Opened buds and repotting

[Krone]

Hey!

I think that my maple is (Acer ginnala) is a couple of days from leafing out. It needs to be re-potted but i didn't get the pots yet (expecting them in a couple of days).
How much riskier is a re-pot if doing it after the bud opening and is it possible to slow down the process a bit?

'Trident maple is best repotted in late winter or early spring. And while most deciduous trees are typically repotted before they leaf out, tridents can be repotted as long as the new leaves are reddish in color. Repotting this late can slow a tree down a bit, but if it’s in otherwise good health, it won’t skip a beat. ' - ref url
Can be this also true for Acer ginnala?

 

[TomB]

It’ll be fine to do it when buds are open. After repotting, make sure you protect the tree from frost.

 

[Shibui]

Those buds are still a way from opening so there's still time. I don't have A, ginnala but I haven't had problems with repotting other deciduous with new shoots starting to open.

 

[sorce]

A repotted early budding Amur died for me and is the reason I'm against repotting trees that bud early.

Unless you are getting paid 1.4 million to Repot, there's no good reason to.

It's

much riskier

To Repot at all.

Sorce

 

[Krone]

So when do you repot the trees that bud early then?

 

[Krone]

I'm panicking a bit, would assume that this counts as 'bud break'?

 

[TomB]

You're still OK, don't panic. Timing looks just about perfect to me in fact. Personally I'd do it fairly soon and protect the tree from frost, but a few more days won't hurt.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Once leaves start unfurling from the buds it is TOO LATE.

There is a second window of time that is relatively good for repotting. I do not know Slovenia's climate, so I can not tell you when the second window of time will be. Late summer or early autumn repotting can be done relatively safely. Key is you wait until night time temperatures begin to regularly drop below 16 C at night (below 60 F). This cooling off at night usually signals a flush of root growth. Vegetative growth will have hardened off. At this time it is usually safe to repot. If you do a lot of root work, you may want to prune back the amount of vegetation to "balance" the water demand on the damaged roots. Alternately, instead of pruning off branches, if leaves wilt after the repotting, selectively remove leave until the remaining leaves regain turgor.

There should be enough autumn remaining that the tree can recover some before winter sets in.

 

[Krone]

The root work won't be major. Would like to repot it into a bit bigger and more stable pot.
At the moment, the tree is planted in weird connical shaped pot that i have trouble wiring it down to the 'floor' and the wind keeps turning it over.

 

[sorce]

Have we established that this is a tree that even needs a Repot?

Sorce

 

[Krone]

Only because of the practial reasons a have stated above....
I live on the 9th floor and it can get really windy. Also i am a bit limited with possible workarounds to try to prevent my tree to turn over and break.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

If your buds are swelling, the time is okay for repotting. Once the leaves begin unfurling, it is normally too late.

It the tree absolutely doomed if you repot after the leaves start unfurling? Of course not, it is possible to have success, it is just that the chances of doing the repot with no damage to the tree rapidly decline. Where you might be 99% successful before leaves unfurl, you might be only 50% chance of being successful after leaves start unfurling.

So which is the bigger risk? Not repotting, and having the tree get repeatedly knocked over, or worse yet, take the 9 stories plunge to the ground below? Or is the risk of damaging the tree greater than the risk of falling over? It is up to you to decide.

If you repot after leaves begin unfurling, maybe you will have damage, maybe you won't, a lot depends on the weather afterward too. Cool damp weather without much wind would be ideal, a hot dry, sunny spell would be bad.

You take your chances.
Given your description, I might be tempted to go ahead and repot.

 

[Krone]

Are my leafes unfurling? Sorry for all the noob questions.
Also, at this time of year, i have my trees on the balcony which is covered with roof and both, left and right sides have walls. If i repot this one, i planned to move it towards the wall of the apartment and cover the pot with some protective layer.
And the forecast for the next two weeks that the temperatures shouldn't drop bellow 0, -1C.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Those leaf like things are the bud scales, they are what was under the hard brown bud scales, the true leaves will be next. Probably a few days to a week from now.

