Re-potting Bodhi Tree, what size pot for growth?

Hello :)

First time poster here. I have been put in charge of tree sitting a Bodhi Tree for someone who will be away for 1 year. I have several questions.

The tree is in soil that does not drain well, so after reading Al Fassezke's suggested ficus potting mix of equal parts of fir bark, pearlite, crushed granite, screened turface, I will attempt to locate these ingredients, rinse them, and re pot the plant tomorrow so I can get a good look at it's roots and trim/prune them in accordance of the root pruning section of the sticky at the top of this section. (A huge thank you for that sticky) It has been in the same pot for 3-4 years.

1: The plant was "fertilized" only with water that was used to boil vegetables to eat, so after a week or two after re potting I was planning on using diluted Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro 9-3-6 Nitrogen Low Phosphorus Tropical Foliage fertilizer to slowly give it a complete fertilizer as I think it could be lacking some required foods, given it's past feeding sources. Any comments on this? Should I fertilize sooner?

2: To water, I am using non-chlorinated water from my fish pond with a p.h of around 7.0, but I can easily adjust the pH up or down if that is desirable? What is the ideal pH for the water for this religiousa?

3: This tree was never forced to hold itself up and has always been tied up with many ties to stakes, so it never became strong enough to hold itself up on it's own. I have removed most of these ties so the tree will learn to hold itself up. Given there are no strong wind gusts here, is this the best way to train the tree to be strong enough to hold itself up? There are gently breezes, but nothing to really move the branches around and risk breakage. Comments?

4: I am putting it outside every morning and bringing it back in every evening because the low temps at night are getting down to 50 (San Francisco Bay Area, California). It gets direct sun when the sun is low, but it is in the shade for the middle part of the day so no direct hot hot sun, medium diffuse non-direct light during the day. Is this ok to get it acclimated to it's new home? It came from a very similar climate. During most of the year, when it is above 50 at night, I plan to keep the tree in near full sun. Can I use a heating propogation pad (temperature controlled) under the pot and would that allow me to leave the tree outside in 45-50 degree nights?

5. Since I am going to re pot, and I would like to see some vigorous growth ( I know, be careful what I wish for here;) ) What size pot should I use? the pot, as seen it currently in is approx 12" at the base and 17" at the top. The tree is about 5 feet tall and spindly. Photos in follow up post.

Thank you so very much for making this forum available :)
Jeff


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Some photos for more info

Turface is probably available at Ewing Irrigation, Pacheco (Pacheco Blvd and South Buchanan) or as John Deere Landscape, just around the corner from Ewing on South Buchanan. If not, then get Safe-T-Sorb at Tractor Supply. Nearest is in Dixon. I sometimes see Oil Dri at Smart 'n' Final, but I am not sure if this is one that disintegrates. Safe-T-Sorb and Turface hold together really well.
Fir bark: Call all the rock yards and see if any carry it. Probably not, but it is worth the calls. Also see if any of them carry a crushed granite that is NOT 'quarter minus'. Otherwise, Golden Granite quarter by dust is granite, with sort of rounded pieces. Blue quarter by dust comes out of the local Clayton quarry, and is more angular. You will have to sieve out the fines. (and there are a LOT of fines!)
Most rock yards will sell these in bags. Get the whole bag (usually 100 lbs) you will lose a lot in sifting.
Probably find fir bark in bags at Navlets or maybe one of the other real nurseries. Try Orchard Nursery, Lafayette (Not Orchard Supply Hardware) Tassahara Nursery, Danville, McDonnell Nursery, Moraga/Orinda border, and others. Several of these carry the Master product line that has a lot of different materials for blending your own soil.

I have noticed changing supplies available at the big box stores, but I do not think they have Fir Bark. I have never looked for granite (quarter minus or otherwise). You might find perlite there. The last time I bought a large volume (4 cubic feet) I got it at Orchard Supply Hardware, but that was a lot of years ago. Since you won't need anywhere near that much most nurseries will carry it in smaller bags.

Rock yards:
Brickyard, North Concord. Bates Ave. (not sure if they sell in bags- never asked them, but they have blue quarter minus in bulk, and they carry sand (mostly silica sands) in bags that are graded for size)
Mount Diablo Landscape, Concord off Detroit Ave. (Look for fir bark and granite here) (YES, sell in bags, and have lots of materials)
Diamond K, Lafayette, Mount Diablo Blvd. (Don't know about selling the bulk materials in bags, but they have bagged garden products, maybe one is fir bark)
Contra Costa Topsoil has 3 types of quarter minus granite, too, but does not sell in bags.

