Moving trees to ground

[WNC Bonsai]

Ok, I have a couple Chinese quince that need fattening up and it isn’t happening fast enough in their pots so I am thinking of sticking them in the ground for a few years. These are 2 or 3 year old saplings that I got last year and have them grownig in a coarse bonsai mix. My question is if I move them to the ground would it be better to wait until next spring or can I do it this fall? Also should they be bare rooted and placed i the native soil or just left in the bonsai mx? My thoughts would be to do it this fall so the roots can recover and be ready for a big push next spring and to bare root them at that time, placing a tile under them. Another option would be to move them into a grow box with the same bonsai mix they are already in. That approach might mean less disturbance and give me agrester control. The floor is open to your comments, thanks.

 

[sorce]

I'd ground em at the next full moon.

Sorce

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That is the problem I found with Chinese quince in pots. They grow hard, but just don’t thicken up. To fatten the trunks at all, they really need to be in the ground and allowed to run. You could simply shift them to the ground now, undisturbed, for a little extra growth still this year, and dig them up in spring to do root work. If the roots are already arranged correctly, I’d plant set them on a rock or a tile and let them go for a few years. Chinese quince grow much stronger in the ground, but the roots won’t run away on you. I bet you would notice some benefit even this year.

I had a really bad habit of planting trees in the ground sticking straight up, and then chopping too high. I have had to force myself to plant trees in the ground at severe angles and then really chop low to end up with something interesting by the time it reaches a Bonsai pot years later.

I struggled with this Chinese quince not thickening in a Bonsai pot for a couple years, and in the ground it really took off. Proportionally these two photos show pretty well what 7-8 years in the ground and 2 too-high chops did with this Chinese quince. It’s a long game, and to do again, I’d start sooner and chop lower!

 

[Forsoothe!]

Sink the pot now, as is, if there is room for growth. Do it for two growing seasons and repot the following spring. It will fill the pot with roots and some big roots will escape out the holes. Remove all that escape, reconfigure roots and pot up-size if desired, keeping in mind that the roots will assume the shape of the sunk pot. The pot you sink it in, in the final growth period, should be the pot, or at least the same shape and size you want to show it in for that reason. The growth achieved in the second year will be very substantial. If left for three growing seasons it will be potbound and all the third year's growth will be outside the pot, un-bonsai-like, with too many newer feeder roots outside of the pot. Use whatever growing medium you like.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Sink the pot now, as is, if there is room for growth. Do it for two growing seasons and repot the following spring. It will fill the pot with roots and some big roots will escape out the holes. Remove all that escape, reconfigure roots and pot up-size if desired, keeping in mind that the roots will assume the shape of the sunk pot. The pot you sink it in, in the final growth period, should be the pot, or at least the same shape and size you want to show it in for that reason. The growth achieved in the second year will be very substantial. If left for three growing seasons it will be potbound and all the third year's growth will be outside the pot, un-bonsai-like, with too many newer feeder roots outside of the pot. Use whatever growing medium you like.

@Cofga: This is not what I would do if you are trying to thicken the trunk, for several reasons.

1. There is no good reason to leave it for 2-3 years in a pot when you could do the necessary root work in the spring, and get the benefit of ground growing plus a correctly-arranged root system starting in March 2020.
2. Sinking just the pot now will not accelerate much, if any growth this year. Just unpot it and plant it.
3. Sinking the pot will not reduce the watering requirements for a while, so you’ll still need to provide daily care.
4. The roots may escape, then obstruct drainage, causing problems with the roots you want to keep healthy in the pot.
5. You may break the pot when you do finally get a chance to repot.