Is it too late to repot arborvitae?

Cable

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I've got a thuja fire chief that I REALLY want to work on this weekend and report. I got it two days ago and it is multiple plants in the same pot and I want to split them up to space out into a forest. I read you're not supposed to repot thuja after June 1 but I want to anyway...

Odds?
 

sorce

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Second waiting.

You should be still throwing that first bit of growth.
After that settles in for a while would be better.
Next waning moon.

Sorce
 

JudyB

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What did the plant do to deserve to be reported? Sorry I know nothing about thuja, but I do know that success with repotting out of "season" on most trees is in the aftercare. Will you be able to keep it in a humid semi shady location out of the wind, and perhaps a heat mat if the weather continues to be cooler? That in my experience allows me to do lots of repotting after the spring period.
 

Japonicus

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What Judy said +1 after care.
I’ve struggled with the same desire given the prediction of a cooler June last month for my hinoki.

July predicted back to normal, and August even hotter my guess. My after care would be better
than just a month before traveling for Fall. If I weren’t planning on traveling I would not
consider this cooler June so temptingly. There’s more stronger storms during Summer than Fall
so wind could be as much an issue as the heat here in a couple weeks.
See those dominating high thin wispy ice clouds yesterday and today? That means another cold front will
hit in a week or so. I would wait given how drastic root work you’re wanting to do, breaking the legs of the tree(s).
A typical repot, should be ok, but you’re separating these, right?
 

Cable

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What did the plant do to deserve to be reported?

Oh, it knows what it did. lol


A typical repot, should be ok, but you’re separating these, right?

Correct. I can wait until next month or waning moon or whenever. Waiting until next spring might kill me is all. 😆

I do have the means for protection in my small greenhouse if it gets cold and lots of shade if it is hot. It will also be protected in a root cellar this winter.

I appreciate the advice everyone.

@sorce, when is the next waning moon? I think June 22 which would mean I'd want to wait until July 18 if I'm reading the bloody thing right.
 

sorce

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Oh, it knows what it did. lol




Correct. I can wait until next month or waning moon or whenever. Waiting until next spring might kill me is all. 😆

I do have the means for protection in my small greenhouse if it gets cold and lots of shade if it is hot. It will also be protected in a root cellar this winter.

I appreciate the advice everyone.

@sorce, when is the next waning moon? I think June 22 which would mean I'd want to wait until July 18 if I'm reading the bloody thing right.

Either one would work for me.

I wouldn't worry so much about shade, Boon says sun warms the pots makes for roots.

Sorce
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Farm weather report for southern Michigan was predicting cooler than normal and wetter thru the next 4 weeks. When asked about further out, they said they would have to wait and see. Fair probability it will be cooler and wetter for the remaining year. The region on the maps included most of Ohio.

In 2018 I repotted my Thuja, and did major root pruning, 5 gal nursery pot to Anderson flat - a lot of root pruning. I did this about August 15 th. It spent winter on the ground, in full sun, buried in snow on the farm in zone 6a Michigan. You really don't need to baby them after root work, but you MUST give them time to recover. 2019 so far I have not seen much new growth at all. No pruning until after a good growth spurt in 2020.

If I were you, I'd wait at least to August.
 

Japonicus

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Aaaaaaaaaaand, it’s dead. Guess I should have waited. Lol. Actually I think the issue was I used an inorganic mix with too large particles and I don’t think it stayed wet enough.
Sorry to hear Cable...so when exactly did you do this separation and might you think
that in itself had bearing on the loss?
I just reported a yew...bare rooted. Wish me luck.
 

penumbra

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I styled and re-potted a thuja about 4 to 6 weeks ago and it is doing fine. It went from a one gallon pot with soil, yes real soil, to a turface mix with a touch of sphagnum moss. Even though it was root pruned by about 75 to 80%, it didn't keep a beat. Sounds like your re-potting was more extensive than mine. Sorry for your loss.
 

Cable

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Sorry to hear Cable...so when exactly did you do this separation and might you think
that in itself had bearing on the loss?
I just reported a yew...bare rooted. Wish me luck.
I don’t remember. A couple of weeks ago. Steady decline ever since.

The roots of each plant were very intertwined and took a lot more work than expected to separate. I think had I put them into a more organic mix they would have been ok but I kinda wanted to push the envelope. A $10 learning experience.
 

Hartinez

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I don’t remember. A couple of weeks ago. Steady decline ever since.

The roots of each plant were very intertwined and took a lot more work than expected to separate. I think had I put them into a more organic mix they would have been ok but I kinda wanted to push the envelope. A $10 learning experience.
Hey cable. Bummer on the death. Always sucks, but now you know! I’d like to say it had more to do with extensive work done to the roots. Even in early spring it may have struggled with such a tough separation. Did you also cut back the foliage heavy and style a bit?

I was pretty taken with arborvitae this year and found a cultivar called “Degroots spire”. Which is a dwarf variety. Extra small fronds, more akin to hinoki cypress than thuja. I worked several. 1 I cut off half the rootball, raked and styled. Did this in mid May. It’s alive and pushing growth but not vigorous. 4 others, I only removed the surface soil to clean up surface roots, raked and cut the extra long roots off the sides and raked out the bottom a bit. Maybe 10-15% reduction. I did two of these in late June and another I did just the other day. All are doing great and growing from every pad established.

Don’t know how they’ll do long term, but I started This thread, to document there progress. Only tree not pictured is the first one I talked about. The one that’s just doing ok...😂

You should try again with thuja, as I think they are bonsaiable (not a word) enough, and unique enough to be worth the trial! Look for Degroots spire, I found several at Lowe’s for only $10 also. The others I bought at specialty centers at a much larger size, but still only $30.
 

Cable

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Did you also cut back the foliage heavy and style a bit?

I was pretty taken with arborvitae this year and found a cultivar called “Degroots spire”.

You should try again with thuja, as I think they are bonsaiable (not a word) enough, and unique enough to be worth the trial! Look for Degroots spire

I did not cut back the foliage or style. I wanted foliage to power root growth.

We sell Degroots Spire at the nursery where I work.

And yes, I will be trying thuja again!
 

just.wing.it

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I bare rooted one in middle of winter last year, and bent some branches with wire.
It was a Red Pot Special, with the dumb bow on it....you know.
I just was curious to see how it would handle it.
Still alive, didnt skip a beat.
It's ugly as sin itself....but who knows maybe one day it will come along.
 

Cable

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The weather also got real shitty a couple weeks ago, it may not have been the potting alone that killed it.

Sorce

You are absolutely right. I had it in the shade and watered 2-3 times a day but I don't think it was enough. I'm sure I exacerbated the problem with my choice of soil but it is most likely a bunch of factors all coming together.
 
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