Thank you for that information.

All I need now is the Turface. I'll try Ewing, I've been there a few times.

I'll be mixing granite, pearlite, vermiculite, fir bark, a small amount of fox farm and ocean soil.

:) Jeff

Can anyone answer the other questions please?

I took the plunge and removed the old compacted soil and trimmed the root ball.

How did I do? This was my first ever root trimming.

I then repotted with:
2 part fine fir bark
1 part turface
1 part pearlite
1 part vermiculite
1 part pea gravel
1/4 part fox farm and ocean soil

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A few more photos showing the new substrate and how I'm supporting the tree.

I'm trying to get the tree to support itself, but until it recovers from the repot I am keeping it indoors with lower light and allowing it to lean on a pink twine to hold it upright.

What do you guys think?

How long until I can start bringing it outside for indirect filtered light?

Added turface to the media-this looks like really good stuff
see photo of my media.


Anyone?.....I feel like I'm talking to myself ;)

I tried to answer all your questions and offer advice yesterday, but after at least a half hr into the post, it disappeared. That's one thing I think Dave's should fix. It's very frustrating. I also tried to edit out the underlines on the post above, but when I click on the edit link, all I got was an empty box.

First, the mix I use is equal parts by volume of screened Turface, fir bark, and crushed granite (grower size grit, #2 cherrystone, or MannaPro poultry grit).

Unfortunately, now is not a good time to repot tropical. Ficus should be repotted in the month prior to their most robust growth, which would be in June if you live in the US. Plants have natural rhythms, and it's best to work with those rhythms instead of against them. It's better for the plant and makes for growers happier with the results of their efforts. Your plant will recover much faster from the work, leaving it much less susceptible to insect infestation and diseases if you do any major work in June.

1) If you've changed the soil, wait about 2 weeks to start fertilizing. Roots will colonize the soil mass faster when they are suffering a mild deficiency. After 2 weeks, start fertilizing with the 9-3-6 - it's about the best choice you can make as your 'go to' fertilizer for your containerized plants.

2) Ideal pH for your Ficus is between 5.0-5.5. If you can find a friend who has a reverse osmosis water system, use that water. Air conditioner or dehumidifier condensate is good as well, as is rain water. If your soil is high in dissolved solids, it's very important that your soil allows you to flush the soil thoroughly and regularly. Nutrient ratios in the soil solution quickly become skewed, especially if you're not using a fertilizer with a ratio that closely mimics that at which the plant actually uses the nutrients.

3) Trees won't learn to hold themselves upright. The reason yours wants to flop over is insufficient light. The remedy is twofold. More light and a pruning of the top back to a branch that lends itself to being trained to the vertical. Branches growing vertically send chemical messengers to the rest of the plant. The plant recognizes this signal as a call for more photosynthate. The tree will quickly recognize your new leader as a stronger energy sink than any other branch and provide it with a larger measure of food. The shortened trunk will be better able to support itself and your tree won't droop. It won't have a straight trunk, but I'm of the crowd that thinks trunks w/o movement (that are straight) are boring.

4) Sounds like a good plan, and a propagation mat under the pot is a good move. Try overturning a cardboard box or plastic tub so the bottom is open and it covers the mat. Cut a hole in the top (the former bottom) just large enough for the pot to slip through and rest on the prop mat. This will raise root temps 10-15* above ambient.

5) About pot size:

Choosing an Appropriate Size Container
How large a container ‘can’ or ‘should’ be, depends on the relationship between the mass of the plant material you are working with and your choice of soil. We often concern ourselves with "over-potting" (using a container that is too large), but "over-potting" is a term that arises from a lack of a basic understanding about the relationship we will look at, which logically determines appropriate container size.

It's often parroted that you should only move up one container size when "potting-up". The reasoning is, that when potting up to a container more than one size larger, the soil will remain wet too long and cause root rot issues, but it is the size/mass of the plant material you are working with, and the physical properties of the soil you choose that determines both the upper & lower limits of appropriate container size - not a formulaic upward progression of container sizes. In many cases, after root pruning a plant, it may even be appropriate to step down a container size or two, but as you will see, that also depends on the physical properties of the soil you choose. It's not uncommon for me, after a repot/root-pruning to pot in containers as small as 1/5 the size as that which the plant had been growing in prior to the work.

