Mugo...finally got one

[coh]

With all the recent talk about mugo's, I figured I'd resurrect this thread and come clean..this mugo did not make it. Started browning out a month or so after the work I did, and was pretty much all brown by the winter. I kept it around until this spring "just in case" but it was pretty evident that it was long gone. 0 for 1 with mugos...

I suspect too much root work when I repotted last summer.

Will definitely be keeping my eyes open for another potential victim but will be much less aggressive next time!

Chris

 

[Vance Wood]

With all the recent talk about mugo's, I figured I'd resurrect this thread and come clean..this mugo did not make it. Started browning out a month or so after the work I did, and was pretty much all brown by the winter. I kept it around until this spring "just in case" but it was pretty evident that it was long gone. 0 for 1 with mugos...

I suspect too much root work when I repotted last summer.

Will definitely be keeping my eyes open for another potential victim but will be much less aggressive next time!

Chris

It seemed from your descriptions you did everything right. So now I am really curious what you did do that was not on the list. What kind of soil did you plant the tree in and how much did you water the tree? We can start here and work around the event. It is possible that you disturbed too much of the remaining soil mass after cutting the 1/3 off the bottom in the beginning.

 

[coh]

It seemed from your descriptions you did everything right. So now I am really curious what you did do that was not on the list. What kind of soil did you plant the tree in and how much did you water the tree? We can start here and work around the event. It is possible that you disturbed too much of the remaining soil mass after cutting the 1/3 off the bottom in the beginning.

I'm pretty sure it was the root work. From my first post: "I've worked into the root system quite a bit more than I intended and am not sure if I should dig in any further." So while I only cut off the bottom third to begin with, once I started looking for surface roots and "teasing" out the sides and bottom of the root mass, I started untangling roots and I'm pretty sure I went too far. Potting and aftercare were similar to many other trees I've repotted, I used a coarse mix which included pumice, lava, and bark, though I didn't write down the exact ratios. The tree was placed in a location that got limited morning sun and was checked carefully for moisture before watering. If any of the after care sounds off, let me know...but that's how I treat most of my repots and I rarely have any issues.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!

Chris

 

[Vance Wood]

I'm pretty sure it was the root work. From my first post: "I've worked into the root system quite a bit more than I intended and am not sure if I should dig in any further." So while I only cut off the bottom third to begin with, once I started looking for surface roots and "teasing" out the sides and bottom of the root mass, I started untangling roots and I'm pretty sure I went too far. Potting and aftercare were similar to many other trees I've repotted, I used a coarse mix which included pumice, lava, and bark, though I didn't write down the exact ratios. The tree was placed in a location that got limited morning sun and was checked carefully for moisture before watering. If any of the after care sounds off, let me know...but that's how I treat most of my repots and I rarely have any issues.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!

Chris

I think you may be right about the "Too Aggressive Root Work". You would have probably succeeded if you had only teased out the roots growing around the remaining outside of the soil mass where the roots were encircling the soil ball and left the other stuff till the next time.

The only thing about the after care is the question as to whether you let the tree dry out or almost get dry before rewatering? Your soil mix sounds perfect. A lot of Pine enthusiasts tend to keeping things dry. This is not good for Mugos.

 

[fore]

I think you may be right about the "Too Aggressive Root Work". You would have probably succeeded if you had only teased out the roots growing around the remaining outside of the soil mass where the roots were encircling the soil ball and left the other stuff till the next time.

The only thing about the after care is the question as to whether you let the tree dry out or almost get dry before rewatering? Your soil mix sounds perfect. A lot of Pine enthusiasts tend to keeping things dry. This is not good for Mugos.

This is the whole thing really, if one only works the perimeter of roots, how much to remove the inner root mass core safely? I had the same conundrum repotting my yamadori this spring. I was pretty aggressive and thank goodness they all are doing well. I'll have the same questions whenever I repot my mugo out of that clay.

Thanks for fessing up Chris, hopefully we can all learn from each others' mistakes.

 

[Vance Wood]

This is the whole thing really, if one only works the perimeter of roots, how much to remove the inner root mass core safely? I had the same conundrum repotting my yamadori this spring. I was pretty aggressive and thank goodness they all are doing well. I'll have the same questions whenever I repot my mugo out of that clay.

Thanks for fessing up Chris, hopefully we can all learn from each others' mistakes.

The next repotting you divide the remaing soil mass into six equal parts like a pie. Taking a saw you can cut into the soil mass along the borders of three of those six parts and remove three pieces of pie. The next repot you remove the last three parts. Obviously if you have significant important surface roots you avoid removing them.

 

[coh]

I think you may be right about the "Too Aggressive Root Work". You would have probably succeeded if you had only teased out the roots growing around the remaining outside of the soil mass where the roots were encircling the soil ball and left the other stuff till the next time.

The only thing about the after care is the question as to whether you let the tree dry out or almost get dry before rewatering? Your soil mix sounds perfect. A lot of Pine enthusiasts tend to keeping things dry. This is not good for Mugos.

I can't say for sure that I didn't let it get too dry, though I doubt it. Nevertheless, I will keep that in mind for any potential future mugo's.

Chris