Picked Up a Japanese Maple, Drowning - Is it too late to repot and prune?

[Firstflush]

Got this aged tree for a good price. Little beat up. There is some powdery mildew and hopefully nothing more. Some weird yellowing going on.
5 gal pot with about 3 gals of soil. The soil is a heavy clay or some other organic fine dense substrate. The 3 gallons of soil did not dry out in about a week. Slightly root bound as well. I have it here in about 3 hrs of morning sun. A friends JM yard tree drops leaves in December here in southern CA.

Any ideas on the yellowing and can I root prune and repot now? Slip potting alone won’t fix the soil issue.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Got this aged tree for a good price. Little beat up. There is some powdery mildew and hopefully nothing more. Some weird yellowing going on.
5 gal pot with about 3 gals of soil. The soil is a heavy clay or some other organic fine dense substrate. The 3 gallons of soil did not dry out in about a week. Slightly root bound as well. I have it here in about 3 hrs of morning sun. A friends JM yard tree drops leaves in December here in southern CA.

Any ideas on the yellowing and can I root prune and repot now? Slip potting alone won’t fix the soil issue.

No, it is far too late to do root work. The tree looks fine to me. My Japanese maples are changing colors with the arrival of fall. I would leave it alone and try not to over water it.

 

[ajm55555]

Nothing to do now apart from enjoying the fall colors!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Drill a bunch of extra holes in the pot and I reckon it'd be fine until spring.

 

[TomB]

Drill a bunch of extra holes in the pot and I reckon it'd be fine until spring.

and get it up off the ground - on a bench, or blocks, or slats - so that it can drain better.

 

[Firstflush]

Oh come on! I need to....hahah

 

[Pitoon]

Oh come on! I need to....hahah

Unless you want to risk killing......just follow the advice you were already given in the previous posts.

 

[Firstflush]

Yes, I already drilled the holes in the pot.
I was considering repotting as it has maybe 2 months to leave drop. I can hold off.
Trying to see if I can get it to grow a little and green up before dormancy.

 

[Pitoon]

Yes, I already drilled the holes in the pot.
I was considering repotting as it has maybe 2 months to leave drop. I can hold off.
Trying to see if I can get it to grow a little and green up before dormancy.

Now is the time for them to prepare to go dormant, not green up. I suggest you read some books or watch some YouTube videos and enrich your mind.

 

[Paradox]

@Firstflush, what state is "Coastal Sage Scrub and Chaparral"?

I have no idea what advice to give you because I have no idea where you are?

 

[Firstflush]

Thats nice Pit, no need to sound insulting. I’m aware.
I have done just that prior to posting here. We are still in the 70s-80s here in 10b, Southern CA.

 

[Pitoon]

That nice Pit, no need to sound insulting. I’m aware.
I have done just that prior to posting here. We are still in the 70s-80s here in 10b.

Was not trying to sound insulting.....you need to update your location. Are you in Florida? Typical USDA hardiness zone is 5-8 for Japanese maples. If you're in zone 10b, your maple will eventually perish as it needs a winter to go dormant.

 

[Firstflush]

The standard green Acer Palmatums do ok here properly situated.

 

[leatherback]

You indicate it is rootbound. In other words, it grew well in this substrate for a reasonable amount of time. No reason it should not do so for winter.

That being said.. In your climate I wuld not worry about a repot. You get no real frost to speak of I think?

 

[BobbyLane]

if you wanted to work a tree, you shouldnt have asked for permission to do so.
maybe you would of killed it, maybe not.
if you kill it, you'd have learned a harsh lesson. you would need to go out and buy another and treat it differently.
if it lives and thrives you'd have learnt a lesson still.
9 times out of 10 a beginner buys a new tree and claims it needs to be immediately repotted because its 'rootbound'.

Fact of the day

 

[leatherback]

9 times out of 10 a beginner buys a new tree and claims it needs to be immediately repotted because its 'rootbound'.

Fact of the day

Truth dis!

Interestingly.. Most beginners would not recognize rootbound. I repotted a juniper the other day. The mesh that was put over the drainage-hole was about an inch (Not joking) up in the rootball. THAT is rootbound to the extend a repot is really needed.

 

[BobbyLane]

hmmm i prefer the term 'well established'
beginners say 'root bound' and assume the tree is struggling and in dire need of a repot. root bound gets associated with poor health, but in most cases the trees are doing fine, maybe just a little leggy.

these air pots are jam packed with fine feeder roots and its EXTREMELY difficult to navigate a root hook through this dense ball. it takes me hours to get to the nebari which is located a few inches down. i use a small hand saw, a root hook, a tooth brush and scissors to do this.
but with that said, water soaks and runs through pretty easily and doesnt pool on the surface. but most would assume this is 'root bound' and in dire need...

then a large bow saw is required to slice in half, a new sharp blade is required or you will be on your knees for ages trying to saw through this!

if you then did as everyone tells you to and remove all of the nursery soil, which is dense with feeders, youll be left with literally no root at all. and the tree would take ages to recover. i repot at different times with not much issues because i leave a fair amount of established root balls.

 

[BobbyLane]

anyway, if ones idea of repotting is ripping all the roots out and removing any trace of old soil then maybe you need to wait until the 'right' time if there is one. if ones idea of repotting is slicing a few pieces of the root ball like a cake and filling in with fresh soil, maybe you have a larger window. my 2 cents. but i always say that if you have to ask, then maybe dont do anything at all

 

[sorce]

You should do a better investigation of it's origin.

Was it recently dug from a field?
Where did it come from?

(Out of pot) Roots pic?

Smells like a definitely Repot situation.
But maybe that one week wet soil is how these survive down there. Maybe it's how they die?

The moon ain't bad.

Sorce

 

[essdoesbonsai]

9 times out of 10 a beginner buys a new tree and claims it needs to be immediately repotted because its 'rootbound'.

Fact of the day

This was me about a month ago