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Hello Si, thanks for your help.

1) According to the nursery that sold it to me, they dug it up from their own landscaping in January 2006. When I repotted, I found that it still had a burlap sack rotting around the root ball, so it probably had been living in the burlap sack while it was in their landscaping.

2) I can not vouch for when the roots were last chopped, but the burlap sack makes me think that the nursery did not disturb the roots much, if at all, when they dug it up in January ’06.

3) The soil mix is my local bonsai nursery’s proprietary (i.e. they won’t say exactly what’s in it) mix, but it’s mostly inorganic material, with some pine bark, as far as I can tell. Not sure if the rock is pumice, but it’s a very coarse, gravelly mix.

4) I removed about half of the root ball, from what I could see of it. I can’t guarantee that there are roots in the central area I didn’t bare-root, but I bare-rooted probably half of what remained (does that make sense?) after I took off the outer half, and the roots emerging from the old soil certainly gave the appearance of a decent root system within the old soil.

5) I have not fertilized much. One fertilization using 4 small pellets of an organic bonsai fertilizer, about a 3-5-5 mix, not terribly heavy in Nitrogen. Sorry I can’t give better detail than this, but I’m laid up right now, and even if I could get to the package, most of it is written in Japanese. The letters OOF stand out in my memory…somewhere on there it said “Odorless Organic Fertilizer.” I doubt that will pinpoint anything for you. The good news is that the pellets have not broken down completely, and I can pluck them out, if that is your advice, and try to wash out any residual fertilizer left in the pot.

I do not think the new soil should be a problem, although the old portion of the soil might be, and I will say I repotted this under the supervision of members of my bonsai nursery and local society, most or all of whom should have known what they were doing. I will take your word for it that the tree could have been dying all along, but it was looking very healthy prior to repotting.

If you think these pictures point to root damage, with the likely culprits being overwatering and overfertilization, I think I will lean for now toward cutting back on the watering, keeping away from fertilizer, and leaving it in the shade. I say this only because I think I am still following your advice, but I am happy to hear any further impressions you and others may have.

I should also say that I will be in no position to follow advice #2 above for at least another month, by which point it will be 90-100 degrees here, so that option does not look viable for me. If you really think the tree is in trouble, though, and if you think #2 is an absolute necessity after my answers to your follow-up questions, please say so, and I can make arrangements to get the tree to my local nursery for their help in saving the tree. Sooner rather than later, if that's what you think needs to be done.

Si, I had thought that just keeping the tree alive at all will be good enough here, since the general consensus is that all of the current branches are useless, anyway, so that’s one encouragement. Thanks very much.

18-May-2007	#4
jersanct bonsaiTALK Expert Join Date: Nov-2005 Location: St. Louis Country: USA USDA Zone: 5 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 181	Hello Si, thanks for your help. 1) According to the nursery that sold it to me, they dug it up from their own landscaping in January 2006. When I repotted, I found that it still had a burlap sack rotting around the root ball, so it probably had been living in the burlap sack while it was in their landscaping. 2) I can not vouch for when the roots were last chopped, but the burlap sack makes me think that the nursery did not disturb the roots much, if at all, when they dug it up in January ’06. 3) The soil mix is my local bonsai nursery’s proprietary (i.e. they won’t say exactly what’s in it) mix, but it’s mostly inorganic material, with some pine bark, as far as I can tell. Not sure if the rock is pumice, but it’s a very coarse, gravelly mix. 4) I removed about half of the root ball, from what I could see of it. I can’t guarantee that there are roots in the central area I didn’t bare-root, but I bare-rooted probably half of what remained (does that make sense?) after I took off the outer half, and the roots emerging from the old soil certainly gave the appearance of a decent root system within the old soil. 5) I have not fertilized much. One fertilization using 4 small pellets of an organic bonsai fertilizer, about a 3-5-5 mix, not terribly heavy in Nitrogen. Sorry I can’t give better detail than this, but I’m laid up right now, and even if I could get to the package, most of it is written in Japanese. The letters OOF stand out in my memory…somewhere on there it said “Odorless Organic Fertilizer.” I doubt that will pinpoint anything for you. The good news is that the pellets have not broken down completely, and I can pluck them out, if that is your advice, and try to wash out any residual fertilizer left in the pot. I do not think the new soil should be a problem, although the old portion of the soil might be, and I will say I repotted this under the supervision of members of my bonsai nursery and local society, most or all of whom should have known what they were doing. I will take your word for it that the tree could have been dying all along, but it was looking very healthy prior to repotting. If you think these pictures point to root damage, with the likely culprits being overwatering and overfertilization, I think I will lean for now toward cutting back on the watering, keeping away from fertilizer, and leaving it in the shade. I say this only because I think I am still following your advice, but I am happy to hear any further impressions you and others may have. I should also say that I will be in no position to follow advice #2 above for at least another month, by which point it will be 90-100 degrees here, so that option does not look viable for me. If you really think the tree is in trouble, though, and if you think #2 is an absolute necessity after my answers to your follow-up questions, please say so, and I can make arrangements to get the tree to my local nursery for their help in saving the tree. Sooner rather than later, if that's what you think needs to be done. Si, I had thought that just keeping the tree alive at all will be good enough here, since the general consensus is that all of the current branches are useless, anyway, so that’s one encouragement. Thanks very much.