Post repot care

[maroun.c]

I see most only mention 1-2 weeks of shade post repot as aftercare for trees.
Yet looking at type of repot:
Yamadori to bonsai pot.
Nursery soil to bonsai pot
Bonsai pot repotting after few years
And also the amount of work done on the roots especially for evergreens or conifers I believe there should be small things that could help improve the tree chances after a challenging repot.
I'm thinking
Leave misting
Keeping in high moisture area or using a humidifier for couple weeks
Over watering to some extent
Leaf reduction or maybe not to improve tree photosynthesis that feeds the roots and helps grow new ones fast enough?
Heavy fertilizing end of growing season of year before planned repot to ensure tree has enough stored energy to recover....
I might be overthinking it but would appreciate your thoughts on the above and other things you can think of. Also what are the tell signs that a tree made it well past repot and can be moved back to regular sun exposure, or maybe how long for the tree to typically show signs of struggling after a repot that didnt go smooth or to know it made it fine .

 

[TN_Jim]

I see most only mention 1-2 weeks of shade post repot as aftercare for trees.
Yet looking at type of repot:
Yamadori to bonsai pot.
Nursery soil to bonsai pot
Bonsai pot repotting after few years
And also the amount of work done on the roots especially for evergreens or conifers I believe there should be small things that could help improve the tree chances after a challenging repot.
I'm thinking
Leave misting
Keeping in high moisture area or using a humidifier for couple weeks
Over watering to some extent
Leaf reduction or maybe not to improve tree photosynthesis that feeds the roots and helps grow new ones fast enough?
Heavy fertilizing end of growing season of year before planned repot to ensure tree has enough stored energy to recover....
I might be overthinking it but would appreciate your thoughts on the above and other things you can think of. Also what are the tell signs that a tree made it well past repot and can be moved back to regular sun exposure, or maybe how long for the tree to typically show signs of struggling after a repot that didnt go smooth or to know it made it fine .

What did you collect? If it’s evergreen and a conifer it likely falls in three plant families -Pinaceace, Cupressaceae, or Taxaceae...each family is unique to collection, especially to the region you are in and species.

 

[maroun.c]

Mostly nursery material. 3 pines I collected from a site being digged didn't make it unfortunately.
yet 4-5 of my last nursery repots were very challenging from thick elbowing roots and thick circular roots filling up the pots which made for challenging repots with many affected roots.

 

[sorce]

Anything I've successfully repotted has gone right to normal care.

I think there are easy steps to a successful Repot on established trees. Bonsai pot to Bonsai pot.

Yamadori, first collected, depends on what was dug.

Already potted and recovered yamadori, falls into pot to pot. Easy steps to success.(aka don't cut a lot of Roots and be careful, timing))

The bitchest is the nursery trees.
I guess strictly conifer, since Any Deciduous trees can / should be layered 90% of the time.
The problem is the amount of stuff that should be cut off the roots to ever get it into a decent pot.
And by "ever", I mean, before you can find another that'll take the abuse easily.

Here's my thing......
If you Nancy around and don't just go hard on em, you can get them to recover in a year or 2, but you have to go back in later, how long later? What if it dies then?

To me...that's a waste of time, for the "possibility" of it surviving the next surgery.

Say you have 3 plants, and you Nancy around the first repot, and at the next Repot, where you planned to take off what it needs to fit in a bonsai pot, it dies...all 3. After 3 years, you have nothing.

Say you have 3, whack the shit out of them at the initial potting. One Will survive. Then in 3 years, you have a good plant.
The 2 that died... insurance.
You also have 2 more spaces available on your bench. You didn't get that Nancying around with 3 plants.

The cost of one good nursery tree, is 2 dead ones IMO.

Or plant seeds.

Sorce

 

[maroun.c]

I actually thought of that approach as also the tree is in the best energy space it'll be at theoretically at time of first repot....
I'm repotting 30 trees this season with different amount of aggressive footwork and I documented each tree repot. Guess statistics will reveal a lot this year.

 

[Atom#28]

Tell me more about this suggestion

Over watering to some extent

 

[maroun.c]

not Advising to overwater really. But just to make sure roots don’t dry up after a traumatizing root work

 

[Anthony]

Repotting -

[1] Bright light - we use two weeks [ went back to the Murata way ]

[2] Water normally

[3] Observe

[4] Replace in morning sun and late evening [ higher caution for bare rooted plants ]

[5] 1 month later a fertiliser at say 6 to 9 N.................. once a week
given into moist soil..
Good Day
Anthony

 

[sorce]

Tell me more about this suggestion

They say, since compromised roots take up less water, and since new roots seek wet thru dry, that overwatering isn't recommended.

But ...

I'm repotting 30 trees this season with different amount of aggressive footwork and I documented each tree repot.

