When to repot douglas fir

[BonsaiButler]

Hey, been a while now since I've been around. Any one have info on repotting times for douglas fir?
It has been in same pot since collecting 4 years ago.

 

[0soyoung]

After the summer solstice (Aug/Sep) or 'as buds swell' - I do both, but prefer after the ss

 

[BonsaiButler]

After the summer solstice (Aug/Sep) or 'as buds swell' - I do both, but prefer after the ss

Hey oso thanks for the info. Funny you say to repot after solstice, cause the tree was collected in September and recovered fantastically.
just read your thread on experimenting with Douglas Fir, some really good info.

 

[Potawatomi13]

IF done SS should depend if heavy pruning/wiring work done on tree during season. Personally treat as with normal non JBP pines.

 

[BonsaiButler]

IF done SS should depend if heavy pruning/wiring work done on tree during season. Personally treat as with normal non JBP pines.

It hasn't been pruned or wired for a little over a year. It is currently sitting in an old colander so probably going to get put in a training pot this spring. Just to be clear if repotting in spring, wait till shoots extend a little?

 

[0soyoung]

Just to be clear if repotting in spring, wait till shoots extend a little?

No matter, IMHO, just be sure to leave a bud/new-shoot or the branch will be dead.
Douglas fir didn't read Thimann-Skoog - decapitating a branch doesn't induce/release buds. Keep them well supplied, though, and they will produce 2 flushes each season.

 

[wireme]

It hasn't been pruned or wired for a little over a year. It is currently sitting in an old colander so probably going to get put in a training pot this spring. Just to be clear if repotting in spring, wait till shoots extend a little?

I don’t have experience with repotting doug fir after ss but I’ll bet it works well. I have always done mine in spring. I prefer to wait until buds are moving/beginning to elongate. I’ve found it’s hard to tell the difference between live and dead roots if repotted earlier.

 

[wireme]

No matter, IMHO, just be sure to leave a bud/new-shoot or the branch will be dead.
Douglas fir didn't read Thimann-Skoog - decapitating a branch doesn't induce/release buds. Keep them well supplied, though, and they will produce 2 flushes each season.

Mine are better readers than yours?.

I wouldn’t cut back beyond a bud on a branch that I want to keep but I have done that plenty of times when removing a branch in stages and they always pop new buds. I’ve also experimented on small forest trees cutting every bud off the entire thing and the backbudding response is great! Again, I wouldn’t actually do it in practice except for certain circumstances but I’ve gotta disagree with the general statement.

 

[Vance Wood]

Mine are better readers than yours?.

I wouldn’t cut back beyond a bud on a branch that I want to keep but I have done that plenty of times when removing a branch in stages and they always pop new buds. I’ve also experimented on small forest trees cutting every bud off the entire thing and the backbudding response is great! Again, I wouldn’t actually do it in practice except for certain circumstances but I’ve gotta disagree with the general statement.

Until I can get one to do this in a bench situation I would avoid mentions of it. If however you can find how to get one of these do this in a controlled situation you may have found a significant technique.

 

[0soyoung]

Mine are better readers than yours?.

I wouldn’t cut back beyond a bud on a branch that I want to keep but I have done that plenty of times when removing a branch in stages and they always pop new buds. I’ve also experimented on small forest trees cutting every bud off the entire thing and the backbudding response is great! Again, I wouldn’t actually do it in practice except for certain circumstances but I’ve gotta disagree with the general statement.

My 16 or so Douglas firs became, I guess, about 8 years old last year and began producing tons of buds, regardless of what I do or don't, pruning wise. I suppose it could be attributable to my methodology, but cutting back to a bud doesn't seem to pop any new buds in the way spruce do. At least one forestry research paper I read several years ago indicated that epicormic buds have a long age latency (see "The role of epicormic shoot production in maintaining foliage in old Pseudotsuga menziesii trees", for example) which I've interpreted as 'not reading Thimann-Skoog'. I think I've seriously challenged this 'illiteracy' notion, yet is could just be serious confirmation bias on my part.

I tired of being a self-imposed and self-funded graduate student and switched my frame of mind to trying to grow bonsai instead of collect data. Now I wish I had collected bud counts and related data. So it goes ...

 

[Bonsaiguy123]

Hey, been a while now since I've been around. Any one have info on repotting times for douglas fir?
It has been in same pot since collecting 4 years ago.

December-April

 

[Potawatomi13]

Any update on this tree?