I've got an Acer ceriferum (or Acer robustum depending on your religion)
which is scheduled to go into the ground in March. However I've noticed
it's actually gotten quite root bound in its pot.

Is is better to repot now, so that new root growth has a chance to take
place over winter, or leave it in the existing pot until I can bung it in?

My sense is that I should put it in a larger pot, then try to plant with
minimal disturbance later. Of note, although the ceriferum top is a bit
difficult (though currently healthy enough), the understock is regular
palmatum and so pretty tough.

Thanks,

-E

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 24/11/2013 18:10, Emery Davis wrote:
I've got an Acer ceriferum (or Acer robustum depending on your religion)
which is scheduled to go into the ground in March. However I've noticed
it's actually gotten quite root bound in its pot.

Is is better to repot now, so that new root growth has a chance to take
place over winter, or leave it in the existing pot until I can bung it in?

My sense is that I should put it in a larger pot, then try to plant with
minimal disturbance later. Of note, although the ceriferum top is a bit
difficult (though currently healthy enough), the understock is regular
palmatum and so pretty tough.

Thanks,

-E

Sorry to answer your question with a question, but what is the
likelihood of the roots becoming severely frosted and/or drying out in
their current pot over the winter? If the answer is "almost none", I'd
leave them be. Maybe a little water once or twice a month, just to keep
them damp.

But if there is a good chance, I'd do as you mentioned - temporarily
repot. Is there, in any case, any root growth at this time of year? Or
does it start shortly before the leaf buds start to break? If there is,
once again, repotting seems the way to go.

You didn't say how big the current pot is. Would there be any chance of
repotting in a peat pot so there would be minimum root disturbance when
planting in the ground?

--

Jeff

On 24 Nov 2013 18:10:28 GMT, Emery Davis
wrote:

I've got an Acer ceriferum (or Acer robustum depending on your religion)
which is scheduled to go into the ground in March. However I've noticed
it's actually gotten quite root bound in its pot.

Is is better to repot now, so that new root growth has a chance to take
place over winter, or leave it in the existing pot until I can bung it in?

My sense is that I should put it in a larger pot, then try to plant with
minimal disturbance later. Of note, although the ceriferum top is a bit
difficult (though currently healthy enough), the understock is regular
palmatum and so pretty tough.

It will make very little root growth between now and March so I would
put it in a Aheltered place and leave it till planting out, then
"tease out" the roots before "bunging it in"!
Good luck

Pam in Bristol

On 24/11/2013 18:54, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 24/11/2013 18:10, Emery Davis wrote:
I've got an Acer ceriferum (or Acer robustum depending on your religion)
which is scheduled to go into the ground in March. However I've noticed
it's actually gotten quite root bound in its pot.

Is is better to repot now, so that new root growth has a chance to take
place over winter, or leave it in the existing pot until I can bung it
in?

My sense is that I should put it in a larger pot, then try to plant with
minimal disturbance later. Of note, although the ceriferum top is a bit
difficult (though currently healthy enough), the understock is regular
palmatum and so pretty tough.

Thanks,

-E

Sorry to answer your question with a question, but what is the
likelihood of the roots becoming severely frosted and/or drying out in
their current pot over the winter? If the answer is "almost none", I'd
leave them be. Maybe a little water once or twice a month, just to keep
them damp.

But if there is a good chance, I'd do as you mentioned - temporarily
repot. Is there, in any case, any root growth at this time of year? Or
does it start shortly before the leaf buds start to break? If there is,
once again, repotting seems the way to go.

You didn't say how big the current pot is. Would there be any chance of
repotting in a peat pot so there would be minimum root disturbance when
planting in the ground?

Why not dig a hole and plunge the pot so it's all below soil level for
the winter, then lift it March/April and plant it in its final position,
I slash the root ball with a sharp knife making several cuts top to
bottom, when planting, so that new roots form from the cuts.
David @ a still dry but muddy side of Swansea Bay.

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:54:22 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 24/11/2013 18:10, Emery Davis wrote:
I've got an Acer ceriferum (or Acer robustum depending on your
religion) which is scheduled to go into the ground in March. However
I've noticed it's actually gotten quite root bound in its pot.

Is is better to repot now, so that new root growth has a chance to take
place over winter, or leave it in the existing pot until I can bung it
in?

[]
Sorry to answer your question with a question, but what is the
likelihood of the roots becoming severely frosted and/or drying out in
their current pot over the winter? If the answer is "almost none", I'd
leave them be. Maybe a little water once or twice a month, just to keep
them damp.


The pot would be kept inside and damp, these usually get watered about
every 4 weeks during dormancy. The repotted plant would be kept inside
also.

