I have not used, not real familiar but what I remember is a much more coarse particle than 8822. Particle size for you mix should be uniform, nothing so fine that it would fall through a window screen, nothing coarse. The more uniform the particle size, the better the air penetration to the roots.

Leca is a round sphere for a particle. The round balls do not interlock at all with the surrounding particles. Any tree potted in Leca will always be unstable. As part of a mix, Leca makes the mix, unstable. I have found Leca to be a uniquely bad ingredient for a bonsai mix. Similarly bad, round sand blasting beads. They look like sand, but act like quicksand. Nothing stays where you put it.
 

James W.

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The advantage of using a hose to wash off the clay is the water does not usually damage the roots, where chopsticks, trowel, or other implements including fingers can tear roots loose.

The repotting is done, and looks like a good job. So despite my comments below, do not change it this year. Wait 2 or 3 years then repot.

Myself, I would have chosen a different mix. I find Napa 8822 to be too fine a particle, though it does pair well with Dry Stall brand pumice, or a fine perlite. Haydite I have not used, not real familiar but what I remember is a much more coarse particle than 8822. Particle size for you mix should be uniform, nothing so fine that it would fall through a window screen, nothing coarse. The more uniform the particle size, the better the air penetration to the roots.

Leca is a round sphere for a particle. The round balls do not interlock at all with the surrounding particles. Any tree potted in Leca will always be unstable. As part of a mix, Leca makes the mix, unstable. I have found Leca to be a uniquely bad ingredient for a bonsai mix. Similarly bad, round sand blasting beads. They look like sand, but act like quicksand. Nothing stays where you put it.
Thank you.
Haydite is just a local brand name for LECA. Yes it is little balls. And yes, it does not "lock" like pumice does. I haven't noticed that being a problem yet but all of my trees are in growing pots right now. That will be something to watch out for when I start getting trees I want in bonsai pots.
Everything was sifted so it is all bigger than what will fit through a standard window screen but it is finer than what I see a lot of people are using. The Haydite is a little larger than the DE. I have to watch watering a bit because the smaller particle size seems to hold more water, but that is a blessing in our hot, dry summers.
The laws in Kansas are such that very little of anything that is sold as a soil conditioner can be sold here. Haydite LECA and NAPA 8822 DE are available so I use them.
 

James W.

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These survived their 1st summer quite well, even extending growing tips a little. A few branches apparently shaded out.
I think I could have trimmed the root ball a little, the pots are heavy. Good thing I still have teenagers at home.
I will let these grow next summer and consider either a styling or root reduction in spring 2022.
Ready for fall clean up:
DSC_0089.JPGDSC_0094.JPG
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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My LECA (Haydite brand)
View attachment 294923

I just wandered back into this thread. Your Haydite brand of LECA, is no where near as spherical as what I think of as LECA, The particles of the product in your image have enough irregularity that I think it should work well as a potting media component.

I know LECA is a rotary kiln expanded clay. I was under the assumption that Haydite differed in that instead of clay, the source material was shale. But a quick glance at Wikipedia does not give any info one way or another. I could be "mis-remembering". Anyway, the haydite looks fine for a potting media component.

The junipers made great progress this year, you might be able to begin styling during the 2021 growing season.
 

James W.

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These recovered very well form their trims last year. I could have (should have?) cut back harder last year. I noticed that these did not pop any new buds like procumbens will, just strengthen what is already there. I decided I could trim them again.
Ready for a trim:
ready_for_trim.JPG
When I got started I realized I could not push back much farther without making some design choices, so I figured that now was the time to choose where to go with these. Ended up with a lot on the floor, but I think I kept the good stuff.
trimmed.JPG
I am not unhappy with the direction these are going. The one on the left could be reduced to that second branch on the right, maybe.
The boxes they are in are falling apart so I am thinking that they may get repotted next spring, maybe into Anderson flats unless I can find some cheap training pots big enough. And the right one needs a new potting angle, I think.
I am planning on doing some wiring this fall sometime.
 

CaptColin

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Trunks on these bad boys make my squamata look like the young tree that it is lol
 

James W.

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These recovered well and went into the winter looking good.
But . . .
Meyeri_1_6-25a.JPGMeyeri_2_6-25a.JPG
Coming out of winter some of the foliage just was dead. Some of the foliage was dull and slowly turning brown. I treated for mites but if that was it then the damage was already done. I'm thinking just winter kill, somehow. When I trimmed the dead off the branches were dead dead dead, felt like I was clipping branches that had been dead and dry for six months.
 

James W.

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Cleaned up. God decided to make some design choices for me since I was kinda dragging my feet.
I'll work with what I have left. Could have been worse. (My wife like them better this way)
Might be some carving in my future?

Meyeri_1_6-25b.jpgMeyeri_1_6-25b.JPG
 
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