Should I repot this JBP ...... just because ?

[Mike Corazzi]

"Just because" it is in a fairly deep pot and has been there 2 years. It's growing well but I have no idea of the root situation, but would guess pretty dense as it has pretty much taken up a bunch of the top of the pot with the nebari.

I...presume... it won't come out easy but I can slip a blade around it and ..probably... take it out without a lot of damage.
And....not NOW but next spring.

 

[Adair M]

Yes.

 

[Japonicus]

Just because

Just because the nebari needs some TLC and you get to know how the roots should be right now
without looking. I mean, next time it's 2 years in, you have an understanding generally, what it will look like
before you repot again. I always complain about the soil draining fine when it's potting window,
then a month or 2 later, BAM!, I should've potted it up, now the roots are choking with new growth
and outside the potting window, so I have to plunge the soil with very large nail/tent stake.
Do it. Should slip out fine.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Yes.

Think it should go in a larger shallower pot?

 

[Adair M]

Think it should go in a larger shallower pot?

Mike, your picture is taken at such a bad angle, I can’t really tell what style your tree is.

But...

that pot is taller than it is wide. It’s an old style cascade pot. They’re really not used anymore. Cascade and semicascade trees are now potted into pots that are about as deep as they are wide. And they’re elevated by a stand of some sort.

The reason is the soil at the top may be vastly different than the soil in the bottom as to wetness. So, even if it appears dry on top, it may still be wet on the bottom, or vice versa. And, they’re difficult to repot.

 

[Potawatomi13]

It’s an old style cascade pot. They’re really not used anymore.

This is an absolute LIE! Great display of personal prejudice and ignorance. Plenty are used and for sale.

 

[Adair M]

This is an absolute LIE! Great display of personal prejudice and ignorance. Plenty are used and for sale.

It’s not a lie, Potawatomi. It’s an opinion for sure. Yes, they are still being made, and used. However, they have fallen into disfavor by the top bonsai practitioners because of the problems I stated. When I said, “they’re not being used anymore”, that’s a figure of speech, not an absolutism.

Those tall cascade pots are a nightmare to repot. I have heard many stories of how people had to resort to breaking the pot because the tree became so potbound they couldn’t get the tree out.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

that pot is taller than it is wide. It’s an old style cascade pot. They’re really not used anymore. Cascade and semicascade trees are now potted into pots that are about as deep as they are wide. And they’re elevated by a stand of some sort.

The reason is the soil at the top may be vastly different than the soil in the bottom as to wetness. So, even if it appears dry on top, it may still be wet on the bottom, or vice versa. And, they’re difficult to repot.

That I have noticed. I was careful with the soil and it drained great. However, the top LOOKED dry by early afternoon.
IOW.... I had no idea what was wet or not.

Thus the question.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I repotted a Blue Atlas Cedar cascade this spring in one of these pots, yet a little taller perhaps. The tree was inherited from my Father in Law.

The tree just wouldn’t come out. I pleaded, thought not so nice thoughts, sang tree songs, and tugged carefully on the wrapped trunk to no avail.

Next I carefully hammered a thin jimmy down the sides of the pot and shot high pressure water into the resulting slots to break up the side pressure. No joy. The darn bonsai and pot seemed to be welded together.

I got out Ye Olde Sledge and contemplated the best way to smash and grab safely for all concerned, tree included.

At this point I got some Devine inspiration from somewhere, likely a faint memory of an underwater excavation project we’d done 30 years ago. So I hooked up the hose to a high pressure jet and wrapped the trunk securely. Then my better half pulled on the pot while I pulled on the trunk and my daughter jammed the water jet in the only drain hole. A group grope for sure. After two tries the tree popped right out of the pot. Surprisingly enough there was minimal root damage....

Tug of War With trees ..... or...... What a wet mess in the cold rain.

Upshot: Don’t like these pots that much, although they do look pretty.

