Planting angle change

[bennisthemennis]

What steps can be taken to prepare a tree for a drastic change in planting angle?
I have a mallsai fukien tea that i have trying to figure out what to do with for over a year. This season I starting playing with different planting angles and I think i found one but it is damn close to 90 degrees.
Is there anything i can do to prepare for the change? maybe rig up a temporary half pot to encourage roots to grow in the space above the current soil level? or cut roots growing above the current soil level where i don't want them?

thanks

 

[Forsoothe!]

Aha, a new target! Post a photo here and we'll take shots at it making every suggestion in the book. Some may even be helpful!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

What steps can be taken to prepare a tree for a drastic change in planting angle?
I have a mallsai fukien tea that i have trying to figure out what to do with for over a year. This season I starting playing with different planting angles and I think i found one but it is damn close to 90 degrees.
Is there anything i can do to prepare for the change? maybe rig up a temporary half pot to encourage roots to grow in the space above the current soil level? or cut roots growing above the current soil level where i don't want them?

thanks

Preparing for change, # 1 - stop pruning. Let the tree grow wild for at least 2 months before repotting and doing radical root work. Depending on the species, this preparation can start as much as one year in advance with really old, and weak trees. Fukien tea is a sub-tropical, or tropical. You have not completed your profile, so we have no indication of where you are in the world, so we have no clue as to your climate. I'm midway between Chicago & Milwaukee, it is still winter here. All my indoor for winter tropicals are still semi-dormant, barely growing at all. Right now would be a bad time for me to repot these trees. Tropical broadleaf evergreens (like Fukien Tea) are best repotted when in active growth. In my area, from middle of June through end of July. Finishing by July ensures there is enough time for new roots to form before growth slows down and they are brought in for winter. Timing might be quite different depending on where you live. You want the Fukien tea to put on some growth, and have time to accumulate some energy before doing major root prune & angle change. Assume changing the angle will require removing a lot of roots. You might not need to remove many roots, but it is safer to assume you will and prepare for it.

So let it grow and get vigorous, then do the repotting & angle change. Cut what you need to remove, and not worry about an "pre-repotting" other than get the tree healthy and vigorous.

The same day you repot, after you have it set at its new planting angle, it is perfectly okay to prune the tree back at the same time.

It will recover just fine.

Best to do this during a period of active growth, middle of summer or middle of growing season. Depends on where you live.

 

[bennisthemennis]

Preparing for change, # 1 - stop pruning. Let the tree grow wild for at least 2 months before repotting and doing radical root work. Depending on the species, this preparation can start as much as one year in advance with really old, and weak trees. Fukien tea is a sub-tropical, or tropical. You have not completed your profile, so we have no indication of where you are in the world, so we have no clue as to your climate. I'm midway between Chicago & Milwaukee, it is still winter here. All my indoor for winter tropicals are still semi-dormant, barely growing at all. Right now would be a bad time for me to repot these trees. Tropical broadleaf evergreens (like Fukien Tea) are best repotted when in active growth. In my area, from middle of June through end of July. Finishing by July ensures there is enough time for new roots to form before growth slows down and they are brought in for winter. Timing might be quite different depending on where you live. You want the Fukien tea to put on some growth, and have time to accumulate some energy before doing major root prune & angle change. Assume changing the angle will require removing a lot of roots. You might not need to remove many roots, but it is safer to assume you will and prepare for it.

So let it grow and get vigorous, then do the repotting & angle change. Cut what you need to remove, and not worry about an "pre-repotting" other than get the tree healthy and vigorous.

The same day you repot, after you have it set at its new planting angle, it is perfectly okay to prune the tree back at the same time.

It will recover just fine.

Best to do this during a period of active growth, middle of summer or middle of growing season. Depends on where you live.

Thanks for the Reply!
My profile is updated now... I'm in Central TX- my tropicals have already been outside for over a month. this tree was repotted early last year from a bonsai pot to a training pot and just left to grow. I pruned the long leggy stuff when i brought it outside this year. I'm hoping to have the tree healthy enough for a repot with new angle this summer but if it isn't looking good it will be next year.
I think you answered my question, but I'll try to get a pic up after work today.

 

[Shibui]

Most species can adapt to a lot less roots than the have - provided they are healthy. Hence the advice to allow it to grow freely for a while before major root reduction.
In most cases a change of trunk angle is simply a matter of leaving the roots that will be in the soil while cutting the newly exposed parts off. That obviously relies on the trunk having good roots on the side that will be buried. It can be hard to predict before starting work so if you find a problem you should put it back as before and look for alternatives including getting new roots to grow where you need them.

 

[bennisthemennis]

 

[Potawatomi13]

Personal best suggestions to Keep plant at new planting angle for a growing season or two. Make sure new "bottom" of pot has decent drainage and upper part of soil does not dry out. However generally can be re angled in pot with only rearranging of root situation in pot. In this case considering corkscrew bend of trunk current angle to current pot seems a better choice.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I like the new proposed angle. THat should work well.

 

[Michael P]

A suggestion on repotting time for tropicals: I live in Dallas and my tropicals have been outside for a month also (except for a few cold nights). I have repotting fever, but I am waiting until the weather settles down and we have consistent temperatures no lower than 60F at night. Even though the trees have been outside, if I repot then we have another cold front it will set the trees back.