Elm replant....Surprise.

[fredman]

want to share this pleasant surprise i got with all you good folks. It might be of some help to someone...
When I got this Chinese elm two years ago it was thinner than a pencil. I then replanted it in a bigger pot. Man did that thing grow. Especially the second season. It literally pushed the nebari out the ground. Its now a bit more than an inch thick, but the root spread it created over the time blew me away. I frequently stopped at it and wondered why that forms such a great spread. I took it out yesterday to repot it into a shallower container. To my surprise I discovered that I had planted it onto a CD disc. That made all the difference, and the reason it pushed up the nebari. Roots grew around it and down creating a perfect flat root spread. The hole in the CD was totally filled with an enormous root that went straight down.
Best (or worst) of all is the wife appeared and while I was blabbing and boasting to her about how clever a was to use that CD, she gave suddenly me THAT look.... "That is my CD I'm looking for, for a long time now"
Well the great news is after the necessary apology I washed and cleaned it. Tested it and it works perfectly
Great hey !!!
Anyway here is some pics...

[longd_au]

Wow. That is fantastic result. As Neil (Shibui) mentioned, it isn't 100% but if given the right condition for the roots to develop, most results are very good.
Sometimes, you only get 1 or 2 large roots developing above the plate. Obviously, yours had great condition.

On another note, would you consider cutting the larger root closer to the trunk?
That is what I did for most of mine when larger roots are found.
For those I know that have their downwards roots prune in the previous season, I tend to just cut the larger surface roots without digging up the plant.

[mjhc]

Nice work. I've seen people do this with tiles as well.

[fredman]

Thanks. Yes I'm in two minds about that large root. I think I will keep it for now. Its at right angles to the way the tree leans, so it looks like it keeps the tree from falling over. Its very early days as its a very young tree. I will see in future how it progresses.
I was very surprised how much it grows, as here in NZ the growing period is much shorter because of the colder night temps. I had the pot recessed into the soil in the grow bed. The plants generally like that, as there is no suspended water table inside the pot. They quickly grow roots outside the pot. Saves me on fertilising to. The grow bed is very fertile organic soil...
I drilled holes into the new container and will put it back into the soil again....
Here is a pic I just took from the top of the roots.

[Watto]

Well done, nice spread and a good result.