Emergency repot!

[doc spring _work]

My Sequoia hasn't been doing well, I've noticed several signs of death approaching that are common with Sequoias suffering from extreme dryness.. I knew that didn't make much sense given my original potting solution should've had too much water... Out of fear of loosing my very first bonsai I grabbed the pot I wanted to plant It in and move it outside with in the summer and I prepared a repot..

I layered a heavy amount of perlite in the pot for proper drainage fearing that I might've been suffering from too much water... So I took a butter knife and broke the soil away from my glass vase-turned pot and slowly removed the tree to finally see what the problem was..

When I had purchased the tree there where warnings not to touch the roots... So out of fear I followed the companies instructions when preparing a pot for it.. and took the little thing and potted it without touching the roots.

Back to Tonight, I reduce the loose soil around the root ball only to find something aweful out! Dispite the roots having had excellent growth they where Horribly root bound in a small section! They had not left the tiny area that was planted!

It took quite a while of slowly teasing the roots and untangling the root mass...
I cut the tap root off and placed the root mass on a tile inside the much larger pot to assist in outward growth.

Although cutting the roots back might be something we normally do I want to give the tree plenty of time to grow before I limit it..

This isn't my preferred pot, I had wanted to buy some clay and craft my own hanging pot for this tree... Unfortunately it would seem that will have to wait until the tree heals up, I may give it a full year.. or until it does push more heavy growth before messing with it again.

In the meantime I'll have to let the tree grow upright again dispite my desire for it to be a cascade. The trees health comes first before all else

 

[doc spring _work]

I have huge hopes for this tree so I am praying it survives this and finds the new pot much better then the old pot, should help that the pot isn't see through letting light hit any root trying to grow outwards as roots love hiding from it...

AH!! I was such a a fool (⁠´⁠°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥⁠ω⁠°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥⁠｀⁠)

 

[Ruddigger]

This is why slip potting isn’t actually helpful. If you dont break up the rootball the roots will not grow into the new media. Good luck.

 

[doc spring _work]

This is why slip potting isn’t actually helpful. If you dont break up the rootball the roots will not grow into the new media. Good luck.

I wish I had known!! Lessons for the future though.. do think it'll survive?

 

[19Mateo83]

Just a theory, but without any drainage holes it makes gas exchange in the soil nearly impossible. Hopefully it does well with the repot.

 

[Paradox]

IIRC, sequoia isn't an easy species for bonsai even for experienced folks, so starting with it as a beginner might be a bit rough.

I can't say whether it will survive or not but hope it does. Don't be too discouraged if it doesn't, we all pay the price to learn with a few dead trees along the way.

I'd suggest that if you want a cascade bonsai, a young juniper might be more amenable to that growth form. You might be able to find one at a nursery that is already growing in that style.

 

[doc spring _work]

IIRC, sequoia isn't an easy species for bonsai even for experienced folks, so starting with it as a beginner might be a bit rough.

I can't say whether it will survive or not but hope it does. Don't be too discouraged if it doesn't, we all pay the price to learn with a few dead trees along the way.

I'd suggest that if you want a cascade bonsai, a young juniper might be more amenable to that growth form. You might be able to find one at a nursery that is already growing in that style.

Unfortunately here in Utah we don't have any bonsai nurseries (there are around 3 shops with a tree or two but no true nurseries)

Because of this I did purchase this 1 year old Sequoia at a good price (around 20)...

Although I know several other trees would be quite easier the Sequoia caught my attention for its massive growth potential! In truth I should probably have planted it in the ground for a year before doing anything with it but i got it in the middle of winter..

Nonetheless I find so far the tree has been a great teacher with it's massive growth it heals quite well from the minor pruning I've done, It only recently started having issues (which I hopefully resolved here)

I've been studying the concepts and ideas behind bonsai always hungry for more..

