tropical re pot

Attila Soos

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Rick,

My tropicals are overwintered outdoors, except one Fukien tea and one Desert Rose. But the repotting part is the same for all.

Will,

The reason is that I learned from experience. I used to repot them in Spring, along with the temperate species. Then I noticed that the temperate species quickly recovered and started pushing fresh growth, while the tropicals showed no sign of any growth until late summer. So, half of the summer they were under shock and trying to recover. That's because spring and early summer was too cool for them, not warm enough to recover.

Then I learned that tropicals need warmer weather for quick recovery, and therefore they should be repotted in summertime. I changed my schedule accordingly, and now they don't miss a beat year-round.

I re-potted my Fukien tea at the beginning of August, from a nursery pot to a bonsai pot, with significant root reduction and almost complete removal of all branches. Right from the beginning, it is pushing luxuriant growth. It is much better then doing it in the winter.
 
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Basically the same reasons I re-pot in the winter. Again, I have no dramatic slow down of growth at this time, the ptrees all respond well, and most importantly, they are not set back recovering from a re-pot during the best growing time of the year, summer....


I agree that summer re-potting works, you must also agree that my tropicals are doing just fine with winter re-pots...



Will
 

rlist

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Oaky, if someone else is willing to try potting theirs in the winter as well.....

I have half a dozen ficus, all of which have always been 100% indoors, on window ledges, year round. No extra lights, no outdoors. Sometimes when I am feeling nice and the weather is right I will open the window. And a couple times of the year I stick them in the shower for a good bath to rinse the dust. They used to be in a pre-made bonsai soil - similar to cactus soil - and now they are in 50/50 pumice & turface. They are all healthy and happy.

I have always repotted in late winter - basically on your average rainy February afternoon. Why did I start doing it then? I don't really know off the top of my head. I would suspect it started as a I found a Collin Lewis bonsai book in February and started messing with trees in February. Why do I still do it in February? I have found that while the trees grow year round here, they definitely slow during the winter and growth really kicks off again in March. So, I get them repotted before they take off for the year.

Could something else be done? Sure. Have I tried it another way? Nope. Is one of the other ways better? Probably.
 

Attila Soos

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So, this is what's happening:

People who keep their tropicals indoors, can repot any time, including winter (assuming that indoors is heated). That's because the temperatures indoors are always warm enough for speedy recovery.

However, if you keep them outdoors, this will not work for the United States (I am talking about the Southern states, since the Northern ones are obviously out of the question). Outdoor temperatures here in the Southern US are too cool during winter, so you have to do it during summer.

Pretty simple.
 
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Errr...not quite fair Irene, lol.

Seriously though, why change what works perfectly fine already? If it ain't broke, and all that....

Will

How sure are you that it ain't broke? It doesn't even have to be broken if there is a better way. As Boon says, there is a big difference between surviving and thriving.
 

Rydawg

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Attila,

Do your tropicals spend the year outdoors, being from California?
I have a Fukien tea that was bought from Lowes.I have kept it indoors for the whole 4 months I've had it.I also have it under a grow light due to living in an apartment with only west facing patio/windows.I recently tried to repot into tropical bonsai soil and it seems to not be doing to well.It was in organic soil, is it gonna just take time to adapt or I have I done something wrong?
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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I have a Fukien tea that was bought from Lowes.I have kept it indoors for the whole 4 months I've had it.I also have it under a grow light due to living in an apartment with only west facing patio/windows.I recently tried to repot into tropical bonsai soil and it seems to not be doing to well.It was in organic soil, is it gonna just take time to adapt or I have I done something wrong?

You might have to adjust your watering frequency, different soil type might require different frequency of watering. Your finger is the best water meter ever invented, use it.

Give your tree time to adapt.

Photos might help, but my gut feeling is it just needs time.
 

Rydawg

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thanks leo..here is my picture of it.
 

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