Repot- how long till I fertilize?

[Danial son]

Hi,
I have a Chinese Elm that I recently repotted and I was wondering how long should I wait until I use the liquid fertilizer I normally use on the tree?

I use Dyna Grow Bonsai Pro 7-9-5.

When I repotted I used a mixture of organic soil, Akadama, pumice, and lava rock on the bottom for drainage. I did some trimming of the roots to promote new growth as well.

Repotted 9/17/2017 and today is 9/26/2017.

Thanks for any help you can give me

 

[Anthony]

We do about a month later, at 1'/3 strength [ 12 N ... ] into moist soil once a week.
After the repotting, the tree is left in bright light [ morning sun is okay or dappled
light as well ] for a week.
Then back into normal light.

Remember Tropics here.

Are you at the refining stage of your tree or working towards trunk thickening ?
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Stan Kengai]

With chemical fertilizers, it's advisable to wait at least 2 weeks. However, organics can be applied immediately.

 

[Zach Smith]

I use a time-release and put it on immediately. Never have a problem.

 

[M. Frary]

I hit them next go round. If it's that day they get a dose. If it's a whole week they get to wait.
I use the miracle grow.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi,
I have a Chinese Elm that I recently repotted and I was wondering how long should I wait until I use the liquid fertilizer I normally use on the tree?

I use Dyna Grow Bonsai Pro 7-9-5.

When I repotted I used a mixture of organic soil, Akadama, pumice, and lava rock on the bottom for drainage. I did some trimming of the roots to promote new growth as well.

Repotted 9/17/2017 and today is 9/26/2017.

Thanks for any help you can give me

Hi Daniel son,
Here is my 2 cents worth. It is very similar to others.
My opinion is based on Horticulture experience and a wee bit of logic.
When someone does a root prune of Bonsai they cut off between 1/3 to 2/3 of the trees roots. But the tree still has roots left.
And in a well developed Bonsai I guess ( as I don't have many) there would be plenty of the feeder roots but these skinny roots do all the heavy lifting of nutrients as the big fatter ones only really carry water.
So feed straight away is my best answer because you have some roots left that would like the feed.
My opinion is that there seems to be a understanding out there that you don't feed after repotting but in my world this is a myth as growing roots equals a stronger tree ( the end etc).
Charles

 

[Danial son]

We do about a month later, at 1'/3 strength [ 12 N ... ] into moist soil once a week.
After the repotting, the tree is left in bright light [ morning sun is okay or dappled
light as well ] for a week.
Then back into normal light.

Remember Tropics here.

Are you at the refining stage of your tree or working towards trunk thickening ?
Good Day
Anthony

I would like to get a thicker trunk and the soil the tree came in was not very good imo. Thanks for the info!

 

[Danial son]

Thank you everyone for the replies!

 

[Zach Smith]

I would like to get a thicker trunk and the soil the tree came in was not very good imo. Thanks for the info!

Thicker trunk and repotting probably don't go together, unless you put the tree in a very large pot. Thicker trunk = ground or large tub growing. Bonsai pot = trunk remaining about the same thickness forever. For what it's worth.

 

[rockm]

FWIW, I'd also skip the special bonsai fertilizer if you're planning on developing the trunk. That low NPK is meant to control growth, not push it. You want the plant to grow with no intervention for a while (like three or four years) to get any appreciable trunk thickening. As Zach said, that growth isn't going to happen in a small bonsai container.

Additionally, you don't have your location listed--your climate will determine what is possible here and what isn't--for instance, repotting now in most locations in temperate North America is not really an ideal thing to do.

 

[Anthony]

Place in colander ------ for surface roots look up growing on a tile in a colander.
When the tree has mastered the colander [ filled with roots]
Place in prepared ground, decide on trunk diameter and first 6 branches.
Also shape of tree.

Thanks guys for the ground growing bit, getting tired of repeating over and over.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[BigBen]

I went the "Slip-Potting" route this past weekend, with a bunch of my trees. I put them in much larger pots then they were in, and into totally organic soil. The new pots are wider and not overly deep, aiming for a wider root spread.
They're all still basically raw material at this point, and I did do some very light branch/shoot pruning a couple of months ago but left the roots alone.
I'm aiming to also thicken their trunks a bit so I'm letting them grow, but not letting them get out of hand.

I fed them a little Triple Phosphate and a low dose of Beastie Bloomz, to promote bottom growth.
Hopefully that'll help them.

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Newbie here so read with a grain of salt.