Plants grown in ‘slow’ (slow-draining/water-retentive) soils need to be grown in containers with smaller soil volumes so that the plant can use water quickly, allowing air to return to the soil before root issues beyond impaired root function/metabolism become a limiting factor. We know that the anaerobic (airless) conditions that accompany soggy soils quickly kill fine roots and impair root function/metabolism. We also know smaller soil volumes and the root constriction that accompany them cause plants to both extend branches and gain o/a mass much more slowly - a bane if rapid growth is the goal - a boon if growth restriction and a compact plant are what you have your sights set on.
Conversely, rampant growth can be had by growing in very large containers and in very fast soils where frequent watering and fertilizing is required - so it's not that plants rebel at being potted into very large containers per se, but rather, they rebel at being potted into very large containers with a soil that is too slow and water-retentive. This is a key point.

We know that there is an inverse relationship between soil particle size and the height of the perched water table (PWT) in containers. As particle size increases, the height of the PWT decreases, until at about a particle size of just under 1/8 inch, soils will no longer hold perched water. If there is no perched water, the soil is ALWAYS well aerated, even when the soil is at container capacity (fully saturated).

So, if you aim for a soil (like the gritty mix) composed primarily of particles larger than 1/16", there is no upper limit to container size, other than what you can practically manage. The lower size limit will be determined by the soil volume's ability to allow room for roots to ’run’ and to furnish water enough to sustain the plant between irrigations. Bearing heavily on this ability is the ratio of fine roots to coarse roots. It takes a minimum amount of fine rootage to support the canopy under high water demand. If the container is full of large roots, there may not be room for a sufficient volume of the fine roots that do all the water/nutrient delivery work and the coarse roots, too. You can grow a very large plant in a very small container if the roots have been well managed and the lion's share of the rootage is fine. You can also grow very small plants, even seedlings, in very large containers if the soil is fast (free-draining and well-aerated) enough that the soil holds no, or very little perched water.

I have just offered clear illustration why the oft repeated advice to ‘resist pottting up more than one pot size at a time’, only applies when using heavy, water-retentive soils. Those using well-aerated soils are not bound by the same restrictions. As the ht and volume of the perched water table are reduced, the potential for negative effects associated with over-potting are diminished in a direct relationship with the reduction - up to the point at which the soil holds no (or an insignificant amount) of perched water and over-potting pretty much becomes a non-issue.

More about Ficus culture in general:

The Ficus genus
with more than 800 known species, is undoubtedly an extremely popular choice as a containerized tree. It tolerates the "dryer than desert" conditions actually found in many or most centrally heated homes reasonably well, and is endowed with a natural genetic vigor that makes it easy to grow. There is however, much myth and misconception regarding the care of this plant and the reasons it reacts as it does to certain cultural conditions. I would like to talk a little about the plant and then offer some specific information regarding its culture. I will primarily address Ficus benjamina - the 'weeping fig', but the commonly grown Ficus elastica - rubber tree, has the same cultural preferences. In fact, we can virtually lump all the Ficus species commonly grown as houseplants into a single group in all areas except light preferences. We need to make allowances for some of the fig species that won't tolerate direct sun as well as benjamina and elastica, and we may as well expand that exception to the variegated cultivars of benjamina and elastica as well.

Ficus benjamina
is one of the species of Ficus commonly referred to as a strangler fig. It often begins its life in duff, in the crotch of a tree, or high on a branch as a seed deposited in the droppings of a bird or other tree-dwelling animal. After the seed germinates and as it grows, it produces thin aerial roots that often dangle in the moist air or attach themselves to the host trunk, while gaining nutrients and moisture from the air, leaf litter, and the bark of the supporting tree. It does not actually parasitize the plant it grows on, it only uses it as support. This relationship is termed epiphytic, or the tree an epiphyte. Those familiar with the culture of orchids and bromeliads will recognize this term.

