Repotting

[davidravioli]

Hello, would it be appropriate to repot this Juniper as its soil doesn't drain well and clumps of soil drop out of the pot's drainage holes when being watered? Also, I had bought the Juniper yesterday at a market for $10 and I would like to confirm whether or not it is a Juniper Chinensis, or another species of Juniper. Here is an image of the Juniper: https://imgur.com/a/keHvLV3

Thank you for any help or responses

[shibui]

Welcome to Ausbonsai David.
You haven't given any indication of where you live in your profile so it can be hard to give good advice because there are sometimes big differences in timing and technique in different parts of Australia and even more round the rest of the world.

I had a look at the photo but there's not enough detail of the foliage to hazard a guess at the species or even if it is a juniper. Good quality close shots are needed. Even then it can be hard to really tell because lost of juniper species look similar and even within J. chinensis there are quite a few different forms that can look quite different.

As for repotting I would try a gentle repot now if the tree needed it. I generally repot junipers up to quite late in spring and they seem to be OK but I have generally finished by this time of year down here. By gentle repot I mean just shaking off the old soil and replacing in better mix with little or no root pruning.
There is no guarantee it will survive repot now but if the alternative is probable slow death from poor soil or maybe quick death after repot I would choose to repot.

[davidravioli]

Welcome to Ausbonsai David.
You haven't given any indication of where you live in your profile so it can be hard to give good advice because there are sometimes big differences in timing and technique in different parts of Australia and even more round the rest of the world.

I had a look at the photo but there's not enough detail of the foliage to hazard a guess at the species or even if it is a juniper. Good quality close shots are needed. Even then it can be hard to really tell because lost of juniper species look similar and even within J. chinensis there are quite a few different forms that can look quite different.

As for repotting I would try a gentle repot now if the tree needed it. I generally repot junipers up to quite late in spring and they seem to be OK but I have generally finished by this time of year down here. By gentle repot I mean just shaking off the old soil and replacing in better mix with little or no root pruning.
There is no guarantee it will survive repot now but if the alternative is probable slow death from poor soil or maybe quick death after repot I would choose to repot.

Hey Shibui!

I am from Sydney. The weather for the next few days will be sunny and the temperature will be in the mid-20s. I can tell that the tree is a type of Juniper because its foliage doesn't look similar to a cypress but I definitely don't know what type of Juniper it is unless I take pictures of its foliage. I can wait until next spring for repotting as the tree appears to be still healthy. I am aware that Junipers don't really take repotting well so I may have to gentle repot if necessary as you said.

Thank you for the reply!

[MikeK]

...I am aware that Junipers don't really take repotting well so I may have to gentle repot if necessary as you said...

I'm in Sydney too and find Junipers take repotting very well - I've removed >80% of roots and not had an issue, I find it one of my 'easier' trees to repot and have no concerns about survival after heavy work

Your challenge is the time of year and with this specific tree, the lack of foliage (Juniper strength is in the foliage). Agree with Shibui - for this one, if I had no choice and had to repot, I'd remove it from current pot, remove as much existing soil as I could without impacting roots and slip pot back into the same pot with good quality bonsai mix. Aftercare will be key - morning sun only, water well, mist the foliage regularly (multiple times daily) and try to protect from the hot days

Without being able to see your soil so not sure why it is not draining, another option to improve water percolation may be to get a metal spike (I use an old screwdriver with the end filed to a not-too-sharp point) and carefully punch some holes into the soil to let water penetrate the root ball (kind of like coring your lawn). Go easy, goal of the spike is to push roots out of the way, not punch through them

[tgward]

probably should start to think about putting some movement into that trunk (especially down low)before it thickens more