| Care information from Bonsai Boon, written basically for the San Francisco area, but much of it applies to our bonsai too. FEBRUARY Repotting: Start repotting bonsai in January in the Bay Area. Some of us also repotted all typse of bonsai in December. The best time to repot deciduous trees is after the buds start to swell but before the leaves open. (But do not wait too long. It is not safe after the buds open.) Among deciduous trees, flowering apricots and Japanese maples are repotted first. Japanese beech is the last to be done, because its buds open later than buds on other deciduous trees. (Do not wait until you see the buds swell. It may be too late.) It should be done by middle part to the end of February. Trident maples can be repotted as long as new leaves still have a reddish color. You can bare-root deciduous trees and cut the tap roots off completely. You need to have a strong healthy tree to go to this process. Otherwise do not cut too much roots off. Do not bare-root conifers. It is dangerous. You should make a plan to remove all the original soil after 2-3 repottings. If you repot collected trees, you need to learn how to secure them in the pot. You need to be creative in order to secure the tree into the pot, since they do not have a developed root ball to anchor with wire. In the warmer zones, it is safe to repot earlier. In the San Francisco Bay Area, we can repot as early as December. Early is better than too late. Azaleas, other broadleaf evergreens, and pines are repotted in February and March. If spring comes early in your area, repot early — many trees start growing as soon as the weather begins to warm up. Shimpaku and sonare (J. procumbens) are repotted in January-March, tosho (needle juniper) around the end of May to beginning of June. After repotting, the trees should be left outside in the sun. Heat from the sun will stimulate root growth. The sun rays will also make shorter internodes. If you live in a colder climate, you have to put the tree in a cold frame, and you may need to slowly introduce it into the sun. Place trees under shade cloth until they get used to the light before exposing it into the full sun. Sudden changes in temperature and light can burn leaves and needles. If it is still cool (daytime temperature is below 55), you can spray lime sulphur as dormant spray. Do not spray spruce and azaleas, and the tree that you have just wired or the tree that has just been repotted, with lime sulfur. It can burn them. Tropical trees should not be sprayed with lime sulphur. Boonyarat 'Boon' Manakitivipart P.O. Box 2753, Alameda, Ca 94501 510-865-1008 www.bonsaiboon.com Back to Home Page |
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| In our club library now, Bonsai Boon's REPOTTING VIDEO, showing the professional way to repot a 50-year-old Japanese Black Pine. I've seen it, and it's a perfect presentation of the subject. Of course, the instructions apply to other bonsai too, not just Black Pines. If you don't see it on the Library table at the February meeting, ASK FOR IT -- you'll be just in time for spring repotting of your trees. OR, put in a request to our 2010 Bonsai Basics leaders, Lionel Flood and Van Jensen. It would be a great program starter for a BB Class. (Hint: Cheryl Sykora has a copy which I'm pretty sure she would lend for the Class.) |