After the aerial roots have formed and extended, and when they finally reach the ground, the tree begins a tremendous growth spurt, sending out more roots and developing a dense canopy that eventually shades out the supporting tree at the same time the roots are competing for nutrients in the soil and compressing the trunk and branches of the support tree to the point of stopping sap flow. Eventually the supporting tree dies and all that is left where it once stood, is a hollow cavity in the dangling Ficus roots that have now thickened and self-grafted to become the trunk. It is easy to see how many of the trees in the Ficus genus have come to be called by the name 'strangler figs'.

Roots and soil
The roots of some Ficus species are so powerful they can destroy concrete buildings or buckle roads, and can be measured in miles as they extend underground in search of water. When we consider the young tree and its ability to obtain sufficient moisture from just the surrounding air and bark surface of the support tree by way of aerial roots, we can draw an important conclusion: All species of Ficus prefer well-aerated and fast draining soils. In this regard, they are actually no different than any other tree you would endeavor to grow in a container, so try always to use a soil that guarantees an ample volume of air in the soil and excellent drainage for the intended interval between repots. This can be accomplished by using a soil whose primary fraction is comprised of large particles (like pine bark) combined with ample volumes of perlite or other inorganic ingredients like Turface, pumice, Haydite, crushed granite, or others. I grow all my Ficus in a soil mix consisting of equal parts of pine or fir bark, Turface (a calcined clay product), and Gran-I-Grit (crushed and screened granite). To be fair, I will add a qualifier here: the cost of the potential for superior growth and added vitality when using these fast (draining) well-aerated soils comes in the form of you needing to be prepared to water more frequently as the soil particle size increases. Roots are the heart of the plant, and the rest of the plant can do nothing without the roots' OK - the top just THINKS it's in control. Take care of the roots, and if your other cultural conditions are favorable, your plants will thrive.

Before I go on
I would like to say there is a very important relationship between your choice of soil, your watering habits, and a very common and serious problem that too often goes completely undiagnosed. That problem is a high level of soluble salts in the soil. When we choose soils that hold water for extended periods, we put our trees at risk for the fungal infections that cause root rot. Reasoning tells us that to avoid the root rot issue, we should not water to the point of soil saturation; rather, we often feel that watering in sips to avoid the specter of root rot is the wise alternative. This strategy though, puts us squarely on the horns of a dilemma. If we don't/can't water copiously on a regular basis, the soluble salts, i.e.,all the dissolved solids in our tap water and fertilizer solution accumulate in the soil. As the level of salts in the soil increases, the plant finds it increasingly difficult to absorb water and the nutrients dissolved in water. If the salt level gets too high, it can actually 'pull' water OUT of cells in exactly the same fashion that curing salt 'pulls' moisture from ham or bacon. This 'reverse osmosis' causes plasma to be torn from the walls of cells as they collapse, killing cells and tissue. The technical term for this is plasmolysis, but we more commonly refer to it as fertilizer burn. Fertilizer burn can occur whether or not we use fertilizer. The salts in our tap water alone, can/will eventually build to the point where water uptake is impossible, unless we actively take precautions.

Your soil is the foundation of every conventional container planting, and your choice of soils probably has a greater impact on your effort:reward quotient than any other single factor. Please take a moment to learn more about soils. My experience has shown that understanding how soils work and how to tell the difference between a good and a not so good soil is probably the single largest step forward a container gardener can take at any one time. Find more about soils here.


Watering
Ficus b. will tolerate dry soil quite well. Allowing the soil to completely dry; however, will result in undue drought stress and accompanying leaf loss, an expensive affair, considering the plant will call heavily upon energy reserves to replace lost foliage - reserves that might better have been directed to other functions and growth. If you wait just until the soil feels dry to the touch at the drain hole before watering, your tree will be free from the effects of drought stress. Soils feel dry to the touch when their moisture content is somewhere between 40-45%, but Ficus can still extract water from soils until moisture content drops to about 25-30%, giving you a 10-15% cush AFTER the soil feels dry. Use a finger or a sharpened wooden dowel stuck deep into the soil to check for moisture content. A wooden skewer or chopstick used in similar fashion is also a useful tool, and feeling the soil at the drain hole and withholding water until it feels dry there, is also a good way to judge. Water meters are rather ineffective, They actually measure EC (electrical conductivity). To illustrate: Insert a clean probe into a cup of distilled water. It will read 'DRY'. Add a little table salt of fertilizer, it will read 'WET'.

