Repot chinese elm early?

[Bonsai_neophyte]

Hi, I recently purchased this tree from a local bonsai nursery but the soil looks to be holding in too much moisture (maybe from age of soil or type), I'm worried it's affecting the tree because my other two chinese elms are growing fine, I live in south florida, should I repot early or just wait til spring, or am I just overreacting, thank you

 

[TN_Jim]

Do you have a place like a garage or such that you could allow the tree to dry out? I would seek to get it out of the rain for now…

Please put input your location area information so that it may be seen wherever you post, not just this thread.

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

OK, it's not really raining at all here we are in south florida winter which means cold front rain every once in awhile, I try to wait until the soil is dry to water to make sure it isn't soggy constantly but it takes at least two or 3 days after each watering to dry out and I feel like that's too long for the roots to be constantly wet? I updated my info to show state info, thank you

 

[TN_Jim]

by the looks of that soil, if you’re watering every three days, you are seriously overwatering

for example, I have elms in 80% inorganic soil (pumice) and in bonsai pots that I have not considered watering in over a week

if I took what that soil looks like and put a houseplant in it and watered it every three days it would be doomed

how do you check if soil is dry (or needs water) and how deep?

a good approach to the gradient of water content in a soil is cold soil is wet soil

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

.

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

Inorganic soil doesnt hold water like organic gardening top soil which is what this is when i repot trees from nurserys i use miracle gro moisture control as i like how quickly it drains out over the course of a day or so, thats why i was hoping it would be fine to repot and change out the soil. I have 2 other chinese elms (and several other types) I reoptted into this soil and they are very healthy. I use a chop stick in it about 4 to 5 inches down as the pot it is in is only about 8 to 10 inches deep. I have a american elm that I reported when I got from this nursery and the soil in the root mass directly below the trunk was so soggy the roots were mush, if I hadn't repotted I would have lost the tree, that's what I'm worried about with this one

 

[TN_Jim]

Inorganic soil doesnt hold water like organic gardening top soil which is what this is when i repot trees from nurserys i use miracle gro moisture control as i like how quickly it drains out over the course of a day or so

best of luck
elms are tough

here’s my understanding, take it or leave it..
potting soil is generally not ideal for trees and woody plants, moisture control potting soil is garbage

roots need oxygen drenched compacted soils will not provide. chopsticks are good but your sense of touch is better, put your hands in the dirt

you could hypothetically keep a tree alive in a bag of bolts; again, good luck to you, water well

 

[Shibui]

Reports from growers in sub-tropical parts of Australia are that Chinese elm can be repotted any time of year. Basically if they do not drop leaves then seasons do not matter. I'd be comfortable to do a full repot now rather than risk the roots staying too wet.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

What does the drainage holes look like on that blue thing?

Besides plastic generally sucking ass, they tend to have useless draining situations as well.

How long have the other elms been potted in that...ugh..."moisture control" stuff?

If not long, you may be on to something with "age of soil", because I don't see how that soil can remain useful for very long.

Sorce

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

Reports from growers in sub-tropical parts of Australia are that Chinese elm can be repotted any time of year. Basically if they do not drop leaves then seasons do not matter. I'd be comfortable to do a full repot now rather than risk the roots staying too wet.

OK thank you I think I will just to be sure

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

Welcome to Crazy!

What does the drainage holes look like on that blue thing?

Besides plastic generally sucking ass, they tend to have useless draining situations as well.

How long have the other elms been potted in that...ugh..."moisture control" stuff?

If not long, you may be on to something with "age of soil", because I don't see how that soil can remain useful for very long.

About a 2 inch drain hole on the bottom and drilled out smaller ones around the edge and then used a mesh screen to stop the loss of larger particles.

One has been in it for almost two years and the other about 6 months, the soil that the nursery uses looks to be just low grade top soil though, not like the stuff I use

 

[sorce]

What type of containers are the others in?

I don't feel like the soils+time are different enough to be the cause of that tree remaining too wet and/or arguably, "unhealthy".

For the record, I don't believe it's leaves or lack of is a sign of much anything but a subtropical tree, acting rather subtropically, in a rather sub tropic area.

I do believe Plastic, regardless of drainage, doesn't have the ability to provide a good long term root situation in your area, likely regardless of soil type.

Even vitrified clay has imperfections that break up the surface tension of water and allows it to continue to move down towards the drain, or better, air, which allows it to evaporate.

This is also why the inside of pots tend not to be glazed.

This is kinda also why anything that we build meant to float has a smooth surface.

Sorce

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

One is in a cut in half plastic 5 gallon and the other is in a full size 5 gallon, the one in the full size started in one of the little blue plastic ones as a seedling it was about 1/5" thick when I got it and I repotted it into the 5 gal a little over a year and a half ago

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

Here's the Chinese elm in the 5 gal when I got it and about 3 months ago

 

[TN_Jim]

good growth there, so what was your original concern? what did you decide?

are you concerned with cutting the tree in the photo above? looks like a living telephone pole

what do the rocks do?

do you have a plan for it or does it make you happy?

I would cut it at 1-2” above the roots

 

[Bonsai_neophyte]

good growth there, so what was your original concern? what did you decide?

are you concerned with cutting the tree in the photo above? looks like a living telephone pole

what do the rocks do?

do you have a plan for it or does it make you happy?

I would cut it at 1-2” above the roots

No that's a photo showing one of my other chinese elms that I grew in one of the plastic containers a commenter was concerned with, the tree at the top is the concern. However I do plan on chopping that tree about 2 inches above once the trunk gets a little thicker.

The rocks stop direct sun from hitting the soil so it won't dry out so fast

The only question I had was whether or not it would be OK to repot the Chinese elm in the first picture because I'm pretty sure (having repotted trees from this nursery before) that the roots are probably not in great condition, but since there is only about a month and a half before I would normally try to repot I didn't know if I should just wait

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Reports from growers in sub-tropical parts of Australia are that Chinese elm can be repotted any time of year. Basically if they do not drop leaves then seasons do not matter. I'd be comfortable to do a full repot now rather than risk the roots staying too wet.

I second this. I’ve done it with no problems. My climate is similar I suppose. 11 USDA