dwarf scots pine 1 repot - progression post -please criticise

[Manbris]

Hi!

I have a few dwarf scots pines- got it last fall. My plan is to progress these into bonsai in years ahead. No timeline in mind- can wait. This is one of them. Today I did HBR. Any feedback/criticism would be greatly appreciated.

it was put into a growth bag with pine bark, perlite, some garden soil and its old soil. I struggled to fill the bag as there was no structure. Hopefully it will be ok.

Maybe I will just put back into its old plastic container for others? With the new mix.

My aim is to get them strong roots then reduce pots and styling.

Thanks!

 

[bwaynef]

The HBR process involves finding the nebari, then you can cut off any depth that isn't necessary. After that, you literally remove all the soil from half of the rootball until you're halfway under the trunk. Unless there is a particularly weak side, just start with the front half.

Following the removal of the front half of soil (or whichever side), you then treat the other half of the rootball to a normal repotting procedure. Create space on the edges, remove long leggy roots, reposition roots as necessary. Create a slight slow away from the trunk.

Prepare the pot you're going to put the tree into. Mesh in holes, wire for tying in, aeration/drainage layer of soil, then a small mound of soil. Settle the tree into the mound and squish it around a little bit. Make sure the placement and angle are what you're aiming for. (It will shift a bit during this process so you'll need to constantly check.) Add soil and chopstick it into the HBR side lightly. Check angle/placement again before you tie the tree in place. (You can't really tie it in place until you've added soil to the HBR side.) Continue adding soil and chopstick it in place. Grip the nebari with your thumb and index finger, press down on the nebari with your finger and tap the sides of the pot. Level the soil (adding or removing as necessary) and tamp it in place. Using a grow bag will complicate things a bit. It will probably make it more difficult to tie it in, tapping the sides will be unnecessary, and I'm not sure how effective tamping the soil would be.


You seem to have found the nebari, but you didn't go far enough in cleaning away the soil to the trunk. In 4902, you should see a line beneath the trunk w/ soil on the right and no soil on the left. You also left more depth than is necessary. The biggest issues though, is that you're not getting the soil out from under the trunk. Presumably when you do this again without an improvement in technique, you will have old soil sitting under the trunk, and not able to take advantage of the health improvements we often see when transitioning nursery stock into better soil

 

[bwaynef]

These aren’t the best pictures, but they’re from 2 Half Bareroot repots I did on shimpaku junipers in Boon’s garage in January. I think you can see how much was removed from the bottom, and how I removed all of the soil up to the trunk including below the trunk. (3817-3819 are one tree. 3737-3740 are another.)

 

[Manbris]

The HBR process involves finding the nebari, then you can cut off any depth that isn't necessary. After that, you literally remove all the soil from half of the rootball until you're halfway under the trunk. Unless there is a particularly weak side, just start with the front half.

Following the removal of the front half of soil (or whichever side), you then treat the other half of the rootball to a normal repotting procedure. Create space on the edges, remove long leggy roots, reposition roots as necessary. Create a slight slow away from the trunk.

Prepare the pot you're going to put the tree into. Mesh in holes, wire for tying in, aeration/drainage layer of soil, then a small mound of soil. Settle the tree into the mound and squish it around a little bit. Make sure the placement and angle are what you're aiming for. (It will shift a bit during this process so you'll need to constantly check.) Add soil and chopstick it into the HBR side lightly. Check angle/placement again before you tie the tree in place. (You can't really tie it in place until you've added soil to the HBR side.) Continue adding soil and chopstick it in place. Grip the nebari with your thumb and index finger, press down on the nebari with your finger and tap the sides of the pot. Level the soil (adding or removing as necessary) and tamp it in place. Using a grow bag will complicate things a bit. It will probably make it more difficult to tie it in, tapping the sides will be unnecessary, and I'm not sure how effective tamping the soil would be.


You seem to have found the nebari, but you didn't go far enough in cleaning away the soil to the trunk. In 4902, you should see a line beneath the trunk w/ soil on the right and no soil on the left. You also left more depth than is necessary. The biggest issues though, is that you're not getting the soil out from under the trunk. Presumably when you do this again without an improvement in technique, you will have old soil sitting under the trunk, and not able to take advantage of the health improvements we often see when transitioning nursery stock into better soil

Thanks so much- this is great! OK - will bear that in mind.

