Too late to repot this juniper?

[harshadg]

I wanted to get this out of a nursery container this year into an Anderson flat with open substrate. Wondering if I’ve missed the window for repotting.

Im in zone 7a. Any advice would be helpful!

 

[BrightsideB]

If you want to get the maximum growth in the container. Waiting until next spring would be wise. And letting it grow this year the best it can. Doing major root work now will set it back. I have repotted junipers all year long except winter. Usually they need to be put into the shade during hot months for a couple weeks so that less transpiration takes place with less roots. And easing them back in the sun to see how well they do.

Unless the tree is totally rootbound and suffering I’d wait.

 

[Paradox]

I wanted to get this out of a nursery container this year into an Anderson flat with open substrate. Wondering if I’ve missed the window for repotting.

Im in zone 7a. Any advice would be helpful!

View attachment 545897

You can repot that now but don't wait too long, it's almost past time

 

[Shibui]

What they said. Junipers seem to transplant OK later in spring, even with fresh growth.
Transplant without cutting too many roots is OK most times of the year. Often I just pull the root ball open to flatten it and repot so not cutting many roots. It would depend what you find when you get it out of the pot.
You will definitely get a much better result and a little safer if you can wait and do it properly next spring. Sometimes it's actually quicker to wait a year.

 

[Japonicus]

@harshadg

Im in zone 7a.

Your details say you're in 6b
Judging by the stage of development of the foliage, you're right where I like to wait until it reaches
this stage, to repot juniper. When the tips are swolen and juicy when pinched.
If like Shibui says the roots are not a solid mass and water passes through without ponding
you certainly can wait till next April.
I prefer late April to early May or whenever the tips look like your picture.
However I am not a coastal state, and it seems the E coast has been running hot the last couple of years.
So what works for me may not be best for you. My summers are more humid in the Ohio River Valley.
Last frost date runs May 10th on avg, was early this year I think.

You can repot that now but don't wait too long, it's almost past time

Agree it's getting close, maybe too close if watering is an issue while working.
I did it for years soaking in the morning then off to work for the day and 2 more
waterings in the pm usually.

I'm curious to see a picture of the entire juniper. That might be a better tale teller.

 

[harshadg]

Yes the timing in CT is a bit strange. Some observations:

1. Pine candles are only now extending
2. Maples/larix leafed out about 4 weeks ago
3. Ginkgo and witch hazel leafed out about 3 weeks ago
4. European beech leafed out 4 days ago and oaks about a week ago.
5. Bald cypress broke bud 3-4 days ago and Dawn redwood about 2 weeks ago.
6. Cedrus buds are just now swelling.
7. Colorado blue spruce pushed buds and shed the “cap” this week

Based on this I’d have expected juniper repotting to be even later - about now or even next week, but I’m seeing green tips already - which caught me quite by surprise.

Interestingly I picked up this juniper in WV where it was growing packed among other conifers. The yellowing is from being in low light and I was hoping it would improve but maybe those are just future Jin.

My experiences with trying to make bonsai from accessible landscape material have taught me that if it’s older material in a large pot - it’s more than likely that the roots are absolutely garbage. Hence my thinking was to put it into open mix and start working on getting dense roots which can then be worked on to put into a flat pot later years from now. The objective here isn’t to necessarily to build caliper - more to start rootwork.

 

[Japonicus]

Interestingly I picked up this juniper in WV where it was growing packed among other conifers. The yellowing is from being in low light

Curious how long ago you received this. It takes a while for juniper to discolour from light availability issues.
Being how it appears in picture, to be the lower branches that would be crowded, makes me feel a little better.
Just the same, have you checked for mites too?

The objective here isn’t to necessarily to build caliper - more to start rootwork.

Smart man. It has grown out more than most are going to grow procumbens out.
Leaving good foliage to absorb sunlights energy to recoup and regenerate root growth is commendable.

Have you ever reduced a nursery juniper before to bonsai pot?
What size can is it growing in now?

 

[harshadg]

I got it last thanksgiving. I’d been watching it for the better part of 2023 and know that the lower branches were shaded the whole time, and the discoloration was present when I got it. I was just trying to give it time to put new growth there but seems like the tree has chosen not to invest in those.

I haven’t seen any mites, but I intend to start with the bug sprays soon. It’s getting to that time of year where it will be a problem. Couldn’t tell you what size nursery can that is but the diameter is probably 20” or thereabouts.

I’ve practiced on several smaller junipers before as a beginner where I was just trying to learn the techniques. Some pics attached of two that I reduced with pics taken about a year after the transition into a ceramic pot.

