Repotting bonsai

Hello I have a 3-4 year old japanese maple I had it in a 5 gallon planter and took it to my local bonsai guy and he said the pot was way to big and pUT it in a bonsai pot my question is the trunk is only about .5 inches and I'm afraid it will stop growing in the pot he reported it about 3 weeks ago and it is just starting to bud should I and is it OK to repot it again in a bigger pot or would it do to much damage to it and I should leave it in there till next year thanks for the feedback

You can probably slip pot into a bigger pot with no problems. Just move the tree into the larger pot and work in the soil. don't shape the current soil off the roots. I suggest a winder, but no deeper pot if your goal is to increase the trunk thickness.

but it will also NOT "stop growing"...
and i would be inclined to give your "bonsai guy" the benefit of the doubt... at least for now.


a picture of the tree and pot would help folks provide any further advice.
(unless you included one in your post and it is being filtered by my work computer)

Ok thanks I know it won't stop grown as they never will actually stop growing but will slow the trunk down and since it is so young I didn't want to lose a year of young growth

if you really wanna put on fast growth, just stick it in the ground for a couplafew years !

Or,uh oh a big bucket. Like maybe 5 gallon ought to do it.

M. Frary wrote:  Or,uh oh a big bucket. Like maybe 5 gallon ought to do it.

Sort out the roots now or you will have a hell of a mess (poor nebari, winding roots, tap root) which will need lots of time and work to sort out if you plan to repot into a larger pot or plant inground. Also if planting in ground leave a ceramic tile under the roots to encorage lateral root growth

Have a look at this post (hope you can see the pics) about sorting out roots - it is one of the best I have seen.


http://weetrees.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14577

Leave it alone 'til next year at which time you can pot up to a larger size and arrange the roots.