Soil Mix for Container Japanese Maple
patlovesdirt
14 years ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
14 years ago
patlovesdirt
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Timing/Soil Temperatures for Full Repot of Japanese Maples
Comments (18)Blake, as someone who lives in your area and grows a lot of maples in containers, maybe my experience will be helpful to you. Late winter/early spring weather in the Puget Sound area can be very unpredictable - mild and balmy one day with freezing temps and snow the next. That said, I repot maples pretty much year round......it just depends on the reasons and when I've purchased them. A routine maintenance repotting (and one that may involve root pruning) I generally reserve for just before bud break, although I've done it in late fall as well. Hard to say exactly when that may be, as it seems to vary both with weather and the tree in question. After examining the repotting candidates for this year recently, I'd guess I'd start this process in about 2-3 weeks or mid to late March - the buds on my trees are looking very good and healthy and starting to show signs of coming to life. These also tend to be some of my larger maples, so working with the plant while it is still pretty much dormant is both easier on me and on the tree. But it is quite possible to repot JM's succcessfully when in leaf as long as they are small enough to handle easily and you can provide some additional specialized care to get them over the transplant hurdle. I also don't pay too much attention to soil temps at this time -- that doesn't seem to have too much bearing on container soils, as they don't hold the moisture as avidly as Puget Sound inground soils do and they do tend to warm sooner as well. FWIW, I wouldn't necessarily consider planting a new JM in the ground at this time of year as the soil is simply too wet, in fact it's too wet to plant much of anything and you can damage the soil if you attempt to work it in this condition. I also don't provide any special winter attention unless it is a very small plant - 2G or less. Mine are out there year round and have gone through some seriously cold temps without any problems. They are in pretty good sized pots, however - repotting is a lot of work and I tend to use larger containers (15G at least) just because they seem to fit the scale of the plant better and don't require repotting attention quite so often. I addition to the excellent and helpful information you find here, you might want to visit the Maples forum too. There are a number of us that grow JM's in containers that post there regularly and lots of good info about growing these trees, both in containers and in ground....See Morejapanese maple in a container
Comments (7)Well, no one responded to your question so I'll give it a shot. But I would preface my comments by saying that Im a realtive newcomer and Tapla and Rhizo are much more authoritative.... You probably messed up on the container mix. That's probably why the gurus didn't respond. You commited so many errors that it was not time effective to teach you the error of your ways. I dont know if the fertilizer is too strong but my guess is no. But Im just now trying acers. The problem will ultimately be poor drainage, at least according to the more experienmced people in this forum. At least with respect to woody perennials, a relativlely coarse, largely inroganic media is probably better for your application. Search for Al's recipe and his pretty technical justifications. Again, I'm pretty new, but he and 'Rhizo' are big advocates of this approach. I'm smart enough to recognize when someone knows a lot more than me and I think they both do. As for a remedial measure, I would defer to them becsuse I'm just starting to work with these plants. But good luck. They are beautiful....See MoreJapanese maple container mix
Comments (8)Container culture is very different from growing plants inground and you shouldn't try to make comparisons because each of the two situations is distinct. One of the primary reasons not to amend individual planting holes is because of soil interface issues. When you introduce a different soil type, as will happen if you amend a planting hole, it affects the texture and porosity of the soil in that area and when water moves through soils of different textures, the natural flow is altered and drainage is impacted, sometimes radically. The natural porosity of the soil - the spaces between the peds or soil particles - is changed and when water percolating through the soil encounters changes in porosity, its flow is slowed. A similar situation exists with the oxygen penetration of the soil and changes in the pore spaces. Studies have shown that trees planted in highly amended planting holes often take off quickly for the first season or so, but growth slows radically and can frequently become stunted or otherwise unfavorably affected once the roots hit the different soils outside of the amended hole. In severe cases, it can cause girdling of the roots or a bathtub effect from overly moisture retentive backfill. Granted, amending poor or nutrient weak soils is often advised, but it is best to do so over a very wide expanse - ideally, over the entire potential spread of the root system - not just for an individual planting hole. In fact, some evidence exists that all purchased trees should be bare rooted before planting to minimize soil interface issues....See Moregrowing japanese maples in container in zone 5
Comments (5)I'm in Utah, too, and planning on growing one or two Japanese maples in containers. I haven't worked out the soil yet as my blueberries need to be repotted and I've been focusing on a soil mix for them. I think the maples would like a similar mix though. Have you looked around the container forum much to see what others use. There are a lot here with great knowledge and experience. You can read about container soil basics here Container Soils - Al's most recent overview . I think I'm going to go with a combination Al suggested to another Utah gardener; 5:2:1 mix of pine bark fines:Turface:peat. But I may use Gritty Mix for my Japanese Maples and increase the Turface some. I'm not sure if that's what you are looking for. Btw - by taking your maple inside during the winter do you mean into a garage? Any warmer than that and it won't be cold enough for your maple to have its dormancy period. which it needs. The garage is good place. Or you can bury the pot on the north side of your house for the winter or wrap the container well to insulate the roots, but still tuck it in a protected area against a north wall. Hopefully someone will come along that knows more than I do (shouldn't be hard) and will offer any needed corrections. Kay...See Morekatskan41
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)