Juniper Repot Question

diamondlyme84

My first bonsai, a 10 or so year old Juniper that was given to me in a "completed" stage (though it is not completed), has been added to my list of bonsai concerns. When it is watered, it takes the soil up to two minutes for the water to begin draining into the soil, which leads me to believe that it is in desperate need of a repot.

I'm in southern California (Orange County if it helps), and of course, repotting season has pretty much passed. Should I risk repotting the tree now (the tree is thriving, so it doesn't have health issues), or should I wait until fall? I really have no idea when this tree was put into this pot (I got it in February), all I have is the evidence that the roots are not taking water readily.

I will try and put up a picture in the next day so that possibly someone can give pot suggestions.

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TreeBay

Some soils when dry become difficult to re-wet. Try soaking the tree for an hour or more up to the pot rim to get the soil rehydrated, and then see how it behaves. You can even completely immerse the plant - junipers don't mind. I had one fall in the Koi pond for at least three days, probably a week. When I finally pulled it out it looked great.

Now would be a hard time to repot. You can drive a chopstick into the soil in several places and fill the resulting holes with sand. Worst case remove corners from the soil mass and replenish with new soil.

A full-fledged repot now would probably kill it.

Regards,

Matt

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