AusBonsai

Hi Folks,
I am taking some trees to the School of Bonsai tomorrow to show what happens with double potting. These photos will show the difference between one pot and double pots. I potted these two trees at the School some time back. They were both just seedlings, one went into a single pot, the other went into two pots. Tomorrow at the School I will remove the colander out of the orchid pot, remove all external roots from around the colander and replace the colander and tree back into the orchid pot with new potting mix. This method is helpful for those who don't have a lot of garden space to do ground planting or live in a unit.

The method I use for planting in two pots is to plant the tree in a colander with good bonsai mix. The colander is then placed in the orchid pot using a good quality potting mix. This doesn't have to be bonsai mix. The second pot can be as large as you require. I have used an orchid pot for this exercise, but if you have a larger tree you can use a tube size pot.
Regards Ray

Hi Ray, very interesting.
What is the theory behind this as the difference is quite significant.
Also, does it work best with a particular type of tree?


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That is interesting Ray. Do you sit both colander and orchid pot on natural ground as well, or are they on a hard surface like paving or concrete?

melbrackstone wrote:That is interesting Ray. Do you sit both colander and orchid pot on natural ground as well, or are they on a hard surface like paving or concrete?

Hey melbrackstone,

From the parent thread viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14986&start=75 , Ray indicated that he grows his natives in water trays so I assume they were both sitting in trays. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Cheers Terry, yes I'm reading that thread now.

Jimbomelville wrote:Hi Ray, very interesting.
What is the theory behind this as the difference is quite significant.
Also, does it work best with a particular type of tree?


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Hi Jim,
This is the same as ground planting. The roots have much more space to develop and the tree will grow quicker. Using the double pots is more for people who don't have garden space to do ground planting. Also people who live in units may not have any garden at all. This allows them to assimilate growing in the ground. The reason I put the tree in a colander then in the ground or larger pot is to contain a root ball. You can lift the colander, remove to external roots and replace in the ground/pot. Doing this allows a root ball to be retained at the base of the trunk.

This can be applied to any species of tree.

There is another type of double potting that I will post soon.

Regards Ray

melbrackstone wrote:That is interesting Ray. Do you sit both colander and orchid pot on natural ground as well, or are they on a hard surface like paving or concrete?

Hi melbrackstone,
I do both mate. Sometimes I might have enough space in the garden, if not they go on a concrete path down the side of my house.

Regards Ray

terryb wrote:

melbrackstone wrote:That is interesting Ray. Do you sit both colander and orchid pot on natural ground as well, or are they on a hard surface like paving or concrete?

Hey melbrackstone,

From the parent thread viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14986&start=75 , Ray indicated that he grows his natives in water trays so I assume they were both sitting in trays. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Hi Terry,
During the Summer I put all my natives, and some other species that like a lot of water, in water trays. As the trees slow down in growth I will remove them from the trays and allow them to be watered the same as all the other trees.

Regards Ray

Thanks Ray.

Thanks for sharing Ray, great information in both threads

Hi folks,
Another use of double potting. The following method is useful for growing trees on without disturbing the root ball. This method can also be used to pot trees when it is not the ideal time of year to do so.
This is a group of Swamp Cyprus that has outgrown the tray. I didn't want to disturb the trees. There are a lot of roots growing out the bottom of the tray so placing them in a second tray will allow the trees to grow on and they haven't been disturbed in any way.
I use the same method as mentioned in the beginning on this thread. The soil in the second tray is a good quality potting mix, it doesn't have to be bonsai mix.
NOTE: If the tree/trees outgrow the second pot and you don't want to disturb the tree/trees, you can triple pot.
This Banksia had this treatment applied to it. The second colander was removed and the roots cut back to the outside of the first colander and then replaced in the second colander again. I did this at least once if not a couple of times. This is another advantage of using two pots. The tree can be removed from the second pot, cut back the roots and replace into the second pot with new soil.

Regards Ray