Yamadori ponderosa in cracked pot...should I repot now?

Dav4

This past winter, I purchased a very nice yamadori Ponderosa pine, estimated at 75-100 years old. Whoever collected it did a wonderful job with the roots...when I potted it into a bonsai pot, it had a vigorous, compact root system and no obvious natural soil remaining. I only had to change the planting angle and remove a very small amount of roots to fit the pot. Yesterday, we had some severe weather, and the tree/pot was knocked from the bench. The tree made out without damage, rootball intact and wired into the pot, which unfortunately cracked badly. It still holds soil, but about 3-4" of rim along approx 25% of the edge is gone, and the soil will erode from the roots over time.

So, what should I do? I can temperarily duck tape the fragment in place. Is it too risky to lift the tree out of the pot and plant in a nursery can without touching the roots? This is a wonderful tree and appears very healthy, so I will duck tape the pot every day until it's safe to repot if that is what I need to.

Thanks for any advice,

Dave

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zen

you could wrap some wire around the pot to hold it together,...or if the peice that is gone is shattered, you could slip a bit of mesh inside the pot to cover the gap,...then wire that into place.

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Joanie

Zen had a good idea there, either wire the fragment in place, or put mesh in the hole... you could also use a strong epoxy glue to put the fragment back in place. Epoxy glue and then wire would be strong enough.


Could you please fill in your location, by going to User CP and editing it? Thank you!

Joanie

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soonami

yeah, what zen said

Or you could take the tree, broken pot and all and place inside another pot or growing container and fill soil around it until you find a pot that can easily replace it. I wouldn't risk a repot with a tree like that right now because you don't know how the roots will react during the repotting

bnsaijim

Dave,

Your manly instinct are correct should be followed. You could of course appeal to other uiniversal solutions- Caulk and/or epoxy as appropriate.

Any other answers should be considered sacrilage.

jim

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Jim Stone
Seki Bonsai Studio
sekibonsai.com
Santa Fe, TX

Joanie

How about epoxy, caulk, wire and THEN duct tape?

And finish off with a beer and a burp?

Men..... love 'em....

Joanie

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Dav4

Thanks, everyone, for your help. Unfortunately, I was forced to repot. When I attempted to repair the original pot, more damage became apparent, making the pot unsalvagable. The good news is that the roots were growing nicely with lots of white tips. Only a small number of them were damaged in the fall and subsequent repot into a slightly larger plastic nursery container. We'll hopefully be ok, but time will tell.


Dave

bonsainotwar

How solid is the rootball ?

I am sure I am not the only one here,who has taken a tree,with a good,solid,rootball,lifted the whole shebang out of the pot,without disturbing it,safely into a new pot.
BTW,the only really safe time to repot conifirs around here (Albuquerque,NM),is a 2-3 week window,in late February/early March.Otherwise,they go into and die.

Dav4

The rootball was very solid...I did minimal pruning when it was intitially repotted in late March and only a few only a few roots were broken during the fall/subsequent repot. The tree is now in a 3 gal plastic pot with excellent drainage and will be kept in partial shade for a few weeks.


Dave