Quercus Suber Repot

Candy_J_Shirey

A long repot is hard on thee and the tree.

Saturday was the last day of spring and since my research indicated that late spring (before budbreak) was the right time for a repot of my Quercus suber, it was now or next year.

I started the repot at 10AM and ran into problems right away. The tree was basically in a hardpack dirt that was very dry in the center (despite almost daily waterings and a very wet spring.) I decided to get rid of all the bad soil and do a bare root.

Using water, fingers, and root hook, I had teased the roots from the impossible soil and was surprised that there was such a small amount of feeder roots for the amount of foliage. I finished the bare root at 2PM.

Attached Images

quercussuberbareroot.jpg (63.4 KB, 220 views)

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Candy_J_Shirey

...not alot of fine feeder roots...

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rootcloseup.jpg (61.0 KB, 215 views)

Candy_J_Shirey

Even though I had prepared another pot for the repot, I quickly changed my mind after viewing the rootage. This is not the final pot. I am still searching for the right pot so that late NEXT spring this tree may again be repotted. At least I know what to expect for the roots.

It was a total of five hours for the repot and I was a bit worried for the health of the tree. A few of the leaves were drooping late in the day. - and so was I!

A few days later, I have recovered and the cork oak has been resting in dappled shade. Today I noticed that it is starting to push some new growth!

Attached Images

quercus-after.jpg (61.5 KB, 199 views)

jth3

Nice tree....the bark texture is very nice.

TreeBay

Candy, this is a VERY nice pair of trunks. I am confused because you were talking about repotting in late spring before bud break. Here it appears that it is well foliated, and last time I checked my calendar it was summer (at least here). I would probably defoliate it, but I am sure you know what you're doing.

On the styling, I think if you can manage to style the branches in a style befitting the trunks it could be fantastic. The trunks are begging for a similar kind of wisened vertical movement. Wiring them out flat is probably not doing the tree justice.

Great potential here!! I'd love to be able to use this tree in our WIKIpedia entry for the cork bark oak!

Regards,

Matt

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spoonman

sorry this may seem stupid but is that the cork oak? these tree's have magnificeantly thick bark, and always wondored if it could be bonsai'd. now i just gotta find one to bonsai. looks great btw.

__________________
"Little laurel trees, your roots can find
No mountain, yet your leaves extend
Beyond your own world into mine
Perennial wands, unfolding in my thought
The budding evergreen of time."
-Kathleen Raine, The Trees in Tubs

Candy_J_Shirey

I like the texture also. That seems to be outstanding feature of this tree.

spoonman

yea, have you seen a full sized cork oak? they are absolutely amazing tree's.

__________________
"Little laurel trees, your roots can find
No mountain, yet your leaves extend
Beyond your own world into mine
Perennial wands, unfolding in my thought
The budding evergreen of time."
-Kathleen Raine, The Trees in Tubs

Candy_J_Shirey

I repotted last Saturday, June 19, last day of spring here in New England - which makes it VERY late spring repot. The Quercus suber is a tropical broadleaf evergreen (such as the buttonwood) so it still has leaves but there will be a big surge of new growth soon. The photo here shows unchecked mid-summer growth (last year/late July).



Actually, I am inexperienced with tropicals. Though I have seen this tree through many seasons, I have had it in my possession less than a year. I have never known it to be defoliated and have noticed that if a branch looses all it's leaves, the branch dies - perhaps the branch died first - and then the leaves? In any case, there is not alot of Quercus suber bonsai information to use as reference - so if you have some experience to pass on, I would love know anything that you would share.



I would love to see what you have in mind.



It would be an honor. However, as you can see, she is not really show quality yet. I would love to provide a quality photograph once her styling is completed.

Attached Images

quercus suber 072903.jpg (70.1 KB, 160 views)