Just to check it off the list, I decided to take a look at the roots since I didn’t do much work to them besides some cutback last spring. I am really glad I did, because I think I found out what was the issue. Even though it was in a very large container, there was very little growth once I dug it out. The feeder roots were few and far between, and they were thick, dead roots that occupied much of the space.
Once I cleaned everything out, you can see how few feeder roots were actually there!
I repotted it in a coarser mix, and re-planted it in Anderson flat so it could get maximum oxygen, and drainage for root development. Since there were so few heavy roots to wire, I screwed a stainless steel screw through the bottom of the flat and into the base of the tree. There was still a good amount of foliage left on the tree after I pruned off the dead stuff, I hope it bounces back!!! ? This is not a particularly expensive tree, but I still like this lil’ Shohin!