Acer ginnala is very frost hardy. If you get your potting done within the next week, you should be okay.

If you are later than next week, it will become risky. The tree will live, but you might have some die back. It is unlikely you will completely loose the tree.

But sooner you can repot, the better.

 

[leatherback]

I am not sure why people get so nervous about the exact repot timing. ONly very few species are really sensitive to the timing, in my experience. I have not found maples to be in that group?

 

[0soyoung]

I think this is an opportunity to cut it back --> cut back to a visible bud and set up the structure of your tree for this coming season. If the tip buds are again opening and you're not ready to repot, cut again. It will buy you a bit of time (and maybe force you to do what you've maybe been reluctant to do to make an interesting tree ).


A simple rule is

• do not repot when new growth is extending OR conversely, only when the flush has hardened.

Once leafed out,

• root recovery (growth) is faster after the summer solstice than before

Maples loose significant amounts of water through their leaves, even when the stomata are closed. So the added problem with summer and early fall repotting is preventing desiccation. This means

1. keeping the tree in shade after repotting
2. maybe sprinkling the foliage periodically, especially during the afternoon time of daily high temperature ( = minimum rH)
3. moderation in the root work

Note that defoliation really isn't an option because photosynthesis is required to grow new roots. Summer/fall repotting is good because the tree has a canopy of new, highly productive foliage to power regrowth (auxin and carbohydrate).

Spring 'as buds break' is magical, but one can overdo root work and kill the tree as surely as during the 'scary' times of the year.

 

[RKatzin]

If you have enough trees the question really becomes redundant. I can never get all repotting done in the 'ideal' time. I follow osoyoung's line of thinking. Get as much done before bud break. Do something else during leaf out and extension. Once the leaves harden off I get back to repotting through July. An added benefit of being at 3000' ft. is it's always cooler and even chilly in the shade. I do very little through August until it begins to cool off in September and I'll have fair weather through November and I'll do a couple of late calls. There, I've worked through about half what needed or could've been repotted and we'll pick it up in the spring. And the beat goes on.

 

[Krone]

Thanks for all the insight and tips guys. Will go forward with the repot today. After the repot i will move the tree out of the wind and sun and i will protect the roots from freezing with insulation.
Wish me luck!

 

[Mikecheck123]

Once leaves start unfurling from the buds it is TOO LATE.

Leo, what's the scientific explanation for this? In my limited understanding, you'd think that the tree still has plenty of stored energy to grow roots before fully leafing out. Thanks.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Leo, what's the scientific explanation for this? In my limited understanding, you'd think that the tree still has plenty of stored energy to grow roots before fully leafing out. Thanks.

It takes a lot of water to unfurl leaves, and cause leaves to expand. Part of the expansion of leaves is rapid growing of the cells in the leaves, which means stored sugars are needed. If a tree was pulling in through the roots a hypothetical amount of water while dormant, I don't know actual numbers, but say during winter you are watering a tree every 2 or 3 weeks, because that is all the water it was using. Call that amount x then as spring comes, when the leaves start to open you suddenly may have to water the tree daily, water demand has risen to 14 x, or something like that. When you repot you damage the root systems ability to move water. If leaves have already begun unfurling, this can cause them to wilt, or even die back. This means you can even loose branches.

If you repot before the tree begins unfurling leaves, the tree will stall opening buds. It will only open the buds it has sufficient water to open. It is not unusual for trees repotted just before bud break or early in bud break, to not leaf out until a month after its neighbors that were not repotted. The tree will only open what it can support. But by repotting earlier, you don't loose branches

Perfect time to repot is when those brown buds have expanded just enough that you begin to see a green pattern of fine green lines outlining the bud scales. This is when the buds are just expanding but have not opened at all.
Make sense?

Amur maples are rugged trees. It will probably survive, you might not loose much, no matter when you repot. But some of the Japanese maples are really touchy, and repotting late can kill Japanese maples and other tender deciduous trees.