I ..........hope....... I haven't killed this procumbens

Mike Corazzi

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This is a fairly old procumbens. Probably 20+ years old.
It's repot time so I have done the junipers and this was the last one. The others were all good bunches of roots. Went like clockwork.
Then came THIS ONE!
It was stuck to the round plastic pot and I needed a hammer to drive a blade around the rim to lift it.
It came out with ...not a bunch of roots... but a pancake only about an inch to an inch and a half of roots. WAY less than the pot COULD have held.
The balance of the soil just came off in a chunk. Not a bad chunk, but a nice easy draining mass of the soil it was in.

Soooo... I repotted it without needing to cut off roots. The "disk" of roots fit the top of the new pot (as pictured) and I filled the pot with my usual mix and then placed the thing on the soil and chopsticked around to get it settled. Wired in solidly.

Backstory: I know junies like sun. I may have "babied" it in that I had it on a shelf that got full sun til about 2 PM and then gradual shade for the rest of the day.
I am reluctant to stick it in FULL SUN now. Being that the root "ball/disk" is so unusual, I am wondering if it would tolerate full sun.
I would probably move it when our seasonal kiln/oven/forge shows up this summer.

Damn, I better end this encyclopedia of uncertainty.

What do YOU think? Should it go in full sun? Gradual sun? Suggestions and blame gladly solicited.

Yellow lines are approximately the space of roots now.

tall juniper repot.jpg


The stuff on the lower left is not this tree. It's a budding elm BEHIND the tree. :)

 

Shibui

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While sun is good for junipers and many species come from exposed places, drying out seems to be far more detrimental than shade. Mine seem to do far better with some sun protection through summer. There are a great many variables - soil mix, humidity, water, temps, etc so I guess it is horses for courses.

Not too sure why this tree would have been stuck so tight in the pot but still have few roots. They don't grow huge amounts of root quickly so the small root pad may just be from someone repotting like that recently? The good thing is it appears to be healthy so small rot mass does not seem to be a problem.
 

Mike Corazzi

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While sun is good for junipers and many species come from exposed places, drying out seems to be far more detrimental than shade. Mine seem to do far better with some sun protection through summer. There are a great many variables - soil mix, humidity, water, temps, etc so I guess it is horses for courses.

Not too sure why this tree would have been stuck so tight in the pot but still have few roots. They don't grow huge amounts of root quickly so the small root pad may just be from someone repotting like that recently? The good thing is it appears to be healthy so small rot mass does not seem to be a problem.
It has only been in that pot for one day.
The deep pot it was in apparently did no good. But....it got looking that way in the deep pot.

Wait and see is all I can do.
 

Mike Corazzi

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THis is about how it sits now.
Thinking being that ...maybe... the water from the soil will integrate with the soil under the tree.
Tidal force or something. :rolleyes:

junipot.jpg
 

Japonicus

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I had it on a shelf that got full sun til about 2 PM and then gradual shade for the rest of the day.
Current Sun exposure after potting, ^ this is how I would approach that for the 1st month, misting foliage and trunk frequently.
I water all my recent pots and repots with K-L-N and Protekt weekly during the first month, then every other week the following month.
drying out seems to be far more detrimental than shade.
+1
 

Mike Corazzi

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That makes a lot of sense. Help combat drying with interim wetting.
I have been doing exactly that just out of a "can't hurt" thing.
If new leaves are thirsty, give them both an internal and external drink.
:)
 
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