Here’s a not great photo of the miscreant shortly after the repot. I’ll see if there is a new one as my Brother in Law has the tree now.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Adair M]

I repotted a Blue Atlas Cedar cascade this spring in one of these pots, yet a little taller perhaps. The tree was inherited from my Father in Law.

The tree just wouldn’t come out. I pleaded, thought not so nice thoughts, sang tree songs, and tugged carefully on the wrapped trunk to no avail.

Next I carefully hammered a thin jimmy down the sides of the pot and shot high pressure water into the resulting slots to break up the side pressure. No joy. The darn bonsai and pot seemed to be welded together.

I got out Ye Olde Sledge and contemplated the best way to smash and grab safely for all concerned, tree included.

At this point I got some Devine inspiration from somewhere, likely a faint memory of an underwater excavation project we’d done 30 years ago. So I hooked up the hose to a high pressure jet and wrapped the trunk securely. Then my better half pulled on the pot while I pulled on the trunk and my daughter jammed the water jet in the only drain hole. A group grope for sure. After two tries the tree popped right out of the pot. Surprisingly enough there was minimal root damage....

Tug of War With trees ..... or...... What a wet mess in the cold rain.

Upshot: Don’t like these pots that much, although they do look pretty.

Here’s a not great photo of the miscreant shortly after the repot. I’ll see if there is a new one as my Brother in Law has the tree now.

Cheers
DSD sends
View attachment 327199

And you put it back in the same pot???

Dude...

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

And you put it back in the same pot???
Dude...

Yep, and promptly gave it to my Brother in Law...!

 

[Adair M]

Yep, and promptly gave it to my Brother in Law...!

Well, I guess that’s one way to get rid of it!

 

[Shibui]

These problems with repotting are usually down to the shape of the pot. Pots with incurving lip make it impossible to slip the root ball out without cutting round the edges. Those taller pots often have slightly convex sides to the middle is actually wider than the top and the matted roots cannot come out. Use a long knife or saw to cut the root mass to wedge shape to get them out.
And then get rid of the offending pots.

 

[Japonicus]

And then get rid of the offending pots.

So just skip this part about the wedge

Use a long knife or saw to cut the root mass to wedge shape

In all seriousness that would be the smart thing to do with such a pot. Oops it busted
then you have control of the take away from the roots more.

Looking at the attached thumbnail in the 1st post, I really think @Mike Corazzi s tree will slip out just fine.
Let it dry, snip the wire and remove, and a little wiggle upside down.
At worst a butter knife along the edges to bottom. Worst case scenario at 5 years, this is 2. Easy peasy.

 

[Japonicus]

I think the pot here is better than credit received. I'd keep it for something.
It's the round pot to the left that looks daunting for an over due potting task,
and not that frost friendly either with the in-turned edge. Looks like a cactus pot.

 

[roberthu]

I have watched quite some Japanese professionals repotting videos on YouTube. Some of them did have trouble getting the tree out. But most of them either spend more time scraping soil on the sides or use a rubber hammer to tab the side of the pots and trees always cane out. I think I only saw one actually break the pot and that gentleman didn’t even try to get the tree out the normal way. He smashed the pot at the very beginning.

 

[sorce]

And then get rid of the offending pots

Or get rid of the pots offenses!

There are a thousand things we can find to take up that offending space in the pot. Make it easy to slip out.

Anyone who has a hard time with these, the second time they Repot them, is a moron!

Sorce

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Some who make canister damascus knives line their canister with Wite Out liquid paper.
Then the canister will come off easier after the forge.

But then most of us probably don't put our trees in a forge.

Except for me and my scots pine........

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Mike, your picture is taken at such a bad angle, I can’t really tell what style your tree is.

But...

that pot is taller than it is wide. It’s an old style cascade pot. They’re really not used anymore. Cascade and semicascade trees are now potted into pots that are about as deep as they are wide. And they’re elevated by a stand of some sort.

Here's a more "on the level" pic.

 

[Adair M]

Here's a more "on the level" pic.

View attachment 327509

Yeah, that pot’s way too deep.