Larch roots

Jorgens86

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Hi. Anyone have some explaining why Larches fine roots tend to die off??

I notice to all my repottings and other bonsai master larches repotts that its lot of dead roots, and the soil is pure substrate no organic. So it means its kind of in trees nature or what!!??
 

Deep Sea Diver

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Not sure what you are asking. I haven’t experienced this as an issue myself. However a good cold freeze on an unprotected pot would likely cause the outermost roots to die back.

Many trees have roots that die for various reasons. Today I was uppotting a couple Trident maples and each had some older roots that had died and turned black all the way to the tips.

cheers
DSD sends
 

sorce

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and the soil is pure substrate no organic. So it means its kind of in trees nature or what!!??

No organic is the exact opposite of what a Larch lives in, so being completely out of it's "nature", you couldn't make this conclusion.

Things stay well preserved in the bogs where Larch grows because no oxygen gets there.

No oxygen, no movement, no light, no air.

Opposite.

Sorce
 

Jorgens86

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No organic is the exact opposite of what a Larch lives in, so being completely out of it's "nature", you couldn't make this conclusion.

Things stay well preserved in the bogs where Larch grows because no oxygen gets there.

No oxygen, no movement, no light, no air.

Opposite.

Sorce
Not all larches lives in bogs. Only tamaracs live there.
 

Forsoothe!

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This is like answering the question, "Does that jelly good?" Are we talking about Grandma's home made grape jelly, or petroleum jelly? It would behoove the OP to specify which Larch.
 

mudvein

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Not all Tamaracks live in bogs either. I live where Tamracks naturally occur and only familar with this type of Larch. The mix I use for them is approx 3/1 Pumice/Pine bark. They thrive in this mix and seem to grow very quickly in it. They're currently in root bags, so they get a ton of oxygen.
 

Forsoothe!

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I don't think so...

Tamarack range.JPG
More likely...
Western Larch range.JPG
 

WNC Bonsai

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Hi. Anyone have some explaining why Larches fine roots tend to die off??

I notice to all my repottings and other bonsai master larches repotts that its lot of dead roots, and the soil is pure substrate no organic. So it means its kind of in trees nature or what!!??
Most trees tend to slough off small roots in winter and regrow them in the spring from larger roots. On American larch the small thin black roots seen in sring repotting are mostly dead whereas the thicker orange roots are the live ones from which the small roots will regrow. The small roots are the ones that actively take up nutrients and water.
 

Jorgens86

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This is like answering the question, "Does that jelly good?" Are we talking about Grandma's home made grape jelly, or petroleum jelly? It would behoove the OP to specify which Larch.
All larch types, tamarac, japanese, europian and even pseidolarix
 

Rivka

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Does anyone have any good resources for learning to identify the different types? I know how to spot Japanese Larch by the curl of their cones, but have failed to get clear ID parameters for most of the others.
 

Jorgens86

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Does anyone have any good resources for learning to identify the different types? I know how to spot Japanese Larch by the curl of their cones, but have failed to get clear ID parameters for most of the others.
I know there was video on youtube where japanese and europian larches where compaired. But mother google will tell you.
I have both larches. Europian have yelowish branches and japanese have more like pirple brown young branches
 

Rivka

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I know there was video on youtube where japanese and europian larches where compaired. But mother google will tell you.
I have both larches. Europian have yelowish branches and japanese have more like pirple brown young branches
Again, I know how to ID Japanese Larches, what I don't know is how to sort out the rest, specially the few times native to North America. Every time I google it, all i get is how to tell Japanese from European, and it skips over the rest, hence my question.
 

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In the PNE you are only likely to see J., American, and the western species. Io doubt the European larch would be available out there. Why not go to a local nursery and see what they can tell you.
 

Rivka

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In the PNE you are only likely to see J., American, and the western species. Io doubt the European larch would be available out there. Why not go to a local nursery and see what they can tell you.
I'm not talking about bonsai, not walking in the woods, so it doesn't much matter what is most likely to grow here. I am asking about phenotypical botanical features that would help someone identify a smaller unmarked larch tree. Like how the cones on a Japanese type curl upwards and the other do not.
 

Forsoothe!

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Tamarack have small, round cones under 3/4".
 

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I'm not talking about bonsai, not walking in the woods, so it doesn't much matter what is most likely to grow here. I am asking about phenotypical botanical features that would help someone identify a smaller unmarked larch tree. Like how the cones on a Japanese type curl upwards and the other do not.
OK, so since you’re not talking about bonsai and not talking about what you’d find in the woods then it sounds like they would either be in a nursery or someones yard, which likely came from a nursery. Personally I have never seen a good resource on the differences among the various species. However the PNW has a lot of growers and nurseries which might be able to answer your questions. Either that or a botanist at a local university or ag extension officers .
 

Rivka

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OK, so since you’re not talking about bonsai and not talking about what you’d find in the woods
That sadly was a typo on my end that I didn't catch in time, my apologies.
I hate that we can't edit crap like that. I AM talking about plants that may already be bonsai, as well as nursery stock, or private sale, that is generically labeled "Larch" . It has really surprised me how often I find this, and even have had disagreement on a larch grove I became caretaker for last year.

What I have seen is that without cones or a more fully grown tree with natural features, the identification gets pretty hard at times. So when I'm looking for seedlings or other trees to match mine, I have no idea where to start!
 
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