Trident maple repotting timing question

karen82

Mame
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It's kind of a noob question, but since it's specific to a maple, I thought it best to post here.
I live in the northernmost part of zone 5, so last spring, my trident didn't really begin to leaf out until mid-May.
The short version is, I'm trying to wake my Trident up so I can repot it earlier. When we had 2 days in a row above freezing, I dug it up and popped it into my cool greenhouse, where it will stay until the danger of frost is past (another 2 months or so). It's been in the greenhouse for about 4 days, but I wouldn't say it is at the bud swelling stage yet. I plan to do some heavy root pruning, so is it better that I wait until bud swell to repot it?

The longer version is that I wanted to try some root grafts and purchased some seedlings, thinking they would still be dormant and I could keep them in the fridge until the larger trident was ready. But they were already just beginning to leaf out when I got them so I'm in a bit of a hurry to use them. I'm just unsure how to go about this work when the trees are about 2 months off from each other in spring growth.
 

electronfusion

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I'm not super experienced with maples, but have had a few for about a year now. Most have survived. Lol. I think the general advice is to repot while dormant, probably before signs of bud break. Also, if unsure when to repot, it seems like root grafts are several steps more advanced. Maybe try to fuse the seedlings as a separate project?
 

karen82

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I'm not super experienced with maples, but have had a few for about a year now. Most have survived. Lol. I think the general advice is to repot while dormant, probably before signs of bud break. Also, if unsure when to repot, it seems like root grafts are several steps more advanced. Maybe try to fuse the seedlings as a separate project?

Well, I wasn't going to just do a basic repot - I will also probably do quite a bit of root pruning, and my understanding was that if you are doing a lot of root pruning, it's best to wait until the tree is beginning to move some of its carb stores out of the roots so it isn't all lost when the roots are pruned. That was the reason for my being concerned about repotting too early. I know tridents are tough trees, but I'm also not in the ideal climate for them so I want to keep it healthy. That said, it's kind of an ugly thing that I got mostly to practice on while my more climate-appropriate ground growing Amurs (and others) get to a size I can work on.
 

electronfusion

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Hmm. I just realized you're in Wisonsin, where snow is a thing. I have several apple trees that didn't even lose their leaves this winter, and all my deciduous trees are in full spring mode now. So I'm probably in the wrong zone to give you any advice.
 
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I wait until the buds swell and turn green, which is right about now in Oregon. For you it might not be for another few weeks. Even if they start to open a little it's not too late though.
 

Shibui

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I repot tridents any time from mid winter though to leaves opening fully - about 3 month spread. We get some light frost here but the ground does not freeze. I have not seen any problems with root pruning tridents while they are dormant so I think that bit about carb stores may be a fiction.
I often remove significant amounts of roots and when digging trees from the grow beds all roots are cut back to stumps close to the trunk - never any problem.
I would suggest that with your trident in the greenhouse you should not have any problem with earlier root pruning and grafting.
 

WNC Bonsai

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I just repotted my big one a little over a week ago when the buds were swelling and getting ready to pop. I didn’t do much root work, just moved it from a rectangular plastic training pot to an oval ceramic one. I did replace most of the soil though. So far it hasn’t skipped a beat and is pushing leaves and new buds on the trunk like nothing happened. We ae now seeing highs here in the 50s or low 60s during the day and 40s-50s at night. i have always been amazed at hiw vigorous these are.
 
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