Good morning Yesterday I picked this up. I have been looking for one for a while but I managed to find one that wasn’t too expensive. Obviously it’s young and small. I’m quite excited about this as from what I have read it is quite a vigorous grower with excellent bright Autumn (fall) colour. I don’t really have anywhere I can permanently plant it out to show off the cascading, weeping form that will eventually come, so I will grow it in a container. Should I try and put another stake in and raise the height or will it just do this, albeit slowly, on its own? Thanks
Hi Luke, looks a really healthy plant, if you are keeping it in a pot then an idea we have used in the past is to repot it in a terracotta pot and then place another exactly the same upside down beneath the planted pot. This looks very nice and allows the Ryusen to cascade down giving quite a natural look. Yes the Autumn colours are really something to look forward to in October.
Trees are not growing into length from the stem, but from the top only. The spot, where these branches are turning downwards, remains in constant height. If you want higher plant, then you should let some branches to grow upward (using additional stake to support it, if necessary), and then cut the top to achieve new spot for cascading downwards.
I have made an attempt at re-staking, repotting, and tying up 3 of the uppermost branches to try and train some upward growth. The height of the stake is about where I’d want it to be ideally so I’ll keep an eye on it. It’s probably going to take a while to achieve the final result but it should be quite interesting.
Hi Luke, can I make one suggestion, black plastic pots retain a lot of heat and in very hot Summer days, the roots can get baked. Perhaps consider different pots for the future. Not trying to nit pick just thought I would mention it.
One can simply stick an inexpensive meat thermometer probe into the soil to know, rather than guess at, the root temperatures. These ought to be around 70F/20C, but certainly below 95F/35C.
Thanks again for your advice. I do keep an eye on temperatures and weather etc. When really hot weather is forecast I move the trees into an area of the garden that is shaded and cooler. I may look into a different colour pot for next time I do a mass repot. A thermometer is a great idea. Thanks.
