ideas for pot on big juniper

[plant nut]

Hello everyone I recently bought this juniper that was originally trained to grow upright and instead had some interesting growth. I have no idea how old the tree is but look forward to working on it. I haven't done anything to the plant yet since I am out of town.

Anyways I am having a hard time deciding on a pot. I have spent a few hours trying to research pot quality and have not found anything useful, so it looks like I will try to find something that isnt extremely cheap but not overly expensive either. Below are some of the pots I was thinking about, some glazed, and different shapes.

The dimensions of the plant are 42" in length and 32" inches in depth for foliage. The height of the tree is 27". there is some curvature in the trunk but it is hardtop see in the pictures. I know the general rule of thumb is roughly 2/3 the height of the plant for rectangular and oval pots, but can it be a little shorter due to the width of the pot?

http://www.hollowcreekbonsai.com/ec...-beige-rectangular-bonsai-pot-16lgas1-1.rhtml

http://www.hollowcreekbonsai.com/ec...ed-beige-rectangular-bonsai-pot-16lgas1.rhtml

http://www.hollowcreekbonsai.com/ec...2-glazed-shallow-oval-bonsai-pot-03-18s.rhtml


http://www.hollowcreekbonsai.com/ec...-finish-exhibition-bonsai-pot-img-0095l.rhtml

http://www.dallasbonsai.com/product-p/p26ba.htm

 

[Vin]

It is going to be nearly impossible to decide on a pot in its current state. Once the tree is styled and has had some time to adjust to that style then a final pot should be considered. I'm not meaning to criticize your tree but it really looks nothing like a bonsai as it is. I would pot it in something that can accommodate its future position/angle and still allow it to maintain vigor. After a year in that pot you can begin working on styling it. The other option would be to leave it in its current pot and work on styling it now. Then in a year or two you can decide on a pot.

 

[plant nut]

It is actually in a big 3-4 gallon nursery pot, I pulled it out to make it easier to see. Thanks for the tips on styling it first. There is quite a bit already planned for being trimmer and cut back. I am hoping the re will be new growth on the bare branches too.

 

[Vin]

It is actually in a big 3-4 gallon nursery pot, I pulled it out to make it easier to see. Thanks for the tips on styling it first. There is quite a bit already planned for being trimmer and cut back. I am hoping the re will be new growth on the bare branches too.

It is a very common practice to just cut the nursery pot down to about a half inch about the soil line and leave them in their nursery pot and do a first styling. Junipers will back bud but its a long and patient process. I'm not sure what kind of Juniper it is but grafting is always an option as well. However, from what I can see you have a lot (foliage) to work with already. Good luck!

 

[sorce]

I was thinking the exact same thing Vin was.

And would add, Especially since the 2 Or 3 you may end up needing for it in the end will likely be quite pricey!
No need to waste money on wrong ones now! I call that, the IKEA furniture syndrome! Lol. Buy One good one, not 100 pieces of crap, or in this case, likely inappropriate pots.

But I'm a tightwad!

One thing for sure....the end pot should be high quality antique.
Looks like a wicked piece of material!
Great growth! Mad options!

Hell Yeah!

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Vin]

It is a very common practice to just cut the nursery pot down to about a half inch about the soil line and leave them in their nursery pot and do a first styling. Junipers will back bud but its a long and patient process. I'm not sure what kind of Juniper it is but grafting is always an option as well. However, from what I can see you have a lot (foliage) to work with already. Good luck!

"above"

 

[Cypress187]

It's a very nice tree.

 

[jk_lewis]

You're putting the pot before the horse. This tree is a LONG way from needing a "bonsai" pot. From what (very) little I can see of the tree, it may be 4-6 years before you even consider what kind of pot you want it to live in.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I see the potential...But, far from a pot. You lose so much by sticking them into a pot to soon. This is a hard thing to learn...but once learned. Very valuable knowledge that goes a long way for the bonsai hobbiest.

 

[Nwaite]

YA! I pity the fo who puts his tree in a pot!.... befor it's ready. ....

 

[justBonsai]

While I agree with what others have said here, I understand your sentiments and eagerness to pot your tree. When I purchased my very first "bonsai tree" my first thought was to hurry and pot it and create a nice composition. That said, trees develop at their own pace and you can only influence its appearance and growth to an extent. I would prioritize refinement and horticulture first. The tree looks pretty developed in regards to trunk and branch size so perhaps you want to work on refinement. When appropriate repot the tree in a free draining "coarse" blend to encourage root and consequently branch ramification. Get it growing strong and have a final design or image you want to work to. If you absolutely want, you could still repot the tree into a bonsai pot and possibly still have it grow healthy and strong but typically trees are potted after its been "finished". In any case its your choice what to do, but given that you've posted on a public forum take into consideration the opinions of others.

 

[plant nut]

Want to say thanks for everyone replying and hope their holiday went well. I have decided to keep with the original plan of cleaning the roots out and reporting with new soil. There are weeds and a live oak I want out and will see if I can save the live oak. Once done I will plan on how I want to shape it. Plant city bonsai in Cleveland Georgia is not far. I will see if I can set up a private one on one lesson with the guy for styling and visualizing the tree and how it MIGHT grow. After that I will prune and leave in the plastic container it's in now. I'm still pretty new to bonsai so I think this route will go well.

Again thanks for everyone's help. If you are curious about how it turns out I can certainly post pictures for everyone to know.

 

[Vin]

Email Steve (pcbonsai@gmail.com) and ask to be added to his email list. He's a great guy and offers classes at the nursery.

 

[plant nut]

Already on the list and contacted him. I bought a juniper and schefflera from him already along with pots. He gave my dad and I a free introduction to bonsai lesson that I think he usually charges at $75. His wife is nice too.

 

[Vin]

After that I will prune and leave in the plastic container it's in now.

Generally speaking, junipers cannot take a repot and prune in one sitting. You may end up killing the tree. The general guideline is one insult per year. I.E. repot this year, prune next year. In my neck of the woods you can get away with one insult every six months if the plant gains enough vigor within that time frame. I dug up a juniper in September 2014 that was posted on Craigslist. It took nearly a year to die. Do what you will but you're going to end up killing a lot of trees if you don't learn the basics.

 

[plant nut]

The reporting wasn't going to be trimming the roots. Strictly cleaning unwanted things out and putting it in deeper soil for more root growth opportunity. Would that still cause too much stress with foliage trimming off-the-wall roots aren't pruned?

 

[Dav4]

The reporting wasn't going to be trimming the roots. Strictly cleaning unwanted things out and putting it in deeper soil for more root growth opportunity. Would that still cause too much stress with foliage trimming off-the-wall roots aren't pruned?

Healthy junipers already adapted to pot culture can be aggressively root pruned and have canopy work done within the same season. With that said, leave your tree alone until next spring...it's not going to do much of anything until then and messing around with it now, when it's about to get cold, isn't a good idea.

 

[plant nut]

OK thanks. I was thinking of letting it sit and figure out more of how I want it to look.