Repot "indoor" juniper pro nana?

[danrittereiser]

In December i purchased a small Juniper Procumbens nana binsai from the Japan area of EPCOT in Florida. I brought it back home to NY where we are deep in winter. I am going to keep it indoors until the spring so that i dont shock it with our freezing cold january. Once it goes outside innspring it will stay an outdoor bonsai.

My question is... do you think its safe to do a repot now in February? Tree looks healthy but soil is not great. I want to set it up for its greatest success in the spring. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Gabler]

How bad is the soil? Pictures would help.

Regular potting soil is fine if you don't water too frequently. There are really two big advantages to inorganic substrate: (1) it's impossible to overwater, and (2) the tree will grow more slowly with better ramification of the roots and branches.

 

[danrittereiser]

Yes i understand that... i guess my question is if there is any danger in repotting when the tree is not coming out of dormancy? Normally i would repot in spring when the tree becomes active again... but in this case it hasnt had a dormant period.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Unlike many such bonsai your soil doesn’t look all that bad now and you are not overwatering it, plus the foliage looks healthy. However a house is not a great environment for a JPN so I would hold off repotting it until you can put it outside.

 

[danrittereiser]

Ok... thats what i thought... i will repot in spring when i can put it outside and in the sun... better to not put it through that stress now. Thanks for the advice

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

If you keep it indoors, it might not be alive in spring.

So I guess, either put it outside and let it have a little dormancy, or keep it as is and continue your plan but repot in fall instead of spring. This allows it some recovery time from the harsh indoor conditions.

Remember these are mountain junipers, they can have blazing hot days followed by freezing nights, especially in fall and spring time.
There have been times in the alps where I started a hike in snow and ended up in shorts and t-shirt at 3 in the afternoon.

The whole premise that it's out of dormancy and can not go into freezing temperatures without a soft transition is a human mind game in my view.
I've never seen junipers hurt by it in the past. And I've gotten most of mine from heated greenhouses or mediterranean climates and plopped them right into a freeze when I got home.
Not a single one has every shown to be hurt by it.

 

[danrittereiser]

Ok... well said... and i know in my head that you are right... i just dont want to add this to the dead tree pile... so i want to take as few risks as possible... but i guess keeping it indoors IS the risk... i keep that in mind

 

[Shibui]

Normally i would repot in spring when the tree becomes active again... but in this case it hasnt had a dormant period.

I'm assuming the implication of this is that Florida trees never have dormancy.
Have you thought how Florida bonsai growers get on repotting if their trees never have dormancy?
Reality is that junipers don't need to be fully dormant or 'just coming out of dormancy' for safe repotting. That's just a myth you guys in places that are too cold have. I routinely repot conifers after I've finished all the deciduous trees By that time Spring here is well under way and trees are growing well. I don't seem to have large numbers of dead junipers lying around and neither do growers in tropical areas.
I would do your repot at your normal repot time. Maybe less root reduction than normal if you're worried.

 

[MaciekA]

If a juniper is healthy and plump and has been grown outdoors the entire growing season, it is ready to encounter winter. There's nothing per se about being in Florida that should prevent this health and plumpness from happening -- starch is starch. Florida is still in the northern hemisphere and the Orlando area did get decently chilly in the last couple months a couple times.

I strongly agree with @Wires_Guy_wires on the put it outside front: Indoors can kill these things fast and is in no way protective/beneficial.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Guys, the OP is in New York not Florida, that is where the tree was purchased. It would be an interesting experiment to shock the tree by suddenly moving it outdoors at this point. A gradual transition would be best IMHO if he has a way to do that, although if the tree is not dormant now, which it likely is not, then I doubt it could take a sudden drop to sub-freezing temps. A temp controlled out building or garage where the tree could be kept above freezing would be a possible solution. Junipers are not believed to have much of a chill hour requirement so a gradual transition might work.