Though I try never to water my Ficus with cold water, I have never been able to verify that cold water has any negative impact on our houseplants ..... and I've asked a good number of horticulture's upper crust about any potentially negative effects, always receiving a shrug. The best way to water your Ficus it to apply water slowly until you estimate the soil is almost wet enough that water is about to appear at the drain hole. Wait a few minutes and water again so at least 10-15% of the total volume of water applied exits the drain. The first watering dissolves accumulated salts in the soil and allows them to go into solution. The second watering carries them out of the container. We already illustrated the importance of using a soil that allows us to water in such a manner without having to worry abut root rot. If you feel you cannot water in this manner without risking lengthy soil saturation and the possibility of root rot, your soil is probably inappropriate for the plant. Lest anyone complain at that observation, I would point out there is a difference between the growth and vitality of plants that are only tolerating a soil vs. the same traits in plants that appreciate (thrive in) a medium with superior properties.

More about soils as questions arise .... please ask!

Light
Although many Ficus begin life as an understory tree and are generally quite shade tolerant, most actually spend their life struggling through the shaded understory until they eventually reach the forest canopy, where they finally find full sun and can begin to come into their own. We should give Ficus all the sun they will tolerate. I grow all varieties of Ficus b. in full sun, and they tolerate it well - even some of the newer cultivars that are supposed to be extremely shade-tolerant.

I have often read anecdotal assertions that Ficus b defoliates at the slightest change in light levels (or temperature). I have found this to be only partly true. Any trees I have moved from a location with a lower light level to a brighter location have not suffered leaf loss (abscission). Instead, they have rewarded me with more robust growth and back-budding. If the change is reversed, so the tree is moved from high irradiance levels to a dimmer location, leaf loss is probable, but even then it depends on both the suddenness of the change and the difference between the two light levels. It might be interesting to note that trees that are being grown out, or allowed to grow unpruned, are most likely to suffer loss of interior leaves when light levels are reduced. Trees in bonsai culture, or properly pruned trees where thinning has occurred to allow more light to the trees interior are less affected.

Indoor supplemental lighting is a broad subject, but if you have the ability to provide it, your trees will definitely show their appreciation. Brighter light = smaller leaf size, shorter internodes, and superior ramification (finer branching), not to mention a marked increase in overall mass.

Temperature
Expect the most robust growth characteristics when the plant is kept in a temperature range between 60-80* F. Actual root temperatures above 90-95* should be avoided because they impair root function/metabolism and slow or stop growth. Temperatures below 55* should also be avoided for several reasons. They slow photosynthesis to the degree that the plant will necessarily call on stored energy reserves to power metabolism and keep its systems orderly. This essentially puts the tree on 'battery power' - running on its energy reserves. After exposure to chill and subsequent return to more favorable temperatures, the plant does not quickly recover the ability to carry on normal photosynthesis. The time needed for the plant to recover its normal photosynthesizing ability is more appropriately measured in days, than hours. Leaf loss can also occur as a result of exposure to chill, particularly sudden chill.

It is prudent to select a location free from cold breezes for your tree. Even short exposure to very cold draughts can cause leaves to abscise (fall/shed). The cool temperatures slow or halt the flow of auxin (a growth regulator - hormone) across the abscission zone at the base of each leaf petiole (stem) which allows an abscission layer to form and causes leaves to fall. Chill also stimulates an increase in abscissic acid (also a growth regulator - hormone) which is also a player in leaf loss.

Benjamina can tolerate temperatures as low as the mid-30s for brief periods if the exposure to chill is gradual, but it should be noted that even though there may not be any readily visible impact on the tree, the tree will always be in decline at temperatures below about 55* because of the impact on the tree's inability to carry on efficient photosynthesis. Sudden and large temperature drops can cause varying degrees of chill injury in the plant, caused by phenolic compounds leaking from cells, which shows up looking much like freeze damage. Severe injury could occur in plants that were growing at 80-85* and were subjected to sudden chilling to temperatures as high as 45-50*

Humidity
Benjamina's thick, leathery leaves with waxy cuticles help to limit moisture loss, making the plant suitable to a wide range of indoor humidity levels, even though it prefers humidity levels above 50%. When humidity levels are blamed for leaf loss or necrotic leaf tips and margins, it is likely the blame has been misplaced. Those pesky high salt levels in soils, most common in late winter, can make it difficult and in extreme cases impossible for the plant to absorb water to replace that being lost to the air through transpiration. The fast soils that allow copious watering, which flushes the soil of salts regularly are actually much more important/beneficial than maintaining ultra high humidity levels. Misting is very effective ..... For about 30 seconds. Forget the misting please, it is ineffective. For small plants, a humidity tray may marginally effective.

