Should I repot after 1 year of bad soil?

[MW-SA-Bonsai]

Hi,

I have struggled to find an answer to this specific question.

I have the following trees which were re-potted last Spring (September, southern hemisphere) which are potted with quite bad quality soil, some are in general garden potting mix, and others are in very compacted soil with small granules. Should I repot them in higher quality soil this upcoming September (i.e. 1 year after the previous repot) or is this too soon and should I rather leave them for longer?

• Mame ficus in very small 5cm wide x 10cm high pot.
• Seedlings in very small containers - Bolusanthus Speciosus, Acacia/Senegalia, Ficus
• 3x Olive
• Pyracantha
• Japanese Black pine seedlings (less than 1 year old) in 5l pots, so fairly big for the seedling size.

Hope this is clear and that there is sufficient information for providing advice.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

I would repot them, they're young.

Sorce

 

[penumbra]

I would repot them, they're young.

Ditto.

 

[R3x]

Why wait for September? Repot them now. Find some good anorganic substrate that would provide lots of aeration for the roots and retain enough moisture.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

All the trees you have are described as young. Young trees can tolerate repotting more easily than older trees. Before you start make sure you have on hand all the potting materials you will need. Make sure you have enough of a quality bonsai mix for deciduous bonsai. Also enough mix for your pines.

If the health of these trees is stable, not in decline, then I would not follow the advice of R3x,, I would wait for the ideal time to repot, spring. If there are obvious health issues, ongoing decline, that could be stopped by simply repotting. Then repotting right away might be appropriate.

I do not know how mild your winters are. IF your winters tend to be entirely above freezing, winter repotting is not as traumatic as it would be in my own much colder latitude.

Point is, only you can weight all the issues and decide.

 

[eryk2kartman]

Why wait for September? Repot them now. Find some good anorganic substrate that would provide lots of aeration for the roots and retain enough moisture.

He is in southern hemisphere i believe they coming to the end of growing season..... thats why its better to wait for their spring(September)

 

[R3x]

He is in southern hemisphere i believe they coming to the end of growing season..... thats why its better to wait for their spring(September)

You're right - I missed that somehow.

 

[R3x]

All the trees you have are described as young. Young trees can tolerate repotting more easily than older trees. Before you start make sure you have on hand all the potting materials you will need. Make sure you have enough of a quality bonsai mix for deciduous bonsai. Also enough mix for your pines.

If the health of these trees is stable, not in decline, then I would not follow the advice of R3x,, I would wait for the ideal time to repot, spring. If there are obvious health issues, ongoing decline, that could be stopped by simply repotting. Then repotting right away might be appropriate.

I do not know how mild your winters are. IF your winters tend to be entirely above freezing, winter repotting is not as traumatic as it would be in my own much colder latitude.

Point is, only you can weight all the issues and decide.

You're right. I missed (my fault) he's in the southern hemisphere and that September is their spring. Mea culpa.

 

[Shibui]

First important consideration is that you will probably not cut many roots. Just shake or wash out most of the poor soil and repot in better. Repotting with minimal root cutting can be done almost any time for most species.

Very young pine seedlings can be done almost any time. I have potted up seedlings from seed trays right through summer no problem. There are a lot of very experienced bonsai growers repotting in late summer and early autumn now. I repotted an older JBP last week and fully expect it to do well.
Olives can be repotted any time of year. We have great strike rate after collecting wild olives in March (start of our Autumn) and that entails removing 90% of roots. Simple repotting will not worry those olives.
Pyracantha are generally very tough. Some feral pyracanthas were dug and potted last Feb and March here ( more than 50% root reduction) and have grown well since.
Ficus do not like pruning or root work when it is cold. There may still be time this season for them to recover before winter. A lot will depend on whether you take them inside, have heated conditions and your normal winter temperatures. If they stay outside all winter It will probably still be safe to repot. Otherwise leave those be until late spring. Ficus are very hardy and can cope with roots in almost anything. Just monitor watering over cooler months.

A great deal depends on your specific climate. I assume that SA indicates South Africa. Conditions way different from those experienced by all the previous posters (except maybe eryk2kartman in Ireland) but probably far more similar to here.
You would get far better advice by adding a location to your profile so that others can see at a glance where you are.

 

[MW-SA-Bonsai]

Thank you everyone for the advice, this has been really helpful.
Yes I am from South Africa.
For the ones that are in decline I will then quickly do a repot without any root/branch pruning.
And the remainder I will likely wait until Spring, but will keep all the rest of your advice in mind.
Thanks a lot

 

[jason biggs]

I grow everything in straight potting soil - not ideal but after all it is POTTING soil...
The ficus love it and the acacias are happy in it ...
I definitely wouldn't repot now.