I do currently have some cherry cuttings in the works if my poor tree dies, and I'll probably purchase another Sequoia and try Again with better technique learning from my mistakes... I'm stubborn and I'll keep trying for this!... If I do have to restart I may start it over a rock too given how long the roots are on the companies trees future mes problem tho

 

[doc spring _work]

Just a theory, but without any drainage holes it makes gas exchange in the soil nearly impossible. Hopefully it does well with the repot.

That could be, but I did have a small pocket of quartz at the bottom for a semi drainage layer (probably not the best possible way to have done it but It looked pretty ) when doing occasionally "downpour" waterings (I typically just mist the tree but give it the occasional heavy water to simulate it's natural environment) the quartz would take some water up and transfer some air around...

Soil wasn't incredibly hard either not forming any massive clumps dispite having been damp... Truly I wouldn't know if that could've been a problem as I had no scientific equipment to measure such things, simply my eyes and observations

 

[19Mateo83]

That could be, but I did have a small pocket of quartz at the bottom for a semi drainage layer (probably not the best possible way to have done it but It looked pretty ) when doing occasionally "downpour" waterings (I typically just mist the tree but give it the occasional heavy water to simulate it's natural environment) the quartz would take some water up and transfer some air around...

Soil wasn't incredibly hard either not forming any massive clumps dispite having been damp... Truly I wouldn't know if that could've been a problem as I had no scientific equipment to measure such things, simply my eyes and observations

It’s all part of learning. It happens to the best of us sometimes.

 

[Ruddigger]

Fyi, a plant dying from being overwatered looks very similar to one dying from being underwatered.

 

[doc spring _work]

Fyi, a plant dying from being overwatered looks very similar to one dying from being underwatered.

Good to know, I had worried it was over watered and was in need of a better pot... So either way this pot should help it as it should drain much better, I am using the a mix of soils my other plants seem to be thriving in.

I've been monitoring the tree religiously so when it started having issues a few days ago I checked it over, the last three days I had considered needing to repot It and tonight I noticed it was getting worse so I decided to take action and hope it would at least give me more time to save the tree, I will continue to monitor the tree, according to what I've read about the species they prefer a wet top and dryer feet, so I'll continue daily misting on the top (with a slight mist on top soil) and the occasional watering, with proper drainage on this new pot I anticipate much better health in the long term.

 

[leatherback]

The pot you have this is in way to big. It will lead to problems of its own (Water in a pot behaves different from open soil; Trees in a pot need to be able to "drink" most of the water in a pot between watering. If the pot is too large, you risk it drowning).

Best is to step up in pot size in small steps. Here also goes.. Long term health over short term beauty. Go out to a garden centre or large supermarket and get a much smaller pot which is only an inch or two bigger than the rootball you had to get it back to health & start growing.

 

[doc spring _work]

The pot you have this is in way to big. It will lead to problems of its own (Water in a pot behaves different from open soil; Trees in a pot need to be able to "drink" most of the water in a pot between watering. If the pot is too large, you risk it drowning).

Best is to step up in pot size in small steps. Here also goes.. Long term health over short term beauty. Go out to a garden centre or large supermarket and get a much smaller pot which is only an inch or two bigger than the rootball you had to get it back to health & start growing.

I'll have to see about doing that the roots did cover almost the full container like I said very long,
I believe there was only an inch maybe + 1/2 in between the tips of the roots and the walls (I only cut one root) I think the pot may still be far too deep though, I did place a tile under the tree to help with that...

Do you think it's safe to repot again?

 

[19Mateo83]

I'll have to see about doing that the roots did cover almost the full container like I said very long,
I believe there was only an inch maybe + 1/2 in between the tips of the roots and the walls (I only cut one root) I think the pot may still be far too deep though, I did place a tile under the tree to help with that...

Do you think it's safe to repot again?

With a tile under it and the roots spread radially you should be ok till next spring.

 

[leatherback]

You have VERY little foliage.
That is what drives water use.

 

[littletreefarmer]

Always skeptical of "emergency repots" other than for fallen/broken pots. Repotting sets a tree back more, in terms of energy balance, and can normally be the final nail in the coffin for a tree already on its way there. Properly potting a tree in the first place, and maintaining health will always be a better plan than repotting on a whim every time a health issue is expected.

