Advice on how much to prune the roots

[brp7]

Hello,

I would like your advice on how much we could dispense with this root system. This is the root of a one-year and 3-month-old Cassia Fistula (Golden shower). It stopped growing after about a year and the trunk was 1.4 inches thick when I repotted it on the ground. As a novice, I had apprehension about pruning more than 10-15 percent of the roots. How much can we dispense off the current volume? The length of the root system is more than 9 inches and it follows the contours of the pot the plant was kept in. It is far too big to be contained in a Bonsai pot.




Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[rockm]

Hello,

I would like your advice on how much we could dispense with this root system. This is the root of a one-year and 3-month-old Cassia Fistula (Golden shower). It stopped growing after about a year and the trunk was 1.4 inches thick when I repotted it on the ground. As a novice, I had apprehension about pruning more than 10-15 percent of the roots. How much can we dispense off the current volume? The length of the root system is more than 9 inches and it follows the contours of the pot the plant was kept in. It is far too big to be contained in a Bonsai pot.


View attachment 576168

Any help is greatly appreciated!

This depends greatly on species, climate and timing. Some species here in the U.S. can have their roots pruned 99 percent if done at the right time of year -early spring

Things are different in climates that don’t have colder weather and that have completely different species of trees. Likely no one outside of your region will be able to give you a useful response beyond the above