ORION - So I did a thing. I’m home from work recovering from COVID that apparently I contracted in the last week, for the most part thankfully I am ok but get winded easily (I have asthma). I also get very restless so I did a few things. They might be good or not we will see yet again. This Orion I grabbed last year and left him in his tiny nursery pot on my covered deck. He had grown roots outside of his pot so I decided to up pot him today or “slip pot” him… I only trimmed the roots escaping the drain holes outside of the pot. I did use a small fork to tease the roots a little, more like loosen the soil just a little so that it benefits from the transplant. I used a grow bag cause that’s what’s here and I can’t go out. Once all was done I saturated him with water that was treated with transplant liquid. His roots started to show again after watering so I added more soil. Our weather was very cool in the morning 3 degrees Celsius but warmed up by 10:30am sunny with cloudy periods… when I was complete it hailed like hell was raining down!! Please let me know your thoughts kind input and suggestions are always welcomed. I will do a proper root prune later but I don’t think for another year or two?
SANGO-KAKU (Coral Bark) - I received this beauty as a birthday gift last June from my best friend! I left it again on my covered deck in it’s tiny nursery pot. It had a strange sticky material that came out of the drain holes and I cleared it out and hoped for the best. Once I got the pot off the same area looked as if the mulch was rotten. It wasn’t quite as pot bound as the Orion. I used my fingers to loosen the dirt and gave it a gentle shake nothing more no cutting or hard teasing of the roots. It became very small in seconds.. I didn’t like how it was sitting in a grow bag or a bigger hard nursery pot so I rolled the edges down of the grow bag. That is one really good thing about the grow bags you can adjust them to fit how you need. I had a couple ceramic pots that would work well but I didn’t have the bit to drill out more drain holes, and clearly this had to be done today :). the grow bag is a 5 gallon that’s been rolled down to almost half and I’m comfortable that there is not too much space there but enough to let it grow properly. I don’t think this one will need a root prune for quite some time.
HANA-MATOI - I was lucky enough to purchase this one last year early or mid summer at the recommendation of @Acerholic , for whom I am so grateful. However when I brought it home it had pulvinaria acericola/ AKA cottony maple leaf scale. It took a long time to remove all of the pests that came, I removed each one individually and isolated it from all other trees. I repeated this process for like 10 days. I read that it’s in the soil and that everything should be thrown away. It looks healthy but I did find the beginnings of one of those pests this season. Hopefully I caught it in time, so I was pretty motivated to up pot this one. Again originally it was left in its tiny nursery pot and on my deck but away from other trees. Soooo, I gently removed all the soil using a small garden fork, fingers, gently shaking and a hose. No cutting of roots! It was a very quick process. I probably had all the soil gone/ washing and it back into its new “pot” grow bag in 5 minutes. I placed everything including its pot into a plastic bag and into the garbage. It was staked and that appears to have caused some rubbing damage to the main branch. Again its in a 5 gallon grow bag rolled over in half, I saturated it with water that was treated with transplant liquid. This little one has turned out really amazing I hope it likes what I did! I did not take a picture of it directly out of the pot because I wanted to be sure all soil was secured and contained.
First of all I hope you are coping with Covid. It's not something I wish on anybody. My wife and I had it a few weeks back and it was tough. So don't overdo it. Rest is important. Next re your Orion, I would get it into soil ASAP and do a root prune and repot next late Winter/early Spring, not two years. Those roots are circling already and so needs to have them trimmed. Tbh Lisa I don't like messing with maples during leaf out time. So as little disturbance as possible is best at this time.
That was drastic Lisa, but necessary as that leaf scale hides in many places. Can I suggest that you keep the tree in as much shade as possible to recover.
D. I know you hate when I do this.. so do I it’s nerve wracking, but I couldn't take it any longer. Thank you re: covid I am doing better than most.. Orion was back in soil within moments. I really did nothing to him.. but you think this winter or next spring I could root prune? He desperately needs it.
D. I feel like I’m stressing you hahahaha I certainly can’t be kept home for too long you wont survive it! Just kidding.. I keep this one on my covered deck always cause it’s so young. Hopefully it doesn’t even notice it was switched pots and we will be fine. I really didn’t need to do much to it I was super fast and very gentle.
Yes definitely, a root prune at the right time will give excellent results. But remember, most take two years to look really good after a root prune, so don't expect fantastic results the same Summer after the pruning. This is not 100% accurate as they can and will surprise you.
D. I’m hoping its like when the dog takes the carrots out of the garden and I put them back in fast and they continue to grow!!! I don’t think the trees can survive me home much longer… I think I have one more day left… I have a fairly large Ara Kawa that is severely pot bound it came that way.. I was just gonna pop it into a larger container cause its roots are coming out of the drain holes… Unfortunately all the root pruning I had planned and tree insulating for the last fall was put on hold, we suffered a catastrophic loss in the family my partners 28 year old daughter unexpectedly passed away. So the world stopped and things were missed, but now we are slowly getting back to life.
That is terrible news Lisa, I can understand why everything went by the wayside. Again I would slip pot it for this year. And concentrate on a good repotting session in 2023.
