AusBonsai

Need to transfer a juniper and cedar into a bonsai pot. Should I wait until I see new buds?

Also is it OK to bare-root both these species?

I would be very careful bare rooting these . in my opinion I wouldn't but others may disagree. Where I am with heavy frosts I don't repot my conifers to early spring but some do it much earier .

I wait until the buds just start to swell and there is no longer serious chance of frost. I also transplant in early Autumn.

Matthew wrote:I would be very careful bare rooting these . in my opinion I wouldn't but others may disagree. Where I am with heavy frosts I don't repot my conifers to early spring but some do it much earier .

How do I get the nursery potting mix out without bare-rooting?

How do I get the nursery potting mix out without bare-rooting?

Don't do it all at once. Use the garden hose on the strong jet to remove all the soil that comes easy. Disentangle by hand and don't bare-root. Don't remoce new roots with white tips on a cedar! Choose a pot that is sufficiently big so that you can spread out the roots the first time you have it in a bonsai pot. Allow it to acclimatise to a pot that is more shallow than a nursery pot, to start with.
I repotted an Atlas cedar in late Autumn and that worked fine, but I wouldn't repot my Juniper before mid-Spring, here in cold Canberra.
BTW, why do you need to repot those two trees into bonsai pots? Are they pot bound? If you would prefer them to keep growing a bit better, think of putting them in an orchid pot. That is a good transition to a real bonsai pot.
All the best,

Lisa

LLK wrote: ...why do you need to repot those two trees into bonsai pots? Are they pot bound? If you would prefer them to keep growing a bit better, think of putting them in an orchid pot. That is a good transition to a real bonsai pot.

Good point. I might transfer to a shallower pot rather than a bonsai pot.

Seems to be a lot conjecture on whether to bare root or not. Some say dont, others say they do it all the time with both these species and it's fine.

General wisdom seems to be don't bare-root these species - if you are uncertain, test it out on a tree you don't care about first! I have bare-rooted juniper communis in early spring, but only into pure pumice or grit - this will certainly clear out old nasty soil from the base, but can make the tree unstable - be somewhat cautious. You can get all the old soil out in stages, it's much safer.

Good luck,

Gavin

I have a number of cedars and find they are root sensitive, that is they don't like to have their roots disturbed and you need a cautious approach when repotting. I wouldn't bare root a cedar but that is only my experience.

Seems to be a lot conjecture on whether to bare root or not. Some say dont, others say they do it all the time with both these species and it's fine.

True. A lot of the success of repotting also depends on the after care.

Lisa

I’m in Melbourne.

I’ve bare rooted junipers. They don’t mind. Just make sure you pack the soil down tight all around the roots.

Cedars. They are super sensitive- don’t bare root.

Conventional wisdom says repot before start of spring.

With the guidance of my teacher I bare rooted a cedrus deodara while he did a C.atlantica during January's 40+ heatwave. Removing thick old roots but keeping all young roots without trimming, it took a bit of work to slowly spread the roots with soil in and around them to get good contact, water in really well and back in full sun. Both were pushing new growth within weeks. We are planning on doing the same next January to one of his big old junipers.

Just a side question...what definition of "bare-rooting" are we using?...because for me it means removing all the previous soil, while others say it's removing all the previous soil and washing the soil away from the roots.

A couple of senior members of my club here in Melbourne live by the adage 'repot Cedars on the hottest day of the year' - their long experience is that they don't suffer any needle drop like that.

Just a side question...what definition of "bare-rooting" are we using?...because for me it means removing all the previous soil, while others say it's removing all the previous soil and washing the soil away from the roots.

You only need to clean the roots completely when you'll be using an entirely inorganic pot soil, like Acadama or Kanuma. Otherwise remove what you easily can without damaging the roots, especially the new white-tipped ones.

Lisa