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7-Jan-2004
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#1 |
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Green Swamp Bonsai
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Clay Pots And Roots?
Hello,
A question: Why did these roots grow like this? This is a little slash pine (Pinus elliottii) I've had in this clay flower pot for two years. ( I know, it'll never be a bonsai) When I pulled it out of the pot to repot, I found these roots. Strong healthy growth at the bottom of the pot. When I unrolled the things, they were nearly three feet long. The question is, what made them grow so strongly at the bottom of the clay pot? Does the bottom stay wetter longer? Drier? Did the nutrients concentrate there? More air near the drain hole? Or was it because virtually all these roots came off the end of the chop on the tap root and were just being taproots trying to go deep? If I know why, I can try to create these conditions in more of the pot and get better root growth throughout. Thanks for any insight, Jay Wilson |
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7-Jan-2004
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#5 |
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Green Swamp Bonsai
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The needles will always be much too long for it to be a credable bonsai considering that it's only 7 or 8 inches tall. I'm growing it mainly as a learning tree to see how pines react to my abuse...I mean care.
Jay Wilson |
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7-Jan-2004
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#7 |
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bonsaiTALK Expert
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Pine's roots do tend to go deep if they can, the best way I've found to get better growth throughout the pot is to spread the roots out radially when repotting. I even tried placing a tile under the tree to block them once but really didn't get much better results than just spreading them out, you might also try using a shallower, wider pot as a training pot or maybe even building a shallow grow box...BTW what are the dark blotches on your pot and in the needles in the third pic?
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Advice worth every penny you paid for it. Regards Fletch Last edited by Fletch : 7-Jan-2004 at 03:32 PM. |
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7-Jan-2004
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#8 |
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Green Swamp Bonsai
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Adam- The needles will reduce some, but I don't know how much. I've seen pictures of trees that have been in pots for years and still have looong needles.
Fletch_ The black spots are love bugs. They swarm here in Fla. every summer (when that pic was taken) and get all over and in everything! I think you're right about a wooden grow box. Here's another tree planted at the same time, in the same soil mix but in a grow box. The roots had filled every bit of the box but it had no circling roots at the bottom. Jay Wilson |
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7-Jan-2004
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#9 |
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bonsaiTALK Master
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roots try to grow down, if allowed to. when coupled with the growth stimulus of your florida climate, no surprises -- wider, shallower pot or contaner -- as has already been recommended. Since things grow so quickly, why not grow it into a large size tree than the needles won't be so out of scale. Us northerners do the same with ponderosa -- long needles so bigger trees.
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David Yedwab |
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