Neglected bonsai

[luckydevil728]

This is my first post here,so hello to everybody..I have really learned a lot over the past few months,from everybody , thank you... and i would really appreciate any advice given.
I recently received a few bonsai trees from a ex bonsai club member here in the Los Angeles area.
The trees have been sitting around for about 10 years, without being repotted,moved or fertilized and where sitting right on the ground.
They are still very much alive but have been obviously neglected. Some of the branches have died and brown ,and there was wire left on from years ago cutting the branches, but my main concern was that they where growing,right through the drainage holes and into the ground.I had the cut the long tap roots to lift them and take them home.They are a yew,black pine and a juniper.

After getting them home i am in the process of repotting them, and one (the black pine) i put in a large nursery pot. Most of the roots on these looked dark and i think my have been suffered some rotting.
I am repotting these with a basic bonsai mix.(granite grit/peat) the pine is going in more of a course lava mix. is that red lava cinder OK to use? the weather here has been in the 80s this week. So its hard to put them in a mix too course am i doing the right thing? Is there any hope for these babys?
thanks, Dan

 

[Jay Wilson]

Hello Dan and welcome to the nut.
I really can't help you with specifics about your new trees...they look healthy and you're lucky to have gotten them. I don't think you can go wrong by potting them up in the mix you mentioned. Plenty of lava and don't use too much peat. They shouldn't suffer too much from the escaped roots being cut. Let them rest and feed them well.

I like the juni...

 

[JasonG]

This is my first post here,so hello to everybody..I have really learned a lot over the past few months,from everybody , thank you... and i would really appreciate any advice given.
I recently received a few bonsai trees from a ex bonsai club member here in the Los Angeles area.
The trees have been sitting around for about 10 years, without being repotted,moved or fertilized and where sitting right on the ground.
They are still very much alive but have been obviously neglected. Some of the branches have died and brown ,and there was wire left on from years ago cutting the branches, but my main concern was that they where growing,right through the drainage holes and into the ground.I had the cut the long tap roots to lift them and take them home.They are a yew,black pine and a juniper.

After getting them home i am in the process of repotting them, and one (the black pine) i put in a large nursery pot. Most of the roots on these looked dark and i think my have been suffered some rotting.
I am repotting these with a basic bonsai mix.(granite grit/peat) the pine is going in more of a course lava mix. is that red lava cinder OK to use? the weather here has been in the 80s this week. So its hard to put them in a mix too course am i doing the right thing? Is there any hope for these babys?
thanks, Dan

Hi Dan.

Welcome to the Nut house! Pull up a chair and enjoy the show!! lol

As to your trees, I wouldn't do any repotting now, except the yew which looks pretty healthy. The pine and juniper need to be much healthier than what they are now. The juniper should put on a good 4 to 6 inches of new whispy growth letting you know it is happy. The pine should be a darker, richer green color and see how froopy the needles are? These, like you say have been neglected. So feed them very well this year, let them grown unchecked, no styling, and re-evaluate next spring. I think repotting them now might be a sure death sentence.
As for the soil, yes those red cinders are ideal for soil! You can pot both the juniper and the pine in the mix you are talking about, the pine would be happy in 100% lava.

Serious, don't worry about repotting this year..... feed, feed, feed, feed,

Hope this helps.

Jason

 

[TheSteve]

Were these trees shaded? I'm thinking more sun is a must to get things rolling.

 

[Vance Wood]

Were these trees shaded? I'm thinking more sun is a must to get things rolling.

I agree, especially evident with the Pine and the Juniper. The yew looks very healthy but the others need to be invigorated with light exposure and some TLC.

 

[Jay Wilson]

Hey Dan,
It's been two weeks since you first posted and I bumped it up last night with some so-so advice. At least you got some good thoughts from folks with a better idea of what to do with your bounty.
Have you already repotted them?

 

[luckydevil728]

Hey Guys thanks for the good advice,
i hope these trees will once again be happy and healthy bonsai.
I think you where right about them being keep in the shade, or maybe not turned or moved for a while, one side on both the pine and the juniper, has some dead branches. When i got these home i had to re-pot the juniper,because the roots grew right threw the drainage holes and was not draining at all.And there was very little soil just the roots,and they where so big , i thought i might have to break the pot just to get the tree out.. So i re potted with the lava mix in the photos. the others a pine and yew went into nursery pots. i try ed to do very minimal trimming of the roots. They seem to be doing slightly better now,it's only been 4 or 5 weeks...
Should i hold off on any feeding for now? and what would you use?
thanks again, Dan

 

[Chris Johnston]

Hey Guys thanks for the good advice,
i hope these trees will once again be happy and healthy bonsai.
I think you where right about them being keep in the shade, or maybe not turned or moved for a while, one side on both the pine and the juniper, has some dead branches. When i got these home i had to re-pot the juniper,because the roots grew right threw the drainage holes and was not draining at all.And there was very little soil just the roots,and they where so big , i thought i might have to break the pot just to get the tree out.. So i re potted with the lava mix in the photos. the others a pine and yew went into nursery pots. i try ed to do very minimal trimming of the roots. They seem to be doing slightly better now,it's only been 4 or 5 weeks...
Should i hold off on any feeding for now? and what would you use?
thanks again, Dan

If you have root problems, I would (at the risk of starting a flame war) suggest a foliar feed of fish emulsion (or other suitable fert.)

Chris