Slip potting trident maple

kmdesigns

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Do you think it would be safe to slip pot a trident maple at this time? The maple is doing really well and seems to be lifting itself out of the pot because its not wired in. I figure if it keeps growing the way it has been I might have a problem. I live in Fresno and it has been unseasonably cool up to this point. Al if you'd give me some advice I'd really appreciate it.
 

Smoke

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Just put it into a larger pot without removing it from the pot its in. ( one gallon to a five) then back fill the larger pot with potting soil or similer. Good soil is not necessary. I mean expensive....soil.

This will allow the roots to escape from the small pot to the larger pot and in essence it will discontinue growing in the smaller pot. The roots will just fill the new pot which is no problem. Let it go and fill the pot it does not matter. They will be stringy long roots with few hairs anyway.

Next year in the proper time you can knock the soil off the larger pot, cut the roots at the smaller pot holes, and remove the plant from the smaller pot and trim as usual. Trim it next year really hard and all will be good.

Al

PS, is this one of those tridents from the swapmeet that were bareroot? If it was, mine look like a zombie right now with a canopy about 3.5 feet in diameter! These beasts are really strong!!!
 
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kmdesigns

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Yeah it is. Mine is growing like crazy. I gave it a little trim, so its back down to a manageable size but for awhile it took up a big chunk of my bench. Right now its in about 3 inches of a cut down 5 gallon nursery can. I want to put it in an 18x18x3 wooden grow box. Should i just drop the whole thing in a bury it?
 

Mikee002

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so, just chiming in here smoke... are you saying that even slip potting something without disturbing the roots can't (shouldn't) be done at times of the year that you'd normally not re-pot?
 

jferrier

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so, just chiming in here smoke... are you saying that even slip potting something without disturbing the roots can't (shouldn't) be done at times of the year that you'd normally not re-pot?

Can't speak to a larger bonsai quality tree, but I've not had any problems slip potting (without root cutting and minimal disturbance) young Tridents or Japanese in early summer, late summer, or fall. I've slip potted 100's into larger containers after the optimal time and not lost any. Got a 6' tall yard tree last year that was shipped nearly bare root in the middle of July and potted. Was sure it wouldn't make it, but its doing very well now. But just burying it pot and all will work too if you don't want to take the chance.
 
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PaulH

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I've done complete repotting of tridents this time of year after defoliating the tree. By defoliating you fool the tree into thinking its springtime again. Never had a problem. I've heard Kathy Shaner say she does this with tridents in GSBF collection at Lake Merritt. However, it doesn't get as hot here as Fresno so I'll defer to Al's experience.

Paul
 

Smoke

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I do things with tridents that most people would never think of. I have many.....

Understand that this fellow, a personal friend and a member of a club we both go to, has asked me , by name for help. Think about that for a moment. This is not some guy a 1000 miles away I will never meet and would not have to look in the face if given bad information.

I have just given him some advice that is the LEAST invasive for his plant, will help out in the short term, and 100 % survival chance.

That is all.


Now some of you other guys, if you live a 1000 miles away and don't have to look him in the eye when an opps pops up, then be my guest and tell us all of repotting in summer.

I have some integrity, and wish to keep it that way.


Have a nice day, Al
 

PaulH

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I do things with tridents that most people would never think of. I have many.....

Understand that this fellow, a personal friend and a member of a club we both go to, has asked me , by name for help. Think about that for a moment. This is not some guy a 1000 miles away I will never meet and would not have to look in the face if given bad information.

I have just given him some advice that is the LEAST invasive for his plant, will help out in the short term, and 100 % survival chance.

That is all.


Now some of you other guys, if you live a 1000 miles away and don't have to look him in the eye when an opps pops up, then be my guest and tell us all of repotting in summer.

I have some integrity, and wish to keep it that way.




Have a nice day, Al


Hey Al,
Sorry if I offended. I actually missed your name in the original post or I would have left it to you. I've followed your posts for awhile now and have nothing but respect for your knowledge, ability, (and integrity).
I also owe you a debt for educating me about humic acid. It's made a huge difference in my trees.
I certainly wasn't urging the original poster to do what I do, only relating my experience in the spirit of a forum setting.

