Pop Pop there goes ten dollars pop pop there goes fifteen dollars

So why is it that we have break our terracotta pots when we re-pot our trees. Yes I popped about five and I though boy I just paid for these things. This was distressing and I ended up busting about forty dollars worth of terracotta pots. Then I had some hypertufa pots next in line so I started popping them and they broke so nicely. One pop and they spit right in half. Then I just pulled out my old caulk gun and whipped out a tube of liquid nails and zapo a new pot. I can deal with that now that's painless. ​

 

I've never heard they have to be broken! Just lift the tree and its rootball out of the pot.

 

Agree with MF. I have some that have lasted thru 4-5 winters. They pop out easiest when ready for a root prune or new pot.

 

Oh yea, I have read it many times in almost every book and anytime someones talks about repoting. After popping a few pots I can understand why though, the roots are much easier to deal with that way, and far fewer get torn up.

 

For my acer rubrum which is about 4 foot tall and in a 15 inches diameter (6 gallon) pot, is it okay to repot every 2 years or do I need to do it every year?

 

If you are pruning the roots when repotting - as you might if trying to grow in pot indefinitely - it doesn't matter as much if they have circled a bit. If you are trying to keep it growing rapidly, for eventual planting out should be repotted BEFORE roots reach pot walls and start going around. So, a vigorous tree might need to be bumped up a couple times a year.

 

Well if you did it every year your pot would soon get so big it would just drop right through the floor. I think a book on Bonsai is in order as you can remove some of the roots and just renew the soil to insure good dainage. Have you thought about a smaller tree like maybe, Acer fabri. [URL="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=30864&d=1193752046"]http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=30864&d=1193752046[/URL]

or Acer coriaceifolium [URL="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=10118"]http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=10118[/URL]

 

Sorry I didn't clarify - I meant I'm just going to repot with the same pot and root prune it. Since I live in an apartment, moving to a bigger pot is out of the question.

So I take it repotting the tree every 2 years is okay? I know acer rubrum is fast-growing, but I'm not sure if a 6 gallon pot would be enough to contain the roots for 2 years.

 

I think you should do it annually that is, in two year it could get so wrapped up you may not be able to unravel the roots to prune them, and then it is just one big mess.

 

Thanks Richard.

I'll follow your advice since it seems easier that way. Although I was thinking of using a big knife or even a saw to prune the roots if they are too wrapped up.

 

Make sure your new soil mix is sterile as possible, a razor knife works, and then if it is available inoculate with friendly bacteria. You should be able to find plant friendly bacteria at a good nursery, and then treat yourself to cup of yogurt. I repotted a lot of trees this week, and I thought I might get away with letting some of them go another year. I quickly realized

, that young trees are programed to put down root as quickly as possible just like teenage girls and boys are programed to, well you know the rest. So where are the smiley faces?