 

[Paradox]

I haven’t seen any mites, but I intend to start with the bug sprays soon. It’s getting to that time of year where it will be a problem.

Mites are not true bugs and most regular insecticide won't kill them. You'll need a miticide.

Also unless you did the paper test, you won't see them. They are tiny.

Take a white plan sheet of paper and hold it under a branch. Tap or shake the branch over the paper.

Look at the paper, any really tiny things crawling around are probably mites. Run your finger across them. If you get reddish brown streaks, it's mites.

 

[Japonicus]

I got it last thanksgiving. I’d been watching it for the better part of 2023 and know that the lower branches were shaded the whole time, and the discoloration was present when I got it. I was just trying to give it time to put new growth there but seems like the tree has chosen not to invest in those.

I haven’t seen any mites, but I intend to start with the bug sprays soon. It’s getting to that time of year where it will be a problem. Couldn’t tell you what size nursery can that is but the diameter is probably 20” or thereabouts.

I’ve practiced on several smaller junipers before as a beginner where I was just trying to learn the techniques. Some pics attached of two that I reduced with pics taken about a year after the transition into a ceramic pot.

Whatever you did with these a year ago, apply those techniques on a larger scale.
Have you considered what size container it will go in to?
40% the current volume should work. Might I suggest a wooden grow box you can custom to necessary volume? Then next root work you can judge better what to expect going into the job. If you have a good selection of Anderson flats in various sizes then no problem but I'd be at a loss to suggest the perfect size. Do you have more than 10 gallons of bonsai substrate for the new home?

 

[Japonicus]

Actually Lowes carries a cedar colour wooden patio tub with metal banding. Needs more drainage holes but might be perfect size. I have one I'll throw a picture of, up tomorrow.

I usually start by reducing root ball by half removing bottom half. Adjust planting angle of trunk to bottom cut. Rake out top soil laterally some, getting all the duff and old fertilizer off the top. Then procede to rake out side roots some an inch or so in.
Thats across the board. After that, case by case how much more if any bottom inside of root ball to remove. I do prefer to get at the thicker roots that are low in the bottom at this time too but if it's weak you shouldn't even be in there anyway. If it's healthy then work on those bigger roots and dead roots.

Too often nurseries keep piling soil on top of the original planting level making our job all the more difficult.

 

[harshadg]

I think your strategy makes a lot of sense, and is similar to what I typically do. For those particular junipers in the bonsai pots (its been a few years now, and I no longer posses those trees), I remember bare-rooting them, but I was in a far more forgiving hardiness zone with longer, milder temperatures. Here, I’m more in favor of a gentler treatment of the roots.

I have a couple of flat sizes that would work very well. I’ve found the treepots trays (link) to be quite a nice size. I think the nightmare scenario here is if the tree was root bound and simply slip-potted over the years over and over again…

 

[pandacular]

I have no direct advice to give, only that with nicer trees, it’s worth taking more time than may be possible. “Can I do this now” is a different question than “will it be best to do this operation on the tree now/this season/this year.”

You have a nice piece of material there.

 

[sorce]

100% success in summer.
0% success in spring.
That's my record.

Sorce

 

[Deleted member 47471]

 

[harshadg]

Nice virt! Agree there’s a lot of potential.

Life and upcoming travel mean that I won’t be able to monitor it closely. I’ve decided to wait it out until a more opportune time for repotting. Thanks for all the inputs!

 

[Japonicus]

100% success in summer.
0% success in spring.
That's my record.

Sorce

You’re doing something wrong if you want to repot in Spring.
I suspect too long before last frost date.
Close in on that date more like 1-3 weeks prior.

 

[Paradox]

100% success in summer.
0% success in spring.
That's my record.

Sorce

100% success in spring
<1% success in summer
Is my experience

 

[Brain Treez]

Nearly a year to the day that this post was created, and here I find myself asking the same question around repot timing for these junipers I just picked up last weekend. The two larger ones are in 7 gallon nursery pots with nice trunks. I don't know how long they've been in there, but the surface soil is pretty dense and the sides pull away from the pot as they dry out.

We've got some pretty mild weather in the forecast (highs dipping into the low 60's with some rain) for the next 4 or 5 days so I might just go ahead with it, at least on a few.

Thoughts from the group?

 

[harshadg]

So in my zone 6b/7a I repotted this tree 3-4 weeks ago, It’s doing fine. I learned the hard way that some of last years repotting were a bit late. If you use the Mirai mobile app, I noted that the timings were in closer agreement with what I was seeing with my trees. FWIW.