Seedlings in 2x2x6 planters...

[Thumbsaway]

i found some more exotic cultivars on Amazon (shh I know). They’re being shipped as 2 year grafted seedlings. Not a problem.


the Problem came up when I went to repot from the nursery soil. Especially since they came in those tube pots. They each had 4 large roots and only had feeder roots toward the tips.
i got 2 versions of japanese maple and 2 jbp. Currently they are all in pots that are waaaay to big hoping that they get a few more roots closer to the trunk (stick lol)

I haven’t potted to jbp’s yet but was wondering. If I were to just chop those tap roots with minimal feeder roots toward the base, would I fare better or worse?
im also on the fence about just sticking them in the ground for a few years

 

[Shibui]

No problem just cutting roots on JM. New roots will grow from the cut ends very easy but I find few new roots grow further back along the roots so I cut roots right where I want new roots to grow.
JBP are not quite so good at new roots except on very young roots. Hopefully you will find some good laterals to cut back to when you do those but it may take a couple of years to refine the roots on those.

It must be mid winter over there. I have no problem with root pruning in mid winter here but I thought it may be a little cold where you are?

 

[Thumbsaway]

Yeah it’s mid winter but we’ve had an unusually mild winter. Temps may dip down to freezing overnight for an hour or two but that’s about it.

ill just roll the dice and root chop. I’ve heard that young jbp’s are very survival oriented lol

 

[Shibui]

Yeah it’s mid winter but we’ve had an unusually mild winter. Temps may dip down to freezing overnight for an hour or two but that’s about it.

Sounds just like my normal winters here and root pruning any time from mid winter through to bud burst is fine for most deciduous.
I usually save conifers until after I have finished with deciduous because I know they don't mind later root work even after the maples have leaves.
Young pines are pretty resilient. I can take all roots off a seedling and expect it to grow new ones. For a couple of years bare root and 70-80% root reduction is fine but they seem to get less tolerant later in life.