Fertilizer
I prefer any 3:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizer like Miracle-Gro 24-8-16 or 12-4-8, and I especially like Dyna-Gro's Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, because it provides all the essential nutrients in the approximate ratio the plant will use and in favorable ratios to each other. Alternately, a 1:1:1 ratio fertilizer like MG 20-20-20 is suitable. Because I use fast soils, I can fertilize at very low doses, every time I water. How YOU can/should fertilize is something we should discuss. It can change by season, and also varies based on soil choice and watering habits.

There is no question that in addition to offering greater potential for growth and vitality within the limits of other cultural factors, fast draining, well-aerated soils also get the nod for greatly increasing the grower�s margin for error in the areas of watering and fertilizing.

Defoliating
Leaf loss in Ficus is probably the cause of more conjecture than any other aspect of its culture, so even though I have mentioned it above, I will reiterate. Even though it is widely held that Ficus b. defoliates at virtually any cultural change, with changes in light and temperature most often cited, it is not so. The plant tends to defoliate when there is a fairly abrupt change in light levels - from bright to dim, or after exposure to sudden chill, but the plant does not tend to defoliate when the cultural conditions of light and temperature move from unfavorable to favorable, i.e. from dim to bright or from cool to warm/appropriate - unless the change is markedly radical.

Repotting
First, I draw a major distinction between potting-up and repotting. Potting up can be undertaken at any time. It involves moving the plant to a slightly larger pot and back-filling with fresh soil, with a minimal amount of root disturbance. Much to be preferred to potting-up, is repotting. Repotting, which has a substantial rejuvenating effect, includes removing all or almost all of the old (spent) soil and selective root-pruning. It is by far the preferred method and probably the most important step in insuring your trees always grow at as close to their potential genetic vigor as possible. Repotting as opposed to potting-up is the primary reason bonsai trees are able to live in small containers for hundreds of years while the vast majority of trees grown as houseplants are lucky to survive more than 5 years without root work

It is pretty much universally accepted among nurserymen, that you should pot up at or before the time where the condition of the roots/soil mass is such that the roots and soil can be lifted from the container intact. Much testing has been done to show that trees left to languish beyond this point will have growth and vitality permanently affected. Even when planted out, growth and longevity of trees allowed to progress beyond this point is shown to be reduced.

The ideal time to repot a Ficus, is when the plant has good vitality and in the month prior to its most robust growth. June and July are prime months for most of the US. HOW to properly repot is beyond the scope of the initial post, but I am sure the subject will be covered in detail as questions arise.

Remember - potting up a root bound plant is a stopgap fix, and ensures the plant has no opportunity to grow to its genetic potential within the limits of other cultural factors; while fully repotting, which includes a change of soil and root pruning, ensures the plant WILL have the opportunity within the limits of other cultural factors. Strong words, but to repeat the illustration: the bonsai tree is capable of living in a tiny pot, perfectly happy for hundreds of years, while we struggle to squeeze 5 years of good vitality from a root bound plant - root work being the difference.

Pests
Ficus trees suffer from some pests. Most common are scale, followed closely by mites and mealies. I have always had good luck with neem oil as a preventative and fixative. We can discuss infestations and treatment as it arises, but so it gets included in the original post, I use only pure, cold-pressed neem oil, such as that packaged by Dyna-Gro in the black and white container. The beneficial active ingredient in neem is azadirachtin, the effectiveness of which is greatly reduced by steam and alcohol extraction methods, which brings us full circle to why I use the cold-pressed product.

Oedema can sometimes be an issue as well;. Suspect it if you see corky patches on the leaves, usually preceded by wet, bumpy patches that usually go unnoticed.

This is a long post, and took a long time to compose. I hope it answers most of your questions, but somehow, I cannot help but hope there are a few lingering that you would like to ask or points you would like to have clarified. It is great fun visiting and helping people who are devoted about improving their abilities to provide for their trees.

