Repot now or wait

There's a fair chance this has already been answered elsewhere on here, so feel free to redirect me to another thread, but I was wondering about repotting my maples in the next week or so. Is this a bad time? Most of them are in a poor-draining media so I'll essentially be bare rooting them and doing any root surgery that's necessary. Temps here are 30-40s of the day and 20s at night. Would it make more sense to wait till closer to spring?

Thanks,
Kyle

 

DON'T! This is a very bad time to repot/bare root.

Wait until you see that buds are quite fat or have begun to crack. This signals that the tree is metabolically active and capable of strong root growth. With acer palmatum/shirasawanum you can repot as late as when the leaves are emergent but still hang limply (just to give you a definition of the 'window of opportunity' for bare rooting).

 

I second that.

You could repot if you can keep them in an unheated greenhouse, making sure that they are frost-free, but just before budbreak is certainly the safest option.

 

And I third it. If that's a thing.

The only thing I repot now are winter arrivals that have basically come out of their pots in transit.

Happy holidays, and good luck with those Titans.

-E

 

Is summer a good time to repot? Or is it too late?

 

I repot in September so the soil is still warm, but not too hot for the roots. It does depend on an area you live, but as I know yours Mani I would wait until mid Sept.

 

As I wrote in another thread, some bonsai nurserymen repot their maples in June, but in Japan, it's the rain season, and it's based on the knowlege they have from years and years of training (it takes at least 6 years to become a "master", a "sensei").A lot of plants stop growing when the temps get over 24°.

Considering the temperatures we're having at the moment (here 34° C this afternoon, and I think it's about the same across the Channel), I think you should wait until at least September, or just after leaf fall, or in late winter, just before budbreak.

Some here say that plants with a pit (Noyau) should be planted in November and plants with pips ("pépins") in October. Another saying almost everyone knows here is "A la Ste Catherine (25th November), tout bois prend racine" (on Saint Catherine' day every "wood" - =tree - takes root). Like many old sayings, it's worth what it's worth...

 

Good afternoon Alain, yes Soooooo very hot. This question does come up so much. Another year with below average temperatures and rainfall etc can bring a different answer. But with the climate changing I think Flaming June is now the norm and a set answer.

 

Which echoes what Acerholic wrote about the soil still being warm so the roots can develop.