My cedrus seems dying after repotting

[Baltha030]

Hi all,
New to the forum and relatively new to bonsai’s.
On mid September i have repotted my cedrus which i bought from nursery stock and styled end of spring. I live in Greece and at that time and till before a week weather was quite warm (around 17-27 Celcius).
I took the risk to repot because roots became quite dense and i read in a web page which is famous for bonsai that cedrus can be repotted on autumn too.
Cedrus lost all the green color and loosing needles. I have it in place where it has direct sun about 3-4 hours but i add about 6 hours per day artificial light.
I add a photo of the plant. Can i do anything to help this cedrus to survive or is it dying???

 

[Shibui]

Is it outside? I know you say 3-4 hours of sun but also artificial light but the photo looks like indoors? Maybe a balcony?
Cedrus often look sick after root pruning. Even if repotted in spring they sometimes drop most of the needles.
Usually they will recover. I think the only thing you can do is keep caring for the tree. make sure it doesn't get too dry but also avoid having the soil soaking wet all the time.

I suspect it would do much better with more sunlight. Most conifers do not do well with so little sun. Even artificial sun is not really the best for conifers.

 

[Baltha030]

Thanks for the reply. Indeed it is a balcony. Unfortunately it is not easy to have it completely out to the sun! I have not the space!

 

[Shibui]

Many growers only have balconies and still manage to grow good bonsai. The key is selecting the correct species that can cope with your particular conditions. Not everyone can grow all species successfully. Hope your cedar recovers but I would suggest trying trees other than conifers and sun lovers instead.

 

[Baltha030]

Many growers only have balconies and still manage to grow good bonsai. The key is selecting the correct species that can cope with your particular conditions. Not everyone can grow all species successfully. Hope your cedar recovers but I would suggest trying trees other than conifers and sun lovers instead.

Agree! I just have at the same balcony 2 junipers which are doing great and I thought to try the cedrus too cause i like them a lot.

 

[caffeinated]

Cedrus are pretty notorious for hating root work, especially the bigger first repot from nursery stock to smaller container kind of root work. I've had some lose all needles and then bud out again and come back. Not much you can do more than normal care, just be patient and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[jferrier]

Cedars can drop all their needles and recover but I've only seen that happen with healthy roots that just got too dry. I try to remove fewer roots at once with cedars and have found the best time in my climate is very early spring. For me in the PNW thats about first couple weeks of March.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Cedars are very sensitive to root disturbance although I have seen cases where folks got away with it. One big factor seems to be aftercare—greenhouse, high humidity, good balance of roots to foliage, adequate moisture, no heat stress, etc. One big factor also like most is doing it at the right time. Probably best just after buds swell and before they pop.