Uncle Bux finally gets a pot

After discussion with the previous owner and the fact the tree has been in Florida all it's life. We decided to over winter in my unheated garge at least for the first year to help it acclimate.





This was the first time I had to pot up a tree, hope I did okay. I used a chopstick to pack it in and also watered in.

Did you wire it securely into the pot?  It looks a bit topheavy. It also looks like it could use a bit more soil around the edges and firmed in.

JimLewis wrote:Did you wire it securely into the pot?  It looks a bit topheavy.  It also looks like it could use a bit more soil around the edges and firmed in.

I did not wire it in, the person I got it from advised against it. It will be inside this winter and he said it will anchor it's self to the pot with in 30 days. I will be adding more soil as it compacts. I'll work it in more over the next several days.

Only a fool would advise against securing it in the pot. And it is planted way too high.

WHY would someone tell you not to wire it in?

I don't know why someone would advice it but here's the quote from the e-mail:

"It is better to press the soil into the pot and compacting it to hold the tree without using any wire. This way you will not damage the texured bark. Within a Month roots will anchor the tree to the pot. Just watch out for windy days. Or you can use a larger diameter copper wire to wire it to the pot. You can ask me as much as you like. I put many years caring for this tree, therefore it is important to me that it keeps growing in good hands"

He said he had trained the tree for 8 years, why wouldn't I believe him?

It may look top heavy but it's not. It does seem to be secure in the pot. I think I'll stop posting here for awhile and just lurk.

LittleJoe wrote:
It may look top heavy but it's not. It does seem to be secure in the pot. I think I'll stop posting here for awhile and just lurk.

Don't stop posting just because someone has a different opinion of how it should be done to that which you were told by the previous owner. Wiring a tree in the pot is not done by all or even half the growers I know, many with decades each of growing trees (myself included).

While it may not be top heavy that dense canopy would act like a sail in high winds, in which circumstance I usually tie tree & pot to the bench with cargo strapping (wide & soft enough to not damage bark or pot).

Hmmm.  Significantly more than half the growers I know wire their trees into the pots.

Little Joe before you disappear and/or decide not to wire it in, understand the reasons why people recommend wiring in. Here is a simple overview:

1. for those of us who live in areas that are prone to wind, wiring the tree in stabilises it against what we call "root rock". As its name suggests this is where the roots get rocked by the action of the wind, and the biggest problem with that is that the finer roots (and they're the important ones) get damaged and become limited or even rendered useless in what they can do.

2. root rock will also occur in an unsecured tree every time you lift it. If you are lifting this tree in and out your garage in better weather, you run the risk of damaging the roots. (Also factor into that those people who think they are helping you when lifting trees and who lift it by the trunk.  Trust me - been there, had that done to me.  )

3. the only circumstance in which a tree's roots will "bind it to the pot" is when it's root bound or just about to be so. While that in itself isn't instantly threatening (some trees can exist without being repotted for many years), it just means subsequent pottings get more difficult as you are having to untangle masses and masses of roots.  It often pays to think ahead.

Regarding the tree being top-heavy:  I think the posters mean that it is planted too high in the pot (as Russell says) and not that there is too much foliage/branch.  I would agree with them.  It could (and IMHO should) be a good bit further down in the pot. Look at pictures of great trees online and in books. You won't see them perched like that. While I understand completely your (perfectly correct) concern about damaging the bark, it could easily go lower without any danger in that direction.

Matt says that not everybody does things the textbook way and he is of course right.  But I'd recommend that sticking to doing it according to perceived wisdom is always the best until you are more skilled at bonsai.

Thank you Matt and Fiona,
It's not so much about having a difference of opinion, it's how it's expressed. As always, thank you for continuing my education.

Fiona,
At this point. To lower the tree in the pot I'll have to remove more then dirt. I think it's best to wait till spring for that. It will be in my garage till then and I am the only person handling the tree.

Thanks again,
Joe

I don't know your climate details (but I do know that it snows from pics shown by other NC dwellers) so you're probably best to err on the side of caution. In that case I'd pack some more soil down the sides now. It will help in stopping air pockets forming and it will certainly help the stability issue.

Just poke the wire through the bottom holes of the pot and secure it. No need to take the tree out of the pot to do that. Very simple procedure. You don't want new roots tearing with movement. Wire everything you have to the pot.

Don't stop posting. Opinions are like bung-holes. Everybody has one and they usually stink. Plus if you stick here long enough you'll learn that Jim and Russell have a way of not sugar coating anything but they're probably some of the most knowledgeable (and in my experience some of the most generous) dudes you'll come across. They're affectionately known as Grump Senior and Grump Junior accordingly

Fiona's advice is accurate. We get some insane winds in the Triangle. NC has the nastiest storms I've seen outside of a hurricane, and I've gone through 5 of them in FL and the 04/16/2011 tornado in Raleigh.

And on the point of advice...you're very likely to hear similarly voiced opinions out of our club. I'm not saying this to discourage you but only to illustrate that some folks don't have the sensitivity or time to sugar coat things. It is what it is, but in the end most of us are involved in this hobby for the same reason...we're all a bunch of plant nerds. So you learn to filter their tone and heed their advice....or you dish it back

I hope you were there on the 3rd. I came in at the very end and missed most of it

Have a great week!!!
Sam

Thanks Sam,
I didn't make it on the 3rd of November and I probably won't make the next meet. I'll have family in for Thanksgiving, but I will get there.

Jkd2572 wrote:Just poke the wire through the bottom holes of the pot and secure it. No need to take the tree out of the pot to do that. Very simple procedure. You don't want new roots tearing with movement. Wire everything you have to the pot.

Good advice. Shouldn't be an issue to wire while avoiding damaging the bark/visible roots. Where the tree currently sits, there's no danger of wind so that's good.

Communicating in forums can be tricky, as certain wording can come across as more aggressive/combative than is meant.