JBP root pruning

[Nacho Business]

I have a 4 y/o JBP pot bound. Is it ok to bare root it when repotting? I’m also afraid to make any significant cuts to the roots. It’s my 1st JBP, & it’s very healthy. I’d like to learn a little more about root pruning JBPs before I do anything with it. I need advice from someone with more experience with JBP plz

 

[hampton]

You may get more response if you let folks know where you’re located. You can add your general location and USDA Hardiness Zone in your profile.

I’ll leave the pine question for someone better equipped to answer

Best,
Zak

 

[Bonsai Nut]

This is the wrong time of year to be repotting JBP. You should be targeting very early spring - and since you don't get a hard freeze, I might even consider December. You want to repot your tree and give it plenty of time to recover before the heat of the next summer.

In terms of bare-rooting, it all depends on your starting point. If you are taking a JBP from good bonsai soil and are repotting it in good bonsai soil, bare-rooting it (without washing the roots with water) should be fine. If you are taking a JBP from a nursery pot and crappy nursery soil and are trying to repot it into decent bonsai soil, you need to be much more cautious.

 

[Nacho Business]

You may get more response if you let folks know where you’re located. You can add your general location and USDA Hardiness Zone in your profile.

I’ll leave the pine question for someone better equipped to answer

Best,
Zak

Thanks. I don’t know why it isn’t there anymore. I’ll fix it. By the way it’s Sugar Land TX zone 9

 

[River's Edge]

I have a 4 y/o JBP pot bound. Is it ok to bare root it when repotting? I’m also afraid to make any significant cuts to the roots. It’s my 1st JBP, & it’s very healthy. I’d like to learn a little more about root pruning JBPs before I do anything with it. I need advice from someone with more experience with JBP plz

The general answer is that you do not normally bare root JBP. The next important piece of information is that repotting is normally done during certain times of the year. Late winter/early spring and early fall. So you are out of season for repotting.

 

[Nacho Business]

This is the wrong time of year to be repotting JBP. You should be targeting very early spring - and since you don't get a hard freeze, I might even consider December. You want to repot your tree and give it plenty of time to recover before the heat of the next summer.

In terms of bare-rooting, it all depends on your starting point. If you are taking a JBP from good bonsai soil and are repotting it in good bonsai soil, bare-rooting it (without washing the roots with water) should be fine. If you are taking a JBP from a nursery pot and crappy nursery soil and are trying to repot it into decent bonsai soil, you need to be much more cautious.

Thank you. I’m waiting till late winter/early spring. I would just like to learn as much as possible till then. Thanks so much for your advice! It’s in bonsai soil now, (akadama mix). I will use bonsai soil or coco/perlite (Mother Earth)

 

[Nacho Business]

The general answer is that you do not normally bare root JBP. The next important piece of information is that repotting is normally done during certain times of the year. Late winter/early spring and early fall. So you are out of season for repotting.

Thanks

 

[hampton]

Thanks. I don’t know why it isn’t there anymore. I’ll fix it. By the way it’s Sugar Land TX zone 9

I may have missed it, if so my apologies. Best of luck with the tree

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

A JBP that young can be bare-rooted if necessary, when done in spring. Likely most of the soil falls away at repotting anyway. It will bounce back better from being bare-rooted and lightly pruned than having the bottom half of the root ball sawed off and the remaining old soil left in the new pot.

 

[Nacho Business]

I may have missed it, if so my apologies. Best of luck with the tree

Thanks

A JBP that young can be bare-rooted if necessary, when done in spring. Likely most of the soil falls away at repotting anyway. It will bounce back better from being bare-rooted and lightly pruned than having the bottom half of the root ball sawed off and the remaining old soil left in the new pot.

Thanks so much Brian!

 

[Nacho Business]

Thanks so much Brian!

 

[Shibui]

There seems to be a huge variety of responses to repotting pines, some very specific about what to do and what not to do. The variation suggests that there is more latitude in repotting pines than many believe.
I'm with @Brian Van Fleet
I grow quite a few JBP each year and regularly bare root (though don't usually wash the roots clean) younger trees up to around 10 years. So far no problems.
Older trees don't need bare root because the roots have already been sorted out earlier so I just remove around half the soil and roots when repotting older pines.
Young seedlings can be repotted and root pruned any time through the first year, even mid summer.

I tend to repot pines after I've done all the deciduous so that's generally mid spring after maples are leafed out. By that time pine candles are extending and sometimes needles even starting to open.
Pines from the grow beds are dug late winter here and invariably bare rooted as the soil is friable and I don't want garden soil in the pots so tend to shake off any soil that stays attached.

Make what you will of all that. I'm sure that climate will have some bearing on what is OK and what is not but it is always worth exploring the boundaries to see how flexible they really are.

 

[sorce]

This is useful information......

But there is SO much more information needed to apply it....

Pictures would help.

Your starting point is important, but so is your finishing point. We still know next to nothing about these.

"Potbound" alone, is assumed because you said it and everyone applies their own definition to it, even though we don't know what you mean by potbound.

A "potbound" tree in a wide shallow dish is hardly a problem at all.

A "potbound" tree in a Long Cylindrical plug type container should be discarded, IMO.

Regardless of my opinion these are 2 extremely different scenarios.

I personally despise "half bare rooting", until I find the tree that actually needs it.

Everything should be specific.

Following the "book" can move an entire collection forward at a speed.

The more detailed you get with each individual tree, the faster the collection progresses.

Sorce

 

[Maiden69]

I think Brian and Shibui cover it good enough. Here is a little more information on Fall repotting. I plan on repotting one of my 3 yr old black pines this fall along with my j.quinces.

Fall Repotting

 

[Nacho Business]

There seems to be a huge variety of responses to repotting pines, some very specific about what to do and what not to do. The variation suggests that there is more latitude in repotting pines than many believe.
I'm with @Brian Van Fleet
I grow quite a few JBP each year and regularly bare root (though don't usually wash the roots clean) younger trees up to around 10 years. So far no problems.
Older trees don't need bare root because the roots have already been sorted out earlier so I just remove around half the soil and roots when repotting older pines.
Young seedlings can be repotted and root pruned any time through the first year, even mid summer.

I tend to repot pines after I've done all the deciduous so that's generally mid spring after maples are leafed out. By that time pine candles are extending and sometimes needles even starting to open.
Pines from the grow beds are dug late winter here and invariably bare rooted as the soil is friable and I don't want garden soil in the pots so tend to shake off any soil that stays attached.

Make what you will of all that. I'm sure that climate will have some bearing on what is OK and what is not but it is always worth exploring the boundaries to see how flexible they really are.

Thanks so much for your advice! I’m so grateful to everyone on this forum for being kind enough to help a beginner