Juniper “Yard”Dori substrate ?

[Eckhoffw]

Damn! That tree is killer. I’m jelly.
The best of luck to you! Cant wait to see updates!

 

[Devo12]

Shot cuz hoping it all goes well Will defs post some updates etc

 

[Devo12]

Today is the day

 

[Devo12]

 

[Devo12]

That looks like quite a large juniper. Much bigger than the ones I usually grow so it will need commensurately larger roots and pot.
Do not just randomly cut roots to fit a pot. Save as many fine roots as possible but you will need to cut some (many?) thicker roots that are too long for the container. If a thick root has few fine roots there is no point keeping it long. New roots almost always grow from the cut ends and will grow just as well from cut ends closer to the trunk provided the tree can stay alive long enough for that to happen.
How much and which to cut can only be decided when you dig and see what is there. If all roots are thick and long with few fine feeders it may be better to cut surface roots short then back fill and keep it well watered next summer. Deeper intact roots will keep it alive while the cut ones grow new feeder roots. Next winter it will be far safer to dig with lots of new feeder roots on the laterals.

Lots of foliage on the tree. Some will need to be removed I suspect. rather than shorten everything look at the structure and decide which trunks/branches could be superfluous and remove all foliage on those while leaving more useful branches relatively intact. I would not remove more than half total foliage from a juniper.

Do you think soil that it was In and then was potted in some similar soil okay ? Or should I put it in something different? It’s quite sandy but I don’t know if repotting it again will be okay?

 

[Shibui]

I cannot assess your soil from here so cannot offer meaningful advice.
I never use garden soil in pots because it creates many problems for roots but the larger and deeper the pot the more chance it will be OK.
Transplanting again after just a day or 2 should not hurt because there will be no new roots and all the damage has been done when digging.
Looks like you had some good roots close to the trunk.

 

[Devo12]

I cannot assess your soil from here so cannot offer meaningful advice.
I never use garden soil in pots because it creates many problems for roots but the larger and deeper the pot the more chance it will be OK.
Transplanting again after just a day or 2 should not hurt because there will be no new roots and all the damage has been done when digging.
Looks like you had some good roots close to the trunk.

Oh okay awesome thanks ! Yes managed to get a lot of roots with it. And yeh was put into quite a large pot.

 

[Devo12]

I cannot assess your soil from here so cannot offer meaningful advice.
I never use garden soil in pots because it creates many problems for roots but the larger and deeper the pot the more chance it will be OK.
Transplanting again after just a day or 2 should not hurt because there will be no new roots and all the damage has been done when digging.
Looks like you had some good roots close to the trunk.

Also , how often do you water the root system ? Only because I’ve been told to water the foliage and try keep the root system quite dry in this stage ..any advice ? Thanks man

 

[Shibui]

Roots need to be damp but not soaking wet. That's one of the problems with having field soil in the pot. It stays way too wet so people need to be really careful with water. That may be the origin of keep it dry. The real trick is to water according to the mix you have in the pot, not to some other person's experience. Personally I put trees straight into the same mix I use for any other bonsai and water transplants just the same as all the other trees to keep my mix at the correct moisture level. seems to work fine for me here.
Watering the foliage helps reduce transpiration. trees release water from the leaves to cool themselves and for a number of other reasons. With compromised roots it may not be able to replace water lost to transpiration. Frequently watering or misting the foliage reduces transpiration and reduces demand on the roots. Just need to be careful you are not soaking the roots every time you water the top.
Maintaining high humidity is another strategy. I know some experienced collectors now put new collections in plastic garbage bags or plastic tents to maintain humidity around the leaves. Just a little more sophisticated than misting or watering the leaves. i have not tried that strategy yet so cannot offer comment or provisos.

 

[Devo12]

Collected . Nice overcast weather for it to settle

 

[Devo12]

Roots need to be damp but not soaking wet. That's one of the problems with having field soil in the pot. It stays way too wet so people need to be really careful with water. That may be the origin of keep it dry. The real trick is to water according to the mix you have in the pot, not to some other person's experience. Personally I put trees straight into the same mix I use for any other bonsai and water transplants just the same as all the other trees to keep my mix at the correct moisture level. seems to work fine for me here.
Watering the foliage helps reduce transpiration. trees release water from the leaves to cool themselves and for a number of other reasons. With compromised roots it may not be able to replace water lost to transpiration. Frequently watering or misting the foliage reduces transpiration and reduces demand on the roots. Just need to be careful you are not soaking the roots every time you water the top.
Maintaining high humidity is another strategy. I know some experienced collectors now put new collections in plastic garbage bags or plastic tents to maintain humidity around the leaves. Just a little more sophisticated than misting or watering the leaves. i have not tried that strategy yet so cannot offer comment or provisos.

Thanks for the tips appreciate it. Will be misting the foliage as often as I can! What are you experiences removing some (shortening) of the large roots .

 

[Shibui]

I can only talk about field grown shimpaku that I grow here. I cut thick roots back as far as possible at collection. A long as there is some small side roots I will cut them. If there is plenty of fine roots in other spots I will still cut other thick roots hard. Fortunately most of the trees I grow have plenty of good viable roots close to the trunks because they get regular water.
So much of this can I can't I is relative. Relative to the size of the canopy, relative to the climate, relative to the roots you find, relative to the species, relative to the health of the individual tree. There's just so many variables there cannot be one size fits all when collecting trees.

 

[Devo12]

I can only talk about field grown shimpaku that I grow here. I cut thick roots back as far as possible at collection. A long as there is some small side roots I will cut them. If there is plenty of fine roots in other spots I will still cut other thick roots hard. Fortunately most of the trees I grow have plenty of good viable roots close to the trunks because they get regular water.
So much of this can I can't I is relative. Relative to the size of the canopy, relative to the climate, relative to the roots you find, relative to the species, relative to the health of the individual tree. There's just so many variables there cannot be one size fits all when collecting trees.

Thanks so much! Yeeeeh I get you! this tree actually has a lot of fine roots - I did trim the thicker roots just to fit in the pot . But didn’t remove tooo much . And left all the rest.
Thanks so much

 

[Clicio]

Thanks so much! Yeeeeh I get you! this tree actually has a lot of fine roots - I did trim the thicker roots just to fit in the pot . But didn’t remove tooo much . And left all the rest.

Awesome!
Please keep us posted on its progression!

 

[Devo12]

Awesome!
Please keep us posted on its progression!

Definitely will