This is gonna help is understand that climate, which I really look forward to. Since we have only one bit of information from there!

Sorce

 

[River's Edge]

I see most only mention 1-2 weeks of shade post repot as aftercare for trees.
Yet looking at type of repot:
Yamadori to bonsai pot.
Nursery soil to bonsai pot
Bonsai pot repotting after few years
And also the amount of work done on the roots especially for evergreens or conifers I believe there should be small things that could help improve the tree chances after a challenging repot.
I'm thinking
Leave misting
Keeping in high moisture area or using a humidifier for couple weeks
Over watering to some extent
Leaf reduction or maybe not to improve tree photosynthesis that feeds the roots and helps grow new ones fast enough?
Heavy fertilizing end of growing season of year before planned repot to ensure tree has enough stored energy to recover....
I might be overthinking it but would appreciate your thoughts on the above and other things you can think of. Also what are the tell signs that a tree made it well past repot and can be moved back to regular sun exposure, or maybe how long for the tree to typically show signs of struggling after a repot that didnt go smooth or to know it made it fine .

Overthinking, definitely not.
Generalizing, seeking a one explanation fits all approach perhaps? Consider the possibility that it will take time to learn the various approaches and when they are appropriate! And that it is not feasible that a person would wish to document them all in one response.

Repotting should involve steps that match the age, condition, species and care one is able to provide. Center core, outside edge, bottom area only, thick downward roots only, retain all roots possible, remove only a certain percentage, bare root, 1/2 HBR. Complete the repot over three seasons.

If the health of the tree is important rather than saving time.
If you ask a question about a specific species and the particular nature of the repot then useful information can be provided.

 

[maroun.c]

Overthinking, definitely not.
Generalizing, seeking a one explanation fits all approach perhaps? Consider the possibility that it will take time to learn the various approaches and when they are appropriate! And that it is not feasible that a person would wish to document them all in one response.

Repotting should involve steps that match the age, condition, species and care one is able to provide. Center core, outside edge, bottom area only, thick downward roots only, retain all roots possible, remove only a certain percentage, bare root, 1/2 HBR. Complete the repot over three seasons.

If the health of the tree is important rather than saving time.
If you ask a question about a specific species and the particular nature of the repot then useful information can be provided.

Valid points.
Mostly connifers, cedrus lebani, spruce, juniper, taxus, podocarpus. Mostly nursery material with different roots ( few painful ones with thick elbows and circling roots all over) yet most with limited central roots. Intended to bare root 1/3-1/2 of the football but for few I had to total bare root as all the root mass came from thick roots. One lost 90 percent of roots. Majority went with 1/2 bare root and one side of the soil left untouched till next repot (just teased 1 cm of roots on the edges)
Olives, elm, acer palmatum were easier to manage and success rate from last year repoted batch was good.

 

[Anthony]

The above technique also works on - J.B.pine [ 30 years + from
seed ] Caribbean pine blend [ also from seed 30 yeatrs ]
Gingko, juniper [ when we grew them - 20 years old .]
Also podocarpus 25 plus years old.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[River's Edge]

Valid points.
Mostly connifers, cedrus lebani, spruce, juniper, taxus, podocarpus. Mostly nursery material with different roots ( few painful ones with thick elbows and circling roots all over) yet most with limited central roots. Intended to bare root 1/3-1/2 of the football but for few I had to total bare root as all the root mass came from thick roots. One lost 90 percent of roots. Majority went with 1/2 bare root and one side of the soil left untouched till next repot (just teased 1 cm of roots on the edges)
Olives, elm, acer palmatum were easier to manage and success rate from last year repoted batch was good.

Wild collected material and older nursery stock tend to be the most difficult and time consuming. Often advisable to stage the repotting over several seasons to get to an acceptable starting point for Bonsai even into maintenance pot or small grow box. Field grown material can also be difficult particularly if grown in nursery pots for the first few years with limited work done and up potting the norm. Any condition that produces thick circling and downward roots with minimal feeder roots on the end of the thick roots. Nothing but time and technique will get great results in this instance.
The more repotting you do the greater variety of situations you will encounter and adapt your methods to suit the situation and the species. Of course this also involves size and shape of containers, soil mixes and a host of other variables! Those who work extensively with a particular species can offer great tips.
As a general rule in the most difficult situations I tend to stage a repot over three sessions. Typically first in the early spring. ( dealing with the bottom and central core)
Second in the late summer early fall. ( dealing with weakest side 1/2 HBR ). Third in the following early spring. ( last 1/2 HBR ). This allows for a full repot, transition to desired soil mix and a staged plan that allows the tree to recover each stage. In the end the tree is usually ready for styling by the fall. End of second season after acquisition.