Too late to re-pot a willow?

[JasonRedwood]

Hey guys,

I may have an interesting problem on my hands. Late this spring i took a bunch of willow cuttings and rooted them. I got one rooted which was pretty thick and i've been just growing it out this summer.

The top hasn't had a crazy amount of growth considering it's a willow - but it's doing okay for right now.

I noticed last night that it has roots peaking out of the bottom of the pot - because of course it does, it's a willow.

My question is, is it too late to repot before winter? The tree won't be going dormant until December, I am trying refrigerator dormancy with it. Next spring i was planning on cutting it back to be much, much smaller (and then it can go under my lights if i don't have outdoor space by then).

Also, if i don't repot it before winter, and just wait until spring, is it going to get too root bound?

It's potted in crappy potting soil with grit mixed in - another thing is I'd like to get it in something better - another benefit of repotting it asap.

 

[JasonRedwood]

Update: I did go ahead and repot this willow. I'm glad that I did. It was not rootbound yet, which almost made me feel stupid for taking it out of the pot - but i was looking at the roots and they were completely encased in potting mix - so much so that if i squeezed them, tons of water came out.

I ended up combing out all those roots as gently as i could - didn't cut anything off - and potted in diotomite mixed with pine bark and a tiny bit of potting soil for retention. I guess i'll see how it goes.

On a better note, since it was a cutting -the roots are flaring nicely out from the trunk.