Hopefully the tree has some energy reserves to recover, but like others have said:

I can't say whether it will survive or not but hope it does. Don't be too discouraged if it doesn't, we all pay the price to learn with a few dead trees along the way.

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Unfortunately here in Utah we don't have any bonsai nurseries (there are around 3 shops with a tree or two but no true nurseries)

Because of this I did purchase this 1 year old Sequoia at a good price (around 20)...

Although I know several other trees would be quite easier the Sequoia caught my attention for its massive growth potential! In truth I should probably have planted it in the ground for a year before doing anything with it but i got it in the middle of winter..

Nonetheless I find so far the tree has been a great teacher with it's massive growth it heals quite well from the minor pruning I've done, It only recently started having issues (which I hopefully resolved here)

I've been studying the concepts and ideas behind bonsai always hungry for more..

I do currently have some cherry cuttings in the works if my poor tree dies, and I'll probably purchase another Sequoia and try Again with better technique learning from my mistakes... I'm stubborn and I'll keep trying for this!... If I do have to restart I may start it over a rock too given how long the roots are on the companies trees future mes problem tho

Home Depot and virtually any nursery always have juniper Procumbens for future cascade bonsai

 

[doc spring _work]

Always skeptical of "emergency repots" other than for fallen/broken pots. Repotting sets a tree back more, in terms of energy balance, and can normally be the final nail in the coffin for a tree already on its way there. Properly potting a tree in the first place, and maintaining health will always be a better plan than repotting on a whim every time a health issue is expected.

Hopefully the tree has some energy reserves to recover, but like others have said:

The tree wasn't so in danger that this should speak the end .... And I do see what your saying, I wish I had done it properly in the first place but the company I bought the tree from had clear instructions and I had hear already that the species had very fragile roots so I thought the company I purchased it from knew what they where doing,

My blind faith resulted in the tree starting to suffer and loose some strength... I did this only because I saw no other way to stop it from dying out, and I'm happy I did, the roots were very root bound all inside a small cylinder maybe Half an inch in diameter but going down maybe 6-7 inches..

Although this might end with the tree dead or weak there's still a chance of recovering where it was certainly going to die otherwise. In my opinion it's better to risk It all and hope for success then to do nothing and let yourself fail.

Certainly I could've avoided these issues had I known better but you will learn a lot with your first tree I think

 

[littletreefarmer]

The tree wasn't so in danger that this should speak the end .... And I do see what your saying, I wish I had done it properly in the first place but the company I bought the tree from had clear instructions and I had hear already that the species had very fragile roots so I thought the company I purchased it from knew what they where doing,

My blind faith resulted in the tree starting to suffer and loose some strength... I did this only because I saw no other way to stop it from dying out, and I'm happy I did, the roots were very root bound all inside a small cylinder maybe Half an inch in diameter but going down maybe 6-7 inches..

Although this might end with the tree dead or weak there's still a chance of recovering where it was certainly going to die otherwise. In my opinion it's better to risk It all and hope for success then to do nothing and let yourself fail.

Certainly I could've avoided these issues had I known better but you will learn a lot with your first tree I think

I agree, this repot was probably better than what it was growing in before. The main way to succeed at bonsai is research, research, research. That's one of the main reasons bonsai has become my passion, you get out what you put in. As others have said, knowing the species you are growing, and what its specific needs are is vitally important. Basic horticulture goes a long way, but tree species' can sometimes need very specific care.

I think you are down the right path with how enthusiastic you are, but the next step is the knowledge and practice. It was mentioned on your other post for this tree, but watering is probably the most important fundamental to understand in bonsai practice. Even then, watering needs change daily in my garden. Keeping trees alive in a container is not necessarily an easy endeavor.

Keep at it and learn from the mistakes! This is all just a big experiment at the end of the day.

 

[leatherback]

This is all just a big experiment at the end of the day.

Unless you are willing to listen to people who have done this for a bit.
I do not consider bonsai to be an experiment.