Emergency repot

[Chris88bull]

Hi all !

I'm based in the uk and had a Japanese maple shipped to me today , the sender didn't really seal / package the tree very well at all and then used a pretty useless courrier service .

Basically so much soil was out the pot and the tree had completely shifted in the pot , wasn't wired in and was in horrible organic mix . I'm aware you shouldn't really repot in June in the uk but I didn't know what else to do . It was in such bad condition.

When I lifted the tree it came away from the soil ( was heavy fine organic mix ) I didn't use any of the old mix and I was super gentle and wired the tree back in and planted it in pure akadama with pumice at the base , for it to breathe a little more . I thought this would help speed up root growth as such a bad time of year for repot ?.

I'm just asking for reassurance haha and maybe that others have pulled this off ?and that how quick to know it pulled through ? I figure it is doable just not recommended . I also live with a balcony so can control the water and will be very sparing with it . Sounds odd but should I remove some of the foliage ? It lost some fine roots in the process of it moving so much in the container . Any help would be much appreciated thank you

 

[RODERLO]

My concern is also that the fine roots may have sustained invisible damage due to shifting so much in transport.

Repotting in summer is possible with the correct aftercare.
Keep it out of the sun and wind.
Water only when the soil is just slightly moist (balance of water and oxygen). Use your wooden skewer to verify when watering is needed.
Do not mist the leaves, counter to what you may hear. It will only invoke fungal issues, because you're keeping it out of wind and sun (too little ventilation)

Optionally, you could defoliate the whole tree to really relieve the roots from having to supply the leaves.

 

[Chris88bull]

I thought this about defoliating , the fine roots where definitely damaged in transit . When I took the tree out it was mainly secondary roots there where a handful that had white tips . When I cleaned the pot there where a few at the bottom of the pot but to be honest didn't seem like a lot of root growth anyway ? Should I just do some defoliating not all ? As don't want to risk no second growth

Thanks for your speedy reply also

 

[gooeytek]

You did the right thing, and I echo @RODERLO 's advice to keep it out of the sun and wind while it recovers. As far as defoliating, I would probably just remove some of the large leaves and the ones with the dried tips, and keep it well protected from direct sunlight.

 

[rockm]

You did fine. Tree should be fine --don't defoliate. Leave in a semi-shaded spot keep it watered--but not soggy. Complain to the seller about shoddy shipping. There's NO excuse for that shit. Easy to simply wrap the pot and soil in bubble wrap and then packing tape wrapped around tightly. Not hard to do, not expensive. I'd avoid this seller in the future.

 

[Chris88bull]

Thanks , it's in a semi shaded spot gets sun for a couple hours a day , I have defoliated most of the tree tho but hopefully will be ok , I feel I'm quite good at managing water oxygen levels on my trees as like I say live under a balcony and has a big help . Tbh the seller has been super helpful and has offered a refund if the tree doesn't pull through .

Does anyone know roughly when I'll know I'm out the woods so to speak ? I guess new growth ? Or holding foliage until normal leaf drop ?

Thanks

 

[rockm]

Thanks , it's in a semi shaded spot gets sun for a couple hours a day , I have defoliated most of the tree tho but hopefully will be ok , I feel I'm quite good at managing water oxygen levels on my trees as like I say live under a balcony and has a big help . Tbh the seller has been super helpful and has offered a refund if the tree doesn't pull through .

Does anyone know roughly when I'll know I'm out the woods so to speak ? I guess new growth ? Or holding foliage until normal leaf drop ?

Thanks

You may have put yourself deeper into the woods, I'm afraid. Wasn't necessary to defoliate. keep your fingers crossed. Likely will know something when new growth pushes in a couple of weeks. Will definitely know next spring...

 

[Paradox]

Yea the last time I partially defoliated a Japanese maple, it didnt make it and it didnt have all the problems this one had with getting shifted out of its pot

 

[Chris88bull]

Ok thanks , I mean defoliation is a pretty common practise and I've done it on other maples .it makes sense to defoliate if you don't have the roots to give energy to the foliage hence why you just leave a little .

 

[RoadManDenDron]

Was this from a reputable bonsai store or a private seller?

 

[Chris88bull]

It was from a private sale ( eBay )

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Hmm…. So sorry about the issues with the tree.

Let’s think this one through from the tree’s perspective.

