AusBonsai

Hey all,
I had to do an unexpected repot on my Atlantic cedar the other day as it was knocked over. My suspected timeline has it out of its pot for possibly up to two days as the outside root ball looked a bit dry. I also noticed a few curl grubs to I ended up teasing out about half the mix to get them out. I potted it back up and watered with seasol. The tree has now dropped all its needles. It's been about a week or so and it still has live tissue as I scratched a touch up high to check.
My main question is what is the best course of action would be now knowing that they can take a while to bounce back?? Fingers and toes crossed it survives. Located south of Sydney. Cheers Mitch


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Sounds like you’ve done all you can, maybe except for tying it in in the first place.

Trees should be tied/wired/anchored in against those rare times that just happen. You may occasionally lose a nice pot, but the tree is important.

Depending on how long the tree was out of the pot and any degree of dry out, time will tell if the tree will survive. Cedars can survive dropping their needles . Semi protected spot and don’t drown in water it may/should survive.

Of course, the chances of survival are inversely proportionate to the value(monetary or sentimental) of the tree. The less valuable the more likely it is to survive and vice-verca

Good luck.

Grant

I agree. The damage has been done. The only thing you can do now is continue care and hope.
As Grant mentioned it is not unusual for cedar to drop needles after trauma. Most then grow again if the problem was not fatal. Fortunately being out of a pot is not always fatal. I've had many trees recover after days unpotted as even if outer roots have dried it's usually still damp inside the root ball for a period of time depending how hot and dry ambient conditions are at the time.

Scratching bark may make you feel good but won't help trees recover. It can even introduce new infection just when the tree does not want any more challenges. In all cases of not sure just maintain watering and appropriate care and wait for recovery (or sure signs of death)

Grant Bowie wrote: ↑September 7th, 2022, 12:38 pm
Of course, the chances of survival are inversely proportionate to the value(monetary or sentimental) of the tree. The less valuable the more likely it is to survive and vice-verca

Thanks for the replies guys, I thought I'd done all I could except pray and wait. Have been lucky in that it has never happened before and I've never actually tied any trees into pots. Until now! Like insurance I guess, you never need it until you need it. Agree with sentiment comment too Haven't put a tonne of years into it but was /is definitely a favourite
Time to pray then haha.
Will update in due time
Cheers Mitch

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