Thanks for that Derek. I will do my best to slip pot that one tomorrow I’ll post pics if I do. It so badly needs it.
I would say well done with all of them. My expectation is that none of them will skip a beat and they all will have a good and healthy growing season.
Thank you so much @maf I really appreciate it. I’ll do my best to keep everyone posted with pictures as the seasons change. All of these stay on my covered deck so the only real element they get over exposed to is wind. I have a windy yard.
ARA KAWA - Rough Bark, This up pot was very straight forward I swear @Acerholic I did nothing to the roots just a quick up size. Each step just like in @Otto Bjornson youtube videos. Only thing I did poorly was I setup my work area a bit aways from where they are going so I will need support from my partner to move them - he will be thrilled to have to move them with me..hahahaah I guess I’m more comfortable managing the 15 gallon pots on my own.. this 25 gallon is more than I can comfortably manage unless I throw it in my garden cart but even then need help to place it in its spot. I did use the Transplant fertilizing liquid.. I think all the slow release fertilized has probably fallen off. Anyway I think it will be happier until a proper root prune can be done. I did a couple other non Japanese maples as well they are just in the picture cause I will let them all sit there overnight.
RISING SUN - I did this one cause I felt it needed it but it wasn’t as pot bound as the Ara Kawa… However it did have GRUBS!!!!! My front yard last year was destroyed by grubs hence why I now have artificial grass, I put way too much effort into a nice lawn to deal with that crap… Anyway that tree was there on the lawn, I recently moved it to my backyard. I pulled out roughly 8 grubs from its root ball but I did not tease the roots or anything. Hopefully the red dragon doesn’t have any… Any suggestions on this grub situation?
They look like White curl grub. They feed on the roots of lawns. tbh I'm not sure if they will feed on the roots of your maple. But if they have nothing else to feed on, then I would suggest maple roots will do nicely for them. I'm glad you found and disposed of them Lisa. Well done. Nice up potting BTW.
So I recently up potted this extremely pot bound Rising Sun, I found a number of grubs in it that I removed. It has new growth but seems like it’s struggling and appears limp.. Some of the leaves are browning on the tips, there is one black branch I assume from freezing this past winter… I also moved it from the front yard to a more shaded spot in the back yard. I am wondering if it’s staying too wet? Maybe my soil mix was off and it being in such a large pot in a more shady spot is not a good combination.. The other tree that I up potted that was similar condition and size is thriving but has remained in its more sunny location. We have only had a couple days of sun there is no possibility for any sun scorch.
Any re potting causes stress Lisa, you will find that some sulk more than others. Do not over water or feed. Just carry on with what you are doing. 2023 is the time it will flourish. I've always found its the following year after re potting that it does well.
Need an opinion please. I would love some input from you guys @Acerholic @maf @Otto Bjornson @ROEBUK and anyone else who might be able to shed some light. I up potted like 7 trees while I was home with covid, maybe its cause we haven’t had much sunny warm weather but I feel my trees might be staying “too wet”. Maybe this time my soil mix was not correct? I have noticed I’m more confused recently. I do find when I use the transplant liquid they will stay wet the first time for a while. We have another week of rain. The trees I did last year I feel have great drainage and hold water just long enough, Im happy with that mix but maybe I didn’t follow it exactly. Im wondering because I am not able to repot them again because I’m too weak right now and a couple of them I think it would be very bad. I was thinking maybe I should put some holes with a long thin spike through the dirt around the sides where the new soil mainly is (root ball still in tact) and pour a bit of perlite and try to mix that up? the trees are in nursery pots and grow bags so I dont believe the drainage issue is caused by the pot, I feel maybe the mix of peat, sand, and fir compost mulch with a tiny bit of store bought compost and pumice is off and causing it to retain water. Any ideas and input would be most appreciated. .thanks
Hi Lisa, what symptoms are you getting from your up potted trees ? Apart from what you said in # 14. Looking at your mix, I would say it's fine. I don't use sand, but I know others on forum do so successfully. As for poking around with the soil now, I would rather say, 'leave it alone'. Your trees will take a good several weeks to settle and are probably showing signs of transplant shock atm. The worst thing to do now is disturb them even more.
The only symptoms is what was listed in #16 that some minor browning of the leaves on one of the potted trees and it looking limp… I just noticed their soil seems so wet, mostly the one that’s in the shade.. it just seems like their not drying and I didn't want to get root rot. Granted our weather is cool/wet and will be for the next week if we are to believe the weather man. It could truly just be me, Im not often home this much and the yard is pretty much the most I can manage to get around so maybe I’m just focusing on what I can. I’m sure “leaving it alone” is the best course of action
Hi Lisa What do you have in your soil mix? Have you seen my short soil mix video? My mix is very basic, mostly supports very good drainage as that is most important. As far as spiking the soil, that would only be required if your water is not draining through the soil as you add water. If that is the case then yes, go with a 12" or longer nail / spike. Looking at your previous posts, the roots are quite compacted and I would definitely be spiking all of those. And what type of "liquid transplant fertilizer" are you using? Personally I would not use anything at all other then a little slow release on top of the pot once planted. Japanese maple root are very fibrous in the container medium and may not react well to over stimulation. That could also be something that should resolve itself over time
