Ryceman3 wrote: ↑December 12th, 2022, 8:54 am
Mychorrizae does have a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the trees, and although the transition of water between the fungus and the roots might occur, it's the trace elements/nutrients that it can tap into and make available to the roots(pine) that make it beneficial. My experience with this pine is the mycchorizae build up is "too much of a good thing". In a containerized environment, as the myc. reproduces and increases in volume, it has nowhere to go. There is so much in there it forms like a soapy cake that doesn't seem to be receptive to water. The water in fact runs down the outside of the root ball along the walls of the pot and then out the drainiage... never penetrating this "cake", like the mix is hydrophobic. When repotting and removing this mycchorizal bloom, the mix inside is bone dry... I wouldn't want to have to get through another summer with that kind of situation in winter, although this summer wouldn't be such an issue given the pathetic weather.
Thanks for the detailed response, that aligns with what I suspected - the container environment changes things quite a lot.
I'll save a few of my plants from dying now that I don't need to run that experiment myself
Couldn’t have said it better; back when I was in my pine phase I would regularly have to submerge the entire pot to be sure water had sufficiently penetrated it became that thick in the pots.
I’d remove the entire cake of myc. around the edge at repotting, put one piece back in and it would go absolutely bunta off it’s chops again.
terryb wrote: ↑April 21st, 2023, 1:27 pm
Like the way you have kept the foliage nice and close to the trunk.
It’s going to need a cut back to interior branching in the next year or two in order to keep things from extending too far. It’s a balancing act, on constant rotation.
Probably one more thing that makes smaller bonsai a much more complex beast in my opinion. Obviously the same thing happens on bigger trees but not to the same extent.
It’s a challenge!
Ryceman3 wrote: ↑August 18th, 2020, 1:06 pm
I had been thinking twice about repotting this tree but I had noticed it was becoming increasingly difficult to water in terms of percolation ... the water just wasn't penetrating so I was convinced I needed to do it.
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Should be right for another year now.
Beautiful tree. Thank you for sharing your progress in photos.
Is that a normal amount of roots to cut off? To me (as a newbie) it looks like a lot.
I haven't gone through a proper repot yet, but I'm about to come July/August time, so just learning as much as I can for now.
SuperBonSaiyan wrote: ↑April 21st, 2023, 7:10 pm
Is that a normal amount of roots to cut off? To me (as a newbie) it looks like a lot.
I haven't gone through a proper repot yet, but I'm about to come July/August time, so just learning as much as I can for now.
I guess a “normal amount of roots” depends primarily on what you leave behind.
You can only cut off to the extent there are roots left for the tree to continue to grow. If you have done good root work on the tree in years prior then this reduction is not going to be detrimental to the tree (as can be seen in the years following). If this was nursery stock and I reduced by the same amount there might be issues, but again that would depend. There seems to be a lot of ‘worry’ about root work on pines, but if you have a good base I would be more relaxed about cutting back to some extent at least. They aren’t maples or elms by any stretch of the imagination, but get the fundamental base right and cutting back becomes less stressful in my opinion.
Another year, another repot for this tree.
Again the mychorrhizal growth has inundated the roots making it a very complicated (and stressful) tree to water, so again I have repotted despite it being only 12 months since the last time I did it. I am somewhat concerned that the frequency of repotting for this tree could result in it losing health, but I am just as concerned (or more) that I won't be able to keep water up to it in summer if I don't, so I feel like my hand is being forced. As a "trade off" to some extent, I have gone to a pot that is a size bigger which I'm hoping might help to give me a break for at least a year, but we'll see.
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rodm wrote: ↑August 11th, 2023, 6:26 pm
Have you tried drilling a few 12mm holes to let the water in. Just a thought had a similar problem a couple of mine and drilled it worked
Cheers RodM
Daluke wrote: ↑August 12th, 2023, 2:38 pm
Have you tried growing it on another pot. Like placing it on another pot full of substrate so it’s able to drink if it’s thirsty?
Thanks for the replies RodM and Daluke. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I guess the ultimate goal is to try and supress the volume of mycorrhizae, which seem easier said than done. I don't have this issue to this extent with my other trees, whether in bonsai pots/plastic. They all get watered the same, fertilized the same, in the same mix and in the same conditions (weather wise) so I can't really explain why this tree has more than the rest. I have tried a coarse layer of akadama at the bottom of the pot that I hope will increase air and maybe discourage the fungus a tad ... there is definitely a bigger build up on the bottom surface of the roots (bottom of the pot). No idea ... we'll see!
Daluke wrote: ↑August 12th, 2023, 5:00 pm
What is the pot on? Wood? I have a theory that if left on pine it retains more heat (and promotes more mychro growth) verse an open mesh shelf.
Open mesh galvanised steel shelving. They all are … at least from the repotting shots. Unless there are other shelves, but the pine project thread shows them in the steel racks. Interesting theory on the wood benches though. Maybe if you want to promote it, wood is a good idea?
Daluke wrote: ↑August 12th, 2023, 5:00 pm
What is the pot on? Wood? I have a theory that if left on pine it retains more heat (and promotes more mychro growth) verse an open mesh shelf.
Yeah, LeeBee73 is pretty right, although my repotting area is not where I keep my trees all the time, but the mesh shelves in both places are essentially the same. Interesting theory ... I know of someone who has timber shelves and some biggish pines, that often when he moves them there is evidence of micorrhizae on the area under the pot ... so you could be onto something!
Ground hog day for this tree once more.
I didn't decandle it last year because I felt like it had lost some mojo and needed a year to catch its breath. It's nice and strong/healthy now and so is the mychorrhizal activity so back to the repot bench we find ourselves for another year. I guess there are bigger problems in the world!
Hopefully the spring growth is vigorous and it's back to decandling this December.
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