How long in standard nursery pot?

[WorkingOnPatience]

I’m sure this has been answered before but I have looked and can’t find anything. How long is it ok to leave a plant in a standard garden center/nursery pot (not a bonsai nursery) before root rot becomes an issue? I have a couple junipers that are fairly root bound it seems but have read that this isn’t the best time of year to repot. Also, if you shouldn’t bare root a juniper, then how can you ever get it completely repotted with fresh “bonsai soil”? Thanks!

 

[Victorim]

Its ok to leave in the pot. Generally if your taking a nursary juniper and then styling, or doing structural cutbacks, it's best to leave recover untill the following year to repot. Juniper strength is in its foliage.

Root rot will only be a issue if you over water.

How do you deduce these junipers are root bound? Juniper roots are fibrous and take a long long time to get to that state. Getting a juniper into soil will enable care free soaking and heavy feeding, but may not be an immediate need.

No it's not best to bare root a juniper. Over time you can chip away at sections or half bare root.

All that said, two days ago I attacked a nursary juniper... nebari digging turned into a full bare root.. foliage reduced about 70%.. and go from there. Rolling dice maybe, but expendable material.

Some pics pal? Says more than anything.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

About 3 years ago I picked up a J. procumbens Nana from a local nursery, in a nursery pot with a soil mix of about 50% pine bark and 50% compost. A year later I cut about 1/3 of the lower root ball off and stuck it back in the same pot after cutting the pot down an equal amount. I left it alone last year and then this spring I relpaced about half of the remaining nursery soil with my bonsai mix and moved the tree to a larger plastic training pot. It is putting out all kinds of new growth. Next spring I plan to remove the rest of the nursery soil amd remove a little more of the root ball since it is nowmsitting a bit high in the pot.

 

[TN_Jim]

Parsons from winter landscaping greenhouse I cut back 60%+ foliage...left in 1 gal. ...started pushing new growth...sawed root mass to ~3” and put into colanders w/ de and a little sifted bark. They seem stable if not content with new buds and some growth.
I would never do this with the native collected ERC I have, they’d be brown inside of two mo.

 

[TN_Jim]

I reread what I just wrote and realized it sounds cryptic, and that’s because I don’t know the answer to your question, and it is a good question.

I do know that different junipers react differently. What is the species you have? I would think that the most cautious approach if turns out to really be rootbound or not,would be to put it in the earth, or slip it into a larger (wider) vessel surrounded by a good mix, maybe slight aeration with chopstick or such if really compacted?

 

[sorce]

Root Rot isn't going to be the first issue.

Welcome to Crazy.

Root rot as in the actual water mould.

Excessive heat and fertilzer balls that were never intended to open before planted in the ground are your first causes of concern.

Which kills roots without water moulds.

Aesthetically speaking our biggest chore is sorting out circling rootmasses....

So leaving them in nursery pots for any length is making our burden greater.

I guess that is horticulturally speaking as well...since the worse the circling, the more harsh the work to fix it.

Truth as always....it depends....

But to arm you with as much information as possible to figure it out.....

I have 9 1gl blue rug Juniperus that I will pot at the next full moon...or the next if this baseball trip effs my plans.
Either way I will be reducing the roots from 1gl to fit into some right tiny pots...and nothing larger than a 5inch basket.

To ensure they will survive I am not cutting off any more foliage...which was reduced in spring by 30-70%.
This will ensure the regrowth of roots during the waning moon.

I never really flood these...just keep the surface wet so it knows those roots are necessary. It doesn't really matter if you allow the bottom to dry and die.
Its getting cut off anyway.

You could equally but oppositely keep it fully submerged except for the top inch...
Let dirty hot wet kill the bottom roots...

Either way....

I am starting to see the effects of how watering these differently, and taking certain actions while in the pots of death, can best help us make these Conversions.

I have kept spruce flooded and rotted the bottom roots and managed to get it in a shallow basket rather painlessly.

I have 5 other spruce I am approaching the same way. At least 2 will be potted this summer as well.

Boxwood....

Boxwood Must be removed from the pots if you intend to cut any more than about 40% of the top off.

Buying Boxwood that need more grow out than a bonsai pot provides is near a fools mission.
Unless they are properly basketed, in a proper airpruning situation for the roots.
Colander...pond basket...etc.

This allows a more balanced top and bottom if training the top excessively.

I am going to take a few box out of black pots this summer as well...to baskets and bonsai pots.
3 - 4 left in pots over winter died ..
The others are in poor health...which shpuld rebound at repot as they tend to do.

Deciduos trees from the nursery arent really my cup of tea......
But Ill say the surface roots always suck...
So removing them from nursery pots should be via layer. A proper Radialayer. Not some tangled root BS like you already have in the pot.

Oh mugos too...3-5 in nursery pots that will be basketed this summer....

I have been pushing my luck with these....leaving them in nursery pots and cutting off more and more surface circling roots....and it doesn't set them back...
Maybe two roots upon purchase...and one or 2 more thru the season.

I still have to dig into these to see if the results help at all.....which I doubt...since the wicked tight square shaped mass of thick roots is almost always too effed for me to work with.....

Getting 1 of 3 to live thru a complete barerooting and into a state I can stand to work from has been more productive.
I reckon that rule is gonna turn out the same for these Juniperus...

Except I'm near positive...so long as you leave enough foliage to regrow roots...and repot near the full moon....Rain and Wane...
And put them back into full sun well well well watered...
They won't die.

Sorce

 

[WorkingOnPatience]

Except I'm near positive...so long as you leave enough foliage to regrow roots...and repot near the full moon....Rain and Wane...
And put them back into full sun well well well watered...
They won't die.

Sorce[/QUOTE]

So just to clarify, next full moon is June 28th for me. Your saying to repot around then and keep in shade and well watered a couple weeks until the new moon, and then back to full? Is that what you mean by rain and wane? Thanks! I appreciate all the info!

 

[WorkingOnPatience]

Thanks everyone for all the input. Exactly what I was looking for!

 

[sorce]

Except I'm near positive...so long as you leave enough foliage to regrow roots...and repot near the full moon....Rain and Wane...
And put them back into full sun well well well watered...
They won't die.

Sorce

So just to clarify, next full moon is June 28th for me. Your saying to repot around then and keep in shade and well watered a couple weeks until the new moon, and then back to full? Is that what you mean by rain and wane? Thanks! I appreciate all the info![/QUOTE]

Juniperus Straight into full sun!
Except for what the raincloud doesn't allow!

Rain and Wane is like a repotting insurance policy.

There's about 10 days around the full moon...5 before 5 after...that I consider the best time to repot...
Of those 10 days I chose the rainiest day to repot .
So you dont have to worry about misting the roots or otherwise going fast.
And you can use natures natural cool shady period of rain, which still provides great light , to give them a rest without needing to move them to shade.

Then when the sun comes out, really warma up the potamd surrounding soakededness...that warm humidity really gets the roots moving.

Search "root talk".
The moon is real!

Sorce

 

[WNC Bonsai]

One thing to remember is to mist the folige, it can take in as much water as roots can.