Best luck.

This is how far I was yesterday when I lost the entire post. Imagine how frustrated I was. ;-)

Your soil choice and light source are your 2 most important considerations, which is why I so often urge growers to get the soil right. Fighting your soil for control of your plants' vitality is not a good way to get a satisfactory return for your efforts.

Good luck!

Al




This message was edited Oct 13, 2014 5:52 PM

Wow,

Thank you for your post. I have attached a photo of the new substrate with the turface.

I will water with my pond water adjusted to a pH of 5.5 and see how that goes. After 2-3 weeks I'll start with a diluted fertilizer of your recommended 9-3-6.

I'll start to ramp up the light, and after the tree's new roots are more established, in maybe 3-4 weeks, It can spend more time in full sun, and I'll prune off whatever top pieces so I can have a vertical "top" section.

I'll try your "box trick" with the propagation mat when the night temps are above 50. This way I can leave the tree outside more often. See photo of it's new mobile home :) Moving with this inflatable wheeled cart much easier than lifting the tree twice a day.

After having a look at the root ball, I've decided to leave it in the existing pot, as it seems to have plenty of room to grow.

Thank you very much for all your efforts in these forums, you are really a godsend to us newbies who know very little.

:) Jeff

Thanks for the kind words, Jeff. I appreciate the nice compliment.

I remember how I struggled with bonsai when I first started growing in containers. I failed miserably because I didn't understand the plants and their needs - especially how to keep the root systems happy. It took me several years of regular studying before it all came together. I can show you most of what I learned during that time in a few posts, and I get a lot of satisfaction from feeling that I made a difference in what you or anyone takes from the growing experience.

Until you lean how to keep root systems happy, you're sort of in limbo and limited in what you can do. Your soil is the foundation of every planting, and it's doubly difficult to get anything to work well unless the foundation is sound.

This is a reply I left on the houseplant forum at GW just a couple of hours ago. There is a message in it for you:

If the gritty mix was as simplistic as it seems, you would have to say an inordinate amount of thought went into how to put it all together so it embodies the idea that soils that hold water IN the particles and air BETWEEN the particles offer plants the best opportunity to realize their genetic potential. It's hard to argue that soils which limit growth and vitality by way of the fact that they hold excess water that limits root function, or worse, could be better for plants.

Focusing on media that are structured so excess water isn't an inherently limiting factor, and taking on the responsibility for providing for the plants nutritive needs will serve any grower well.

One of the most frequent raps against the gritty mix is that it doesn't hold enough water. That complaint is a good illustration that the grower paid more attention to the recipe than to the concept behind it. If you don't think the gritty mix holds enough water, simply change the ratio of Turface and grit to favor Turface. Instantly, you create more water retention w/o having to rely on the vitality-sapping soggy layer at the bottom of pot as a reservoir.

The ingredients in the gritty mix are of a size that ensures the most water retention w/o any perched water to speak of. When you start changing sizes or adding a little of this and that, you run the risk of putting out of reach what the mix was designed to offer. If you understand the concept, you'll know what is and isn't appropriate.

I honestly think that understanding the concept explained in this post: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1300177/ will allow you to take the largest single step forward a container gardener can take at any one time. It removes a lot of the mystery associated with 'what went wrong.

Al

As you describe it, it is actually a very simple concept. I fully expect these plants to show some good improvement over this next year due to the much improved root culture. They should also benefit from actually getting some balanced fertilizer for their first time, and some more light.

The soil was at the point where it was very compacted and just starting to get "mucky" in the center of the root ball, so I'm glad I found this forum at the right time. These trees were just put in my care last Weds. There are actually 2 Bodhi trees. One of them I re potted with the mix of fir bark, turface, pearlite, vemiculite, maybe 1/4 part soil, but no so much it would fill in between the particulate and therefore undermine the whole point of the 1/8"-1/10" particulate.

I looked at the other one, (plant #2) today but did not re pot it because, for some reason, that soil had not broken down nearly as much as the first, so after knocking off only a little of the soil that easily gave way, I just potted it up (same size pot) but added the grittier mix around it to replace the soil I removed. Later, when it is a better time of year, I will re pot it maybe next June. At least right now I know the soil is not going to cause any immediate problems.

I will keep this thread updated with any changes :)