AusBonsai

Hi,

Today I received a number of bonsai from an old lady who has no time for them.

On the whole they are ok but not really thriving considering it is Spring.

I believe the issue is the soil, they are all potted in a completely organic soil mix and are heavily waterlogged and covered in moss, hard to make an accurate call with all the rain we've had this week.

Would you repot into a better draining bonsai mix or is it a bit late?

If too late to pot what is the best way to alleviate the moisture and drainage issues?

Thank you.

G'day,

better to re pot and maybe have them struggle than to have them turn up their toes during the really hot weather.

if you are willing to give them good aftercare species dependent they should be fine.

If they seem waterlogged removing the moss and gravel should help to reduce the moisture in the soil.

What species did you get?

If these trees have survived this long in that soil, I would probably wait until the right season. Massive root disturbance/root cutting and repotting is, more than anything else, the greatest killer of bonsai. If the trees have a pot full of roots that water can penetrate, I think a good feed and a gentle location in your yard would be the best course of action. Root disturbance out of season on an already weak tree is a dangerous game to play.

Adam

Hey mate,
I'd probably repot them, any species that are outside the 'normal' repot time u could just do it with minimal root disturbance..... Should be fine.

Good luck, post some pics[FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND WINKING EYE]


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What sort of trees are they? Got a photo?

If you do go down the repotting path, I would lean towards just slip potting (no root cutting).

Thanks for the replies.

I do think I will repot them with minimal route pruning if any as I think if I left them I would be too nervous to water them enough and spend every day umming and ahhing if I was overwatering or not.

I want to start a thread and share some pics with everyone as well as some ID help too.

Most are bonsai in training, There are some Japanese Maples, some cedars and some cypress group plantings, port Jackson fig, wisteria, Japanese cherry blossom, a really nice cascading juniper and many more.

This is the cypress that appears to have too much dead wood for my liking.



This juniper is probably my favourite of the bunch.

I will get some more photos of the rest tomorrow and start a thread in the progression thread.


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Does anyone know which juniper it is?

Has a couple of scale like foliage bits, literally only three or four bits on the entire tree?


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I have a few trees the same. Definetly going to wait till just before spring next year. One way to get around the issue maybe to remove the moss. Get a large chopstick or Phillips head screw driver and drive down through the soil giving it some light twists to create a hole, repeat around the pot. This should let some oxygen get into the soil and help with drainage

Did plenty of re-potting over the weekend in between the bouts of torrential rain, with most of them going without any root pruning at all and those that did was extremely minimal.

Also did some trimming of the overgrown ones, I would've liked to have taken more before and after photos but the rain made it a bit of a pain so some after photos will have to do.

I will start some ID threads this afternoon, hopefully I won't get into trouble for clogging up that section with too many different ID threads!!!

MacGuyver wrote:

Does anyone know which juniper it is?

Has a couple of scale like foliage bits, literally only three or four bits on the entire tree?


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Looks like a Squamata. The occasionally get a bit of juvenile foliage........

You don't want to sell that half dead cypress by any chance?

Thanks for the ID Reece.

I am still at the beginner stage of Bonsai where I bite off more than I can chew and chew like hell so not selling anything any time soon.

After re-potting these without any root pruning how long do people recommend they stay in a shady spot for?