Poor transport leading to bareroot repot in summer with a maple provides a strain on the tree’s physiology. Possibly not huge, depending upon original time in transport and damage enroute, with care through the horticultural process upon arrival.

The time and transport one can’t do anything about. Seems care during repotting was fine. Afterwards the roots would need to provide water and inorganic nutrients to the leaves… that’s the reason why folks recommended keeping the tree in open shade or semi shade until recovery. It was to reduce the water needs on the roots due to the leaves transpiration demand.

The tree’s leaves at this time of the year trigger and fuel the root growth. Defoliating in addition, takes away this trigger and the fuel. This is the reason why professionals only recommend defoliation on robust and healthy trees… and not every year. (In our workshop defoliation is a suspect operation, better done with good horticultural practices.)

The tree is now in survival mode, requiring extra resources from the roots and (any left in the trunk from the spring push) to create, push and sustain new leaves. To push the leaves, a tree need much more water than normal. This puts a further strain on the roots until the leaves are hardened off at which point the balance of energy begins to go from negative to positive.

Enough said.

In the meantime the tree will not need much water. Akadama is essentially a water holding media. As a result, it might be a good idea to chock up one side of the container so the media drains especially well and also keep the tree in open shade until the leaves are well on their way to hardening off.

Good Luck

DSD sends

 

[River's Edge]

I mean defoliation is a pretty common practise and I've done it on other maples .it makes sense to defoliate if you don't have the roots to give energy

The "energy" as you use the term comes from photosynthesis in the leaves. The roots carry water and nutrients to the leaves. Some storage in the dormant period to begin spring growth, but that has already happened this year. Most of the storage will be depleted. important to clarify the effect of defloliation. The primary effect weakens the tree and the next set of leaves or buds are weaker. The opposite of what was required in this situation.
The tree may survive in spite of this step but the likelihood is lower.
Same perspective as DSD just different wording. Some thongs bear repeating.

 

[rockm]

Ok thanks , I mean defoliation is a pretty common practise and I've done it on other maples .it makes sense to defoliate if you don't have the roots to give energy to the foliage hence why you just leave a little .

As said, it's common for very healthy maples in training as a means to increase ramification. It isn't done on newly repotted trees or on trees in stressed or weakened condition. It is very stressful for the tree to produce an entire new crop of leaves.

 

[Chris88bull]

Tha

The "energy" as you use the term comes from photosynthesis in the leaves. The roots carry water and nutrients to the leaves. Some storage in the dormant period to begin spring growth, but that has already happened this year. Most of the storage will be depleted. important to clarify the effect of defloliation. The primary effect weakens the tree and the next set of leaves or buds are weaker. The opposite of what was required in this situation.
The tree may survive in spite of this step but the likelihood is lower.
Same perspective as DSD just different wording. Some thongs bear repeating.

thank you this is really helpful . I guess now I just wait .

 

[Shibui]

I have deliberately root pruned trident maples in mid summer just to see what the outcome is under various aftercare. In most cases root reduction was quite harsh.
With leaves left intact I have usually seen the tree shed most or all leaves. I guess this is a survival strategy to minimise water use until it can recover. After 2-4 weeks new shoots begin to emerge in all but a few cases.
Trees that were pruned or defoliated at the same time as root pruning seemed to recover a bit quicker.
There was little difference in outcomes for trees placed right back on the benches and trees placed in shade.
Survival rates in all classes was similar in my trials.
I am not advocating summer repotting for maples. Just pointing out that there appears to be little difference no matter what we do after and that the vast majority of trees can overcome some summer root reduction/ soil displacement.

Given this tree has only had a relatively small amount of root removed/broken I suspect it should recover relatively quickly. Fingers crossed.

Looking at the before pic it does not look too bad from here. My guess is that the tree has not been in that pot for long enough for the roots to fill the pot enough to provide stability. Some soil has certainly shifted but I've seen far worse.

 

[Chris88bull]

Thanks for this reply it's very useful !

I'd agree totally , there really wasn't a lot of root in the first place when I emptied the pot . It ended in being kind of bare rooted due to like I said earlier , the soil just falling away ( this would add to the fact it hadn't put on much growth root wise ) all the soil was changed to akadama and pumice on the base for more oxygen ( hopefully )
I will post again when there's an update