JBP Probably did too much rootwork today

[iant]

I repotted this JBP today that I purchased last year. Last year I got it in June so at that time I just slightly loosened the outside of the rootball and slipped it into something a little larger. Unfortunately I only got a little new root growth over the last year as there was an interface issue and the soil I put it in was a little too water retentive.
So this was it's first repotting and unfortunately the roots on one side went straight down and turned under the rootball going the opposite direction. The others went out and then right angled down about 3 inches away from the trunk. Most of those went down a few inches and then turned under the rootball as well.
It's a nice tree that's probably about 12 years old with good bark development but I don't think it had much of any rootwork done it's life.
So today with repotting I think I went farther than I should have with tackling this problem. I should have probably done half of what I did and saved the rest for next year. But I'm a little new still and I probably got a little carried away. I combed roots out and removed a few larger ones that were undercutting the rootball. In the end I left only about a 4 inch cube of the rootball untouched. I didn't cut any of the roots I combed out.
The photo is of the tree after rootwork sitting on a small bed of soil in a 15" Anderson flat before adding soil.
I'm now having post root trimming remorse and thinking there's a good chance this is going to be too much for this tree to handle.
Any thoughts on aggressive repotting of JBP's?
Any advice on infirmary treatment for this pine? I was going to put it in the shade for 3 weeks and water appropriately and hope for the best.
Thanks!
Ian

 

[amkhalid]

It looks like it is very light on roots now, and that pot is way too big for the root mass (will take too long to dry out), but I would be surprised if it dies. The strength of JBP is pretty impressive.

I would not put it in the shade. Maybe partial shade. It needs sun to recover and grow new roots. Misting may or may not help, depending on who you ask.

 

[Dav4]

I agree with amkhalid. It's too late to worry about the roots, so what you need to worry about is aftercare. Over watering will be very easy for this tree in this pot...a smaller pot with great drainage would be better. If you don't have another pot, could you cut pieces styrofoam to place along the edges and effectively reduce the volume of soil? I'm not from CA but I would assume your afternoon sun is very strong...I would protect it from that exposure until it's growing well. maybe full sun until early afternoon. Misting and foliar feeding may or may nor help but you've got nothing to lose. Good luck

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looks way over potted. The roots don't need much room to send out massive top growth. Hopefully you wired it in so it can at least stay still in the pot. If not, you may want to tie the trunk to the pot for a year or so. Also, get it in the sunshine...warmer soil means better growth.

 

[Vance Wood]

With a tree in this condition it probably would have been better to have used a screened planter or a pond basket. Those options over-ride the moisture problem. I have another issue that you should think about: Pines should not be repotted every year, at the most once in three years. They can be slow to develop new roots and disturbing them with this frequency is not such a good idea.

Probably the best thing you can do at this point is make sure the tree does not wiggle around in the pot, this kind of movement can break off new forming roots. Another is make sure you leave it alone for a few years to gain strength. The next time you repot you need to reduce the depth of the root mass, it appears to still have a substantial tap root type formation, probably why it developed vertically in the pot rather than horizontally.

 

[Smoke]

Ouch!



Double ouch!

 

[iant]

Thanks for the advice! I'll move it to a smaller container today and give it AM only sun and hope for the best. I have some 1x5 pine and some 1/8 in galvanized mesh so I'll make a much smaller grow flat for it today.
So if you had a 10y old pine with undercutting rootball would you just leave that part of the rootball alone or try to tackle it over a few repottings? If there's a few years between repottings that's 9 years to improve the roots. I'm not in any rush on these projects as the nature of it is a very long timeline but it would seem nice to improve roots sooner. My guess is patience would be best choice and doing this kind of improvement over a few repottings would probably yield better results. It's just hard to look at a really lame root and leave it....
Ian

 

[mcpesq817]

Looks way over potted. The roots don't need much room to send out massive top growth. Hopefully you wired it in so it can at least stay still in the pot. If not, you may want to tie the trunk to the pot for a year or so. Also, get it in the sunshine...warmer soil means better growth.

That was my reaction as well. I'd stick it in something smaller. A pond basket might be helpful, or even half an Anderson flat.

 

[iant]

Ok so I went for the styrofoam idea. Wow that stuff's messy. It's much more confined now. Hopefully that helps with recovery.
Ian

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Good move. I've done this with collected ponderosa pines with excellent results. Now let it recover for a year or so without even moving it.

 

[amkhalid]

Ahhhh you've got a ton of roots. I've gotten away with more stupid moves A fiver says it survives.

Take care

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Ahhhh you've got a ton of roots. I've gotten away with more stupid moves A fiver says it survives.

Take care

+1 on that...but aftercare will be key.

 

[fore]

Good move. I've done this with collected ponderosa pines with excellent results. Now let it recover for a year or so without even moving it.

Brian, is this true for all first yr. yamadori's, that you should not move them around? Even for better winter protection location?

 

[iant]

All this JBP talk reminded me that I hadn't updated this thread. The tree looks like it survived my heavy root trim! Thank you everyone for your advice.
Here are photos from today.
I'm happy that JBP are pretty tough.

 

[mcpesq817]

Looks like you got nice healthy candles on it. Nice job getting it through last year.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

Looks really strong Ian... good job....

 

[iant]

Thanks!
I'm going to have to decide on what direction to go... These choices are hard because once you make them there you have it. I'm not sure I like the new leader being up where it is (just below the chop.) There's not much curve in that first 8 inches. It has a slight bow at the 4 inch mark so if the front is chosen right then it barely has enough movement to keep it interesting. Then that first whorl would have the first branch. Another option would be to use one of the branches at the bottom whorl as the new leader and give it a more dramatic low curve... Just thinking out loud. If anyone has any thoughts feel free to give advice.
Thanks for the encouragement,
Ian

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looking good, glad your aftercare resulted in a healthy tree. A consideration on the wire holding it in the pot...by fall, it may be a good idea to remove it by cutting it on the bottom and pulling it up through the top if you can do so without disturbing the roots much. I have run into problems girdling a small root ball like that. By fall, it won't be too late, and the roots may still grow more, making it stronger for next spring. For additional stability, you can go around the outside of the pot for another year if necessary.

 

[iant]

Thanks for the wire tip Brian. I'll do that.
Ian

 

[tmmason10]

Looking great, well done. I really like the bark on this tree.