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staceybeth_gw

HELP When should I repot my 3 Jap. Maples

staceybeth
15 years ago

Hi All, Its been a while.

I just finished watering my 3 japanese maples and noticed that the roots are starting to come out the bottoms of my pots. Its mid July and I really dont know if its okay to repot them when they are up and awake... Can anyone give me some advise???

Comments (4)

  • mattnova
    15 years ago

    You can repot in the fall. I wouldn't do it just yet being so hot, the plant will probably get shocked and lose all its leaves. When the leaves start to turn fall colors pot soon after. Fall repotted trees are more susceptable to root freezing though compared to spring so if you do repot now. Sink the pots in the ground or pack mulch or pine straw around them when the temps start getting below 35F-40F or so.

  • staceybeth
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi Matt,

    I dont quite understand. You said that I should re-pot in the fall, but that they would be more susceptable to root freezing compared to re-pottng now. I really dont want to risk my JM freezing in the winter.. last winter I burlapped them and mulched the crowns in October or so.. they all grew about 1/2 to a foot.

  • kaitain4
    15 years ago

    StaceyBeth,

    I think re-potting now is fine. I just re-potted about 30 JMs, and they're all doing great, and not a leaf lost.

    Here's what I do:

    1.) Use good potting soil. My custom mix is 2/3 Pro-mix Organic potting soil, and 1/3 Miracle-Gro African Violet potting soil. It has a little fertilizer in it, and a lot of finely ground bark.

    2.) I use thick-walled plastic pots. I think this helps with temperature issues in the hot summer. (I'm in TN, and the average temp now is 90 degrees!)

    3.) I re-pot, spreading roots out into the new soil a bit; then and give the plants a huge soaking. Leaves, soil, everything. Then I put moss in all the pots. Looks great and helps in other ways.

    4.) I put the re-potted trees in my air-conditioned garden house for 3 days and let them rest.

    5.) After 3 days I move the trees to my 'holding area' under some big dogwoods, where they get a few hours of early morning sun. Automatic sprinklers water them every other day.

    After 2-3 weeks in the holding area they are ready to be moved to other locations or planted out. I haven't lost a single tree using this approach, and I re-pot any time during the growing season.

    Here's a little slide show that might give you an idea.

    Maple order

    Regards,

    K4

  • mattnova
    15 years ago

    I mistyped. I didn't mean fall compared to now. I meant fall compared to spring. K4 is right but I only repot when I can bare root the tree so I can do a root prune and make sure all soil in the pot is the same composition. That is the best kind of repot. Moving to a larger container without disturbing the root ball much can be done about anytime such as K4 mentioned.

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