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The first repotting

treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY

18 years ago

Hello,

I normally frequent the trees and conifers forum, but have recently become interested in bonsai. I have a striped bark maple (A. pensylvanicum) that I have been training over the past two years. Its trunk has thickened and it is developing a nice network of smaller branches in the crown. However, the plant has not been re-potted since I collected it two years ago. It is currently growing in a very large (1.5' wide by 8" deep) pot. I am wondering when would be the best time to re-pot it into a bonsai pot. As this would require a great deal of root pruning, I was wondering if there was any specific time of year that would be best for the tree as far as its ability to cope with the shock of re-potting.

If anybody wishes to see pics of it, let me know.

Thanks for helping a newbie!

Comments (3)

lucy
18 years ago
Late winter.. before anything is wide awake. Doing it now might be asking too much of it when it's just going/gone dormant and has no reserves left to respond, but could trigger a 'grow' instinct.
bwaynef
18 years ago
Early spring, when its starting to push buds might be best. Late winter could still give you freezes that might damage roots that have been recently trimmed.

I'm not sure about that particular species, but Acers in general (excepting Japanese Maples) can take pretty severe root pruning so don't worry too much. I wouldn't put it in TOO shallow a pot though as some of them like more water. I haven't done my research on A. pens... though so thats up to you.

WF
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treeguy_ny USDA z6a WNY
Original Author
18 years ago
Thank you both for the info. Looks like late winter/early spring it is. Maybe I'll post some pics when repotted in the new year!

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