Plants are autotrophs, meaning they produce their own food via photosynthesis. No fertilization is needed for this. Only light, water, co2 and o2.

As such, what makes sense in my mind is to fertilize only when the plant is actively growing. This will provide plants a few elements that are needed for growth. It doesn't matter if reported, old or developing.

My two cents

 

[rockm]

Newbie here so read with a grain of salt.

Plants are autotrophs, meaning they produce their own food via photosynthesis. No fertilization is needed for this. Only light, water, co2 and o2.

As such, what makes sense in my mind is to fertilize only when the plant is actively growing. This will provide plants a few elements that are needed for growth. It doesn't matter if reported, old or developing.

My two cents

I kind of does matter the amount of fertilizer bonsai get. There are big differences in applying fertilizer to an already-developed bonsai and one that needs gross development. Applying the same higher dose of say a high N fertilizer meant for a developing bonsai in a large growing container to a developed tree that's been a bonsai for three decades will ruin the fine detail that tree has developed...

 

[Anthony]

Thanks @Gustavo Martins

What the term means -

http://byjus.com/biology/autotrophic-nutrition/

Why you need fertiliser ? -

http://resources.hwb.wales.gov.uk/VTC/env-sci/w22_id_auto.htm

Just scroll down

• "These obey the law of limiting factors. If a factor is in short supply, increasing it will speed up reaction rate. If the rate is being limited by some other factor, however, increasing a factor already present in excess makes no difference."

Good Day
Anthony

 

[Gustavo Martins]

I kind of does matter the amount of fertilizer bonsai get. There are big differences in applying fertilizer to an already-developed bonsai and one that needs gross development. Applying the same higher dose of say a high N fertilizer meant for a developing bonsai in a large growing container to a developed tree that's been a bonsai for three decades will ruin the fine detail that tree has developed...

True. But this does not contradict what I just said does it? In other words, when the plant is actively growing, whether or not you fertilize will have an effect (e.g. on growth rate). However, fertilizing when the plant is not actively growing, is not going to do anything for the tree is it? Otherwise, people would fertilize in winter when most trees stopped growing.

As directly related to the question:
It may actually be good to fertilize to some extent, albeit at a slower rate, after repot. The rationale is that, if done timely, repotting should be done at the start of the growing season. The reason I suggest fertilizing at smaller than regular dose is because repotting is usually associated with root pruning as well. this will reduce the amount of nutrients (and water) that can be uptaken and the excess of nutrients may actually deter the ability of plants to uptake water (obviously there's also the school of thought that one can fertilize substantial amounts with modern soils and water regimes - but this is a waste of nutrients that runoffs into the environment).

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Thanks @Gustavo Martins

What the term means -

http://byjus.com/biology/autotrophic-nutrition/

Why you need fertiliser ? -

http://resources.hwb.wales.gov.uk/VTC/env-sci/w22_id_auto.htm

Just scroll down

• "These obey the law of limiting factors. If a factor is in short supply, increasing it will speed up reaction rate. If the rate is being limited by some other factor, however, increasing a factor already present in excess makes no difference."

Good Day
Anthony

I am well aware of Liebig's law of the minimum. That's actually the rationale for withholding the amount of fertilization in well-developed trees: using nutrients as the limiting factor. For instance, Mg is essential for the construction of chlorophyll. Hence, cutting back on the supply of Mg will affect the ability of plants to build chlorophyll and hence photosynthesis = lower growth rates. In theory, we could also limit growth of mature bonsai by controlling the amount of light (keeping light levels just above the compensation point) or CO2, but these would be technical challenging (the latter) and may also have side-effects (e.g. production of larger leaves to compensate lack of light).

Anyways, this is just me thinking out loud and does not affect what I said above... me thinks

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Having said the above, I may test the effects of fertilization in the future. I just need to get a bunch of plants, plant them in inorganic soil and fertilize some, but not others. I can then measure photosynthetic rate (I have access to a PAM in my lab). If I ever do this, I will post the results.

 

[Danial son]

I repotted in a 11" deep by 10" round pot. I am in Cental FL. I will put my location in my info/avatar for future reference. Thanks for all the replies!

 

[Mellow Mullet]

It does not matter, the tree will use what it needs. The next day after repotting is fine. There is no magic make up, 20-20-20, like Miracle Grow is fine. The tree will take what it needs. There is no secret or mystery to fertilization, just give your tree a balanced base with micro-nutrients and you will be ok.