advice on repotting pyracantha please

peterb · Post by **peterb** » May 24th, 2015, 4:39 am

Hi all
I was given a pyracantha that isn't looking it's healthiest. My guess is that it needs repotting, however the central soil around the trunk and rootball appears to be old organic soil ( i think the original soil ) this is surrounded by diatomite. The questions I have are 1 when is the best time to repot ( i live in adelaide ) 2 can I bare root to remove this old soil 3 how much root can i cut off and 4 what sort of after care should I give. Thanks for any advice
kind regards
peterb

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » May 24th, 2015, 8:17 am

Harry from Bonsai for me suggests every 2 years as they don't like root disturbance - probably why the original dirt is still close to the centre...
But I don't have any personal experience with this tree!

Cheers
Elmar

Bonsaiboy- http://www.bonsaiboy.com/cgi-bonsaiboy/ ... 25c6271971

Bonsai society of Sth Aust. - http://www.bonsai-southern-tasmania.org ... ethorn.php

And a Bonsai care sheet (opens in iBooks) - http://www.bonsaitoolchest.com/download/firethorn.pdf

peterb · Post by **peterb** » May 24th, 2015, 9:23 am

Hi elmar
This tree is 15 years old and i think it's still the original soil and i think it's been 4 years since last repot
Regards
Peterb

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » May 24th, 2015, 9:42 am

Wow, well what I've read (NB: I don't have experience!!!) it states that only about a quarter can be safely removed.
With some other trees that don't like root disturbances, it has been posted (here on AusBonsai) they suggest taking out pieces (like a pizza/pie piece) close to the stem to remove the old soil that you are concerned about.
That way three quarters remains steady undisturbed while you get to slowly remove the soil of concern.

I got captured by all the information above and just posted the three most relevant but they all say the same thing - careful when disturbing the root ball!

Have you lifted it from the pot yet to see what's underneath?

Cheers
Elmar

Post by **kcpoole** » May 24th, 2015, 10:05 am

I have a few and do no treat them any different than other trees.

Repot in the cooler months or spring. Quite happy to bare root them if neded to clear out the gunk from the roots

here is my Comp tree thread viewtopic.php?f=148&t=14754&start=15
and note the original box they were in. This was full of rubbish soil where the person that collected them shoved them all in a box and tossed in a shovel of dirt.

They were al pulled out of the box and all the old dirt removed and repotted into Diatomite mix. All had very poor roots orginalyy and are now growign well.

Ken

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » May 24th, 2015, 11:07 am

Thanx Ken,
I wasn't happy to give advice, merely shared what I've read.

Your thread - they don't seem to have thorns on them. Did you remove them or am I looking at a different species?

I'm asking because we just happened to see some in the nursery section of our local hardware store and they were thorny like nobodies business!

Cheers
Elmar

Post by **kcpoole** » May 24th, 2015, 12:04 pm

CoGRedeMptioN wrote:Thanx Ken,
I wasn't happy to give advice, merely shared what I've read.

Your thread - they don't seem to have thorns on them. Did you remove them or am I looking at a different species?

I'm asking because we just happened to see some in the nursery section of our local hardware store and they were thorny like nobodies business!

Cheers
Elmar

It gets thorns, but not many and i just get them off.
they were collected from a Landcare bush cleanup in Beecorft, so have no idea of variety. They have not flowered or produced berries yet, but believe they are red ones.

Ken

matty-j · Post by **matty-j** » May 24th, 2015, 12:32 pm

My experience with Pyracantha is limited, here is a thread on the progression for one of mine viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12986 .
Mine has not put on any significant growth since the repot, but I am hoping when spring rolls around it will gain its vigour back.
I think this is due to the time of year that i repotted in, I believe early spring when it starts to put on new growth would be a much better time. if you are going to bare root, my advice would be to not root prune if you can avoid it. Thats my

post up a progression of what you do, I will be keen to see what you decide on doing!

Cheers
Matt

treeman · Post by **treeman** » May 24th, 2015, 2:06 pm

peterb wrote:Hi all
I was given a pyracantha that isn't looking it's healthiest. My guess is that it needs repotting, however the central soil around the trunk and rootball appears to be old organic soil ( i think the original soil ) this is surrounded by diatomite. The questions I have are 1 when is the best time to repot ( i live in adelaide ) 2 can I bare root to remove this old soil 3 how much root can i cut off and 4 what sort of after care should I give. Thanks for any advice
kind regards
peterb

There is no problem with bare rooting these. In late winter, remove all the soil you can with a hook and wash the rest off with higher pressure water (fingers on hose) until every tiny scrap of soil is gone. Then trim the roos well (leave plenty of fine roots) and pot up. It will explode later in spring/summer. Feed well too!

shibui · Post by **shibui** » May 24th, 2015, 5:52 pm

I also have no problem with removing all the soil an quite a lot of roots.

hard1all · Post by **hard1all** » May 24th, 2015, 6:22 pm

Pyracantha flowers mainly on shoots produced the previous year. So when pruning try to retain as much two-year-old wood as possible.

The seven species have white flowers and either red, orange, or yellow berries (more correctly pomes). The flowers are produced during late spring and early summer; the pomes develop from late summer, and mature in late autumn.

peterb · Post by **peterb** » May 24th, 2015, 7:22 pm

Hi All
Thanks for the response guys, so late winter i'll repot and i'll take some photos of the process and post , feel quite relieved that they aren't as finicky as the books etc would have us believe because like Elmar I read all the articles on the net and read the books etc and was a bit worried it's great for us newbies to have the experience on this forum to call upon

Elmar · Post by **Elmar** » May 24th, 2015, 8:31 pm

Ditto

Cheers
Elmar

AusBonsai