Paul
 

Smoke

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Hey Paul, no offence taken. I think sometimes in peoples zeal to post something that looks like they may no something and wish to impress or show how much they think they no gets missplaced in the big picture.

There is absolutely no need to remove this tree from the pot, however gentle, and replant it into a larger pot. It's just not necessary. Even if the plant pushed out of the pot a little, big deal. It's just in a grow container. It's obviously happy...why mess with it. Let it grow. The major growing season is only 90 more days anyway.

My idea was to add it to another container, ease his mind and deal with it next spring. I have 6 of the monsters he's talking about. Mine are in 1 gallon containers, with two inch trunks!!! If I put these in the ground for three years I could grow these to 4/5 inches no problem. I think they may have been exposed to nuclear radiation or soemthing.
 

kmdesigns

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Thank you to everyone for their suggestions. I really wanted to move it to the grow box I built and almost did it yesterday, but I just don't want to risk it. It can wait until next year. When it comes to tridents I take Al's word as law.

Another question I had was, if it was in a larger pot does that have any effect on how fast pruning scars heal. I made a pretty large cut last fall and while it us healing very well, I just want to know if there is anything I can do to make it heal faster. I'm probably just being impatient, but I figured I'd ask.
 

Smoke

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Another controversial idea.....The box will probably help out there, though they will heal in bonsai pots too. All healing like humans takes time.
 

jferrier

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I do things with tridents that most people would never think of. I have many.....

Understand that this fellow, a personal friend and a member of a club we both go to, has asked me , by name for help. Think about that for a moment. This is not some guy a 1000 miles away I will never meet and would not have to look in the face if given bad information.

I have just given him some advice that is the LEAST invasive for his plant, will help out in the short term, and 100 % survival chance.

That is all.


Now some of you other guys, if you live a 1000 miles away and don't have to look him in the eye when an opps pops up, then be my guest and tell us all of repotting in summer.

I have some integrity, and wish to keep it that way.


Have a nice day, Al

Geez. So sorry for jumping into your thread. Why would you question someone's integrity based on the responses though? Do you think I/we were trying to sabotage this guy's tree or something? I understand your solution was no doubt the safer one, but that doesn't mean that someone else knows nothing about it. I was simply stating what my experience with the species had been. Next time I see someone asking for Al, I'll just keep whatever I have to say to myself.
 

Smoke

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Geez. So sorry for jumping into your thread. Why would you question someone's integrity based on the responses though? Do you think I/we were trying to sabotage this guy's tree or something? I understand your solution was no doubt the safer one, but that doesn't mean that someone else knows nothing about it. I was simply stating what my experience with the species had been. Next time I see someone asking for Al, I'll just keep whatever I have to say to myself.


Do you think it would be safe to slip pot a trident maple at this time? The maple is doing really well and seems to be lifting itself out of the pot because its not wired in. I figure if it keeps growing the way it has been I might have a problem. I live in Fresno and it has been unseasonably cool up to this point. Al if you'd give me some advice I'd really appreciate it.

I live in Fresno same as KM. You live in Texas, over a thousand miles away. You can't possibly know anything about the weather in Fresno. I have highlighted the line above which was a clue, which would be lost on anyone not living here. We are not just unseasonably cool we are'have been breaking records for June. last weekends rain storm gave us as much rain in two days than we get all summer. We went from 69 degrees all day to probably over 100 by Monday.

If he followed your advice and went ahead a re potted it and it died due to the extreme temp chnage we are gonna go thru, would ya care? Hell ya live 1500 miles away, I wouldn't care. Better luck next time ehh...

This guy is new to bonsai, and really stung with it...I want to see him stick around.


Also think about this. With the exception of me, everyone here has said no problem with repotting/slip potting. We already know Km said he almost repotted it into the wooden container. He has my number, and my email' and could have called me direct. Posting here was a way to seek the validation from a crowd that has nothing to lose. If all the posts said repot, he would do so and risk loss with the dramatic weather shift we are now in. I was a voice of reason which he hopefully has listened too.


Giving advice here is not a pissing match for me..no use to get your panties in a bunch. I just happen to live here. The weather was surly on his mind or he would not have included it. We have to read all the words.

Al
 
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