SiccarPoint
Seedling
I have several seasons of experience with bonsai now, but 18 months or so ago came into possession of a fairly scruffy ~50 year old Abies koreana. I did some pruning last year, mostly of dying material and to start bringing in the out-of-control apex (see pre-work pic). I have also been careful not to wire much as I have heard these things really dislike wire.
However, I'm very paranoid about the now-necessary repot, as I've never worked a tree this big or this mature. But the buds are just extending and breaking, so I assume this is the time unless told otherwise. The tree also appears to be starting to weaken a bit, with yellower foliage than it had (though this also happened last year, and it perked up again in summer.) I think this is related to poor soil quality, which is a 1980s/90s-style legacy peat/loam/grit mixture, and has probably held a lot more water since its move from (dry) SE England to (wet) Wales. Does anyone have any general advice for repotting (mature) firs, or Korean Fir in particular? Any red flags here?
I'm planning a shift to standard modern inorganic soil (Kaizen #2), though will surely need to leave 50-60% (??) of the old soil in place to avoid too much repotting shock.
Should I be thinking about up-potting to a larger nursery container to give the tree a bit of a breather?
