apricot repotting

I need help. I have a 5 year old apricot bonsai tree and it needs repotting. I would like to remove some of the old growers dirt and add some new Bonsai soil. The apricot tree is starting to bloom now and we just had our first snow in Snohomish, Washington. The growers soil won't drain very well and I want to get a ring of good soil around the roots. I will be going from a rectangle pot to a drum pot not much bigger. I just don't want to loose any blooms as this is the first time it had flowers, also want the roots to grow better. It has great top growth with many branches some growing in the correct spots.

i am not in your climate, but this seems like the wrong time for repotting in general...

this thread might get more traction & views if it were in the "questions" category...

I moved it.

I agree that this not the time for potting (or blooming, either, for that matter), but rather than repotting with a ring of new soil around the edge of the pot, I think I'd rather cut pie-shaped wedges out of the rootball, fill the bottom of the pot with new soil, the fill the pies  with a delicious portion of new soil, too.  This will help prevent water from flowing down around the edge of the rootball and not getting any moisture into the root mass itself.

Jim Lewis
Thanks for your reply, My major concern is not losing any flowers of buds. I so like this tree as it has about a three inch trunk. I never thought about the pie shape wedges but a great idea. I got plenty of yummy new bonsai soil so will try it. As to why the apricot is blooming now I couldn't tell you as it was always kept outside in my shade house.
Thanks again,
Bob G.

all of a sudden i have this strange craving for apricot pie...

My major concern is not losing any flowers of buds.

You might want to think about that.  Your major concern should be the health of the tree, short- and long-term.  Flowers are an annual thing.  Death is forever. 

If you transplant now, you WILL lose flowers/buds; maybe not ll of them, but some. 

HOWEVER, if it is blooming now in the soil it came in, I'd guess it is happy enough, and my suggestion would be to let it be for now, and do the repotting as suggested in the spring.  Please do NOT allow fruit to form. 

Jim Lewis and Kevin,
I would like to thank both of you for your great replies to my repotting problem. I think that since it is only about two months to warmer weather and Spring I can just wait. When I di the repotting I will use the triangle method that Jim suggested .
Thanks again for your help,
Bob G.

mmmmm... pie sounds so much more appetizing than triangle

Kevin,
Apricot pie sounds great as long you include enough French vanilla ice cream and a large glass of ice cold milk.
Right now I just have to settle for APPLE PIE with the above.
what is the E-MAIL address used to post pictures on the internet web site I have tried several times without any success so any help on this would be great.
Thanks,
Bob G.

Robert, I may be able to help you with this one. Firstly, I'm presuming you mean Prunus mume not Prunus armeniacum (for eating). Go ahead and let it flower. There is a window of about 1 month between flowering and the appearence of new growth. That is the time to repot. When the flowers are about 3/4 finished, take the tree out of it's pot, remove as much soil with a hook and chop sticks, then thouroughly wash away all the old soil with a strong jet from the hose. Prune some of the strong roots then continue to wash until there are no traces of the original soil left. A final root triming to fit your new container and pot up. After that, normal repotting should be carried out every year until the tree is at least 20 years old.
Removing wedges from the root ball is only a stop-gap measure and should only be considered with very old and delicate trees which cannot stand severe root disturbance due to bad repotting practices in the past.

I wrote you a PM seceral days ago. Have you checked your mail?

Dick Benbow,
You may have emailed me three days ago in the pm but I have never received it. I do check my mail about three times a day
every day. So if you want to resend it please do so.
Thanks,
Bob G.

actually was a PM not an email.....