Hi, the one thing that stands out (because I only recently learned about it) is that you're working in the spring, but for whatever reason, unlike other conifers, mugo do best if worked on in early summer - and that came straight from Vance Wood, THE mugo expert in bonsai - I would definitely ask him any and all of your questions. I'm not sure at this point, however, how to reach him directly, so just google his name and you'll get lots of hits (pick a recent one). I also wondered about your having removed all the candles in one shot, but that may be fine. Good luck.

But, as you said in your OP, you're mostly just going to slip-pot it so that's no big deal anytime of the year. I lived in Pa so the idea was to get the major work done in early spring in order to get the most out of the growing season. You have the rest of the season to do wiring, pruning and all of the other work. Weather and micro-climate changes make everyones spring and summer different. Were the trees are in your yard may be in a different little 'zone' from your friend down the block. The same way a greenhouse has different 'sweet-spots' for different plants. Hell...I just moved one Ficus and an Arilia 15' in my courtyard and they got upset over that!!! Bob

I would probably let it go another week or two so that all it roots have woke up and gotten a start. You could probably repot now if you really wanted but I would probably wait a while if it was me. Rinsing the roots might help get rid of some of the root system that died off over the winter but I would be gentle and not try to completely clean them. It should come back fine with the 5-1-1. I have recently repotted two of my overwinter plants into 5-1-1 from a more traditional soil they were in and they are both doing great. Just be prepared to water them more often. They will dry much quicker in the AZ sun than the traditional potting mix did. It sounds like that plant is looking for a 5 gallon pot if it was that big last year. Good luck and I hope it does well for you again this season and I hope you have better luck with the seeds you harvest off it. Make sure you are harvesting the seeds and handling them correctly afterwards. Bruce

Some time ago I bought a Mammilaria elongata from Wilkos, and like all plants from there it was in pure peat. It looked healthy enough tho so I left it as is. But the other day I got myself some john innes n°2 and some grit/sand mix-like I used to use years ago,so I did some repotting. After doing the big opuntia (easier than it looked) I did the mamm.elongata. I unpotted it (rootball light as a feather) and a piece fell off. I presumed it was just an offset like I get with my mamm.vetula, but after I'd potted up the mother plant I had a look at the offset. It appeared to have a hollowed out callus that had long healed,and the attachment point on the mother plant was all dry and crusty. It must have suffered some rot at some point but survived! Anyway I now have a potential new mamm.elongata start! I'll keep an eye on it...