Repot trident and need suggestions

shohinsai

I've had a few trees in the past, but I wanted instant gratification and ended up doing too much too fast and predictably killed the trees. Maples are by far my favorite and this is my first trident. I have always wanted to work on one, but I want to make sure I do things right.

My trident sapling is starting to bud and want to repot this weekend. I'm going to use a 50/50 soil mix of crushed perlite or sand and oil dry in a 15 gallon pot and fertilize every couple of weeks. I live in the High Desert in California and since it's still early in the season, the tree will be in full sunlight throughout the day for the time being.

My main concern right now is watering and frost. It tends to get rather cold here at night so I was planning on only watering in the morning so the water has a chance to somewhat dry up by night fall. I only want to keep this up until the night time temperatures maintain 10 degrees or so above freezing.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully this works out well, but any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

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Victrinia_Ensor

Could you tell us how large the tree is? When you say sapling... it makes me believe it's a fairly small tree, in which case you will want it in a container a good bit shallower than would be had in a 15 gallon can. So that you can manage the root growth. If it's young, a good many people will put a tile under the tree to encourage the roots to spread out flatter. and not go straight down.

Also being where you are, unless you are going to water quite often, it may be better to add some organic matter to protect it against the heat of summer by keeping a little mositure in the root system. 100% inorganic will not achieve that. Also I would be concerned that being as how the soil will have no ability to hold on to nutrients for the tree, that if you go with 100% inorganic, you may need to feed more often than every two weeks.

There are some who do plant with no organics... I tend to be more of a 60/40 (inorganics/organics).... I find it's a happy medium for moisture retention and drainage.

Kind Regards,

Victrinia

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shohinsai

The tree is about a foot tall and twig like. I wanted to give it plenty of room to grow, which is why I decided on such a large pot. Perhaps I was a bit too ambitious? Maybe a 5 gallon instead? I was definitely planning on using a tile for the root spread however.

As far as the soil mix goes, what would you recommend for the organic material? I was thinking tree back instead of the oil dry.

Victrinia_Ensor

Ahhh.... well your enthusiasum and commitment to providing a good life for your young tree is to be applauded. (smile)

I think it would do well enough in a 5 gallon given it's size... some people are very fond of collanders for that matter. Yours is young enough to go in one of those just fine. But a screen sided grow box would be even better to my mind. Wouldn't have to be a overly large one either.... overpotting is exactly the right mindset... just control it a bit.

A small tree like yours should do well in a 15 inch (or so) box about 5 inches high. It'll give it enough room to make it think it's ground growing...

As to soil components the kind of organic matter isn't nearly as important as it's quality... you don't want an organic medium which will clog your soil and prevent good drainage. To that end most people prefer composted pine bark... partical size in soil composition is also important. Keep in mind that with a young tree like this you will want to use smaller grades of soil components. By using the right sizes in your mix you will allow those roots to grow more freely (fewer obsticals to overcome)...

There are some good articles about screen sided boxes if you give a search. If you have trouble finding it, let me know... I'm sure I could find them in here somewhere... (grin)

Kind regards,

Victrinia

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Concorde

Tridents are very forgiving trees. It takes alot to kill one. I have used akadama soil with very good results. Tridents just love this soil. By the way, you have one good looking.

Concorde

Repotter

I grew my Trident whips in one quart size pots for two years. That is more than big enough. A five gallon is really overkill, totally unneccessary. Full sun is not good for
Trident maples, you will get burned leaf edges for sure. Try aged pine bark 40 to 60 %and Turface or a similar material as your inorganic. Mine do fantastic in it.

I would think if you want to use oversize pots, one gallon should be more than enough.

Good luck, Hector

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shohinsai

Thanks for the feedback. I really just wasn't sure how big of a pot was big enough. I guess I'll go for the one gallon for now.

From what I've read, oil dry seems to work similar to turface, but much cheaper so I think I'll stick to that. As far as the organic goes, I'll see what's available at the near by nurseries. I'll let you guys know what I ended up with.

Thanks for the help.

shohinsai

I went out on Saturday to get the materials wanted for the repot, but most of what I was looking for wasn't available. I ended up putting my tree in a one gallon pot with a 50/50 mix of perlite and peat moss. Hopefully this works well.

This is off the subject, but I've been bringing the tree in at night and out in the morning for about a week now. I've been noticing that the leaves tend to unfurl themselves at night more than they do in the day. Maybe I'm just seeing things, although I don't believe I am. Has anyone noticed this before?

bwaynef

http://evergreengardenworks.com/overpot.htm

Read the 4th paragraph under "Lets Start with the Physics."

You might run into problems with all that peat. It tends to hold too much moisture, and then its hard to rewet when it dries out. Pine bark is cheap and ubiquitous. Pea gravel helps with drainage, and Schultz Clay Soil Conditioner is the same as Turface. I've seen it at walmart, and hear Ace Hardware stores have a similar alternative.

Additonal reading:
http://evergreengardenworks.com/watering.htm
http://evergreengardenworks.com/earthpot.htm

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