The tree in previous nursery can was quite happy -I do not have a smaller plastic container only grown bags. Any reason to not use grow bags just use previous cans with new soil mix maybe extra lava rock?

 

[bwaynef]

If you’re able to get the tree stabilized in the grow bag, feel free to use it.

 

[Shibui]

This time you have gone much closer to HBR than the previous one. Confidence is increasing which is great.
It also appears the real nebari is more accessible in this tree. As already mentioned, finding the nebari may involve cutting or totally removing a few (or more) smaller roots that may have emerged from the trunk or grown up from below.
Grow bags are perfectly good for the purpose but trees will also develop well in ordinary nursery pots. The final job appears good so you must have worked out how to hold the bag and pack soil. I suspect you will gradually develop technique to manage the floppy grow bags.

 

[RoadManDenDron]

Since this is your second one and you are asking for criticism,

I wanted to say on the last one but held off, though it seems like you have quite a few more lined up

It still seems early to me to be repotting pines, maybe save a couple for a little later and see how they respond compared to these

 

[Shibui]

It still seems early to me to be repotting pines

While I obviously have no experience of repotting pines anywhere in the UK, I can report that down here we have experienced growers who successfully repot pines from mid winter through to mid Spring, however mid winter for us means night temps just below freezing a couple of days each week. From a growing season perspective that would range from 4-6 weeks before start of growth through to candles half opened. my preference for repotting pines is different from some other growers but we all seem to be equally successful.

UK is a relatively small country but Yorkshire is a fair way north in UK. Is the UK climate sufficiently variable to make timing different from place to place and how would that affect timing?

What time of year do you recommend repotting pines in the UK, which part of UK is that recommendation applicable to and is your recommendation a personal preference or are you aware of it being more widely accepted?

 

[Manbris]

This time you have gone much closer to HBR than the previous one. Confidence is increasing which is great.
It also appears the real nebari is more accessible in this tree. As already mentioned, finding the nebari may involve cutting or totally removing a few (or more) smaller roots that may have emerged from the trunk or grown up from below.
Grow bags are perfectly good for the purpose but trees will also develop well in ordinary nursery pots. The final job appears good so you must have worked out how to hold the bag and pack soil. I suspect you will gradually develop technique to manage the floppy grow bags.

Thanks so much Shibui. This is great to know.

OK- I find a slight wider grow bags so should help. To achieve stability, I would need to compact/compress the soil mix a bit around the edges using a small garden fork. Would this be an issue?

 

[Manbris]

Since this is your second one and you are asking for criticism,

I wanted to say on the last one but held off, though it seems like you have quite a few more lined up

It still seems early to me to be repotting pines, maybe save a couple for a little later and see how they respond compared to these

Thank you! I have been thinking about it- the left ones are dwarf scots pines now- I thought they might be more tolerant to repotting time.

Here are some pics on new growth tips- I think they are moving? or should I wait for longer? the weather looks good- not too cold or warm- for 2 weeks near me 8).

Will post pics below from my phone-...

 

[Manbris]

Except for last three, these are pics for 4 different dwarf Scots pine - probably buvernansis. Last three are JWP, JBP and a maple to just to show stage of growth reason near me.

Can I go ahead with repotting or worth to wait? What would you do?

 

[Shibui]

To achieve stability, I would need to compact/compress the soil mix a bit around the edges using a small garden fork. Would this be an issue?

Moderate compacting should not be any problem but I would not try compressing with something as heavy as a large car or tractor. Garden fork no problem.

 

[Paradox]

Except for last three, these are pics for 4 different dwarf Scots pine - probably buvernansis. Last three are JWP, JBP and a maple to just to show stage of growth reason near me.

Can I go ahead with repotting or worth to wait? What would you do?

The buds look like they are swelling on them. It's time to repot. That maple needs to be done now it it's one you're planning on.

 

[Manbris]

The buds look like they are swelling on them. It's time to repot. That maple needs to be done now it it's one you're planning on.

Thank you! The maple is in the ground