But if there is a good chance, I'd do as you mentioned - temporarily
repot. Is there, in any case, any root growth at this time of year? Or
does it start shortly before the leaf buds start to break? If there is,
once again, repotting seems the way to go.

You didn't say how big the current pot is. Would there be any chance of
repotting in a peat pot so there would be minimum root disturbance when
planting in the ground?

It's in an ~5l pot now. The temp repotting would be to 15l.

Maples put on significant root growth 3 times during the year: during the
first part of leaf dormancy, after the spring growth, and after the
summer secondary growth. So there is likely to be root growth over the
next month, it's exactly that which I'm "worried" about losing.



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:13:11 +0000, David Hill wrote:

Why not dig a hole and plunge the pot so it's all below soil level for
the winter, then lift it March/April and plant it in its final position,
I slash the root ball with a sharp knife making several cuts top to
bottom, when planting, so that new roots form from the cuts.
David @ a still dry but muddy side of Swansea Bay.

Plenty of mud in Normandy too, it turns out the snow last week was 10 cm!!

This pot is not so root bound that I want to cut the roots, I save that
for the really bad ones. It should have been repotted this early summer,
I just missed it.

The reason to plant it in spring rather than now is because Acers hate
winter wet. So certain ones, or if I'm not sure of the graft union, get
planted in spring. If I put the pot in a hole, the hole would fill with
water and the plant would drown! Your plan would work if I had very free
draining soil probably, but it's pretty heavy here.



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:02:43 +0000, Pam Moore wrote:

On 24 Nov 2013 18:10:28 GMT, Emery Davis wrote:

I've got an Acer ceriferum (or Acer robustum depending on your religion)
which is scheduled to go into the ground in March. However I've noticed
it's actually gotten quite root bound in its pot.

Is is better to repot now, so that new root growth has a chance to take
place over winter, or leave it in the existing pot until I can bung it
in?

It will make very little root growth between now and March so I would
put it in a Aheltered place and leave it till planting out, then "tease
out" the roots before "bunging it in"!
Good luck


Hi Pam,

If all goes well it will make some roots over the next month, at least I
hope so! The understock seems very vigorous which is a good thing since
ceriferum is a very fast grower.

I do plan on keeping it inside in a cold (but relatively dry) space.

Thanks,

-E




--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 25/11/2013 11:02, Emery Davis wrote:
On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:54:22 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 24/11/2013 18:10, Emery Davis wrote:
I've got an Acer ceriferum (or Acer robustum depending on your
religion) which is scheduled to go into the ground in March. However
I've noticed it's actually gotten quite root bound in its pot.

Is is better to repot now, so that new root growth has a chance to take
place over winter, or leave it in the existing pot until I can bung it
in?

[]
Sorry to answer your question with a question, but what is the
likelihood of the roots becoming severely frosted and/or drying out in
their current pot over the winter? If the answer is "almost none", I'd
leave them be. Maybe a little water once or twice a month, just to keep
them damp.


The pot would be kept inside and damp, these usually get watered about
every 4 weeks during dormancy. The repotted plant would be kept inside
also.

But if there is a good chance, I'd do as you mentioned - temporarily
repot. Is there, in any case, any root growth at this time of year? Or
does it start shortly before the leaf buds start to break? If there is,
once again, repotting seems the way to go.

You didn't say how big the current pot is. Would there be any chance of
repotting in a peat pot so there would be minimum root disturbance when
planting in the ground?

It's in an ~5l pot now. The temp repotting would be to 15l.

Maples put on significant root growth 3 times during the year: during the
first part of leaf dormancy, after the spring growth, and after the
summer secondary growth. So there is likely to be root growth over the
next month, it's exactly that which I'm "worried" about losing.





Emery,

Is it possible to take the base off the existing pot, then plant that up
into the bigger pot? It should allow the roots their winter growth into
good soil without promoting soft top growth. At the same time, the
whole rootball will have extra protection over winter. Come Spring, the
maple will be ready to romp away, whether you plant it out or pot it on
for another season.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

On 25/11/2013 11:08, Emery Davis wrote:
On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:13:11 +0000, David Hill wrote:

Why not dig a hole and plunge the pot so it's all below soil level for
the winter, then lift it March/April and plant it in its final position,
I slash the root ball with a sharp knife making several cuts top to
bottom, when planting, so that new roots form from the cuts.
David @ a still dry but muddy side of Swansea Bay.

Plenty of mud in Normandy too, it turns out the snow last week was 10 cm!!

This pot is not so root bound that I want to cut the roots, I save that
for the really bad ones. It should have been repotted this early summer,
I just missed it.

The reason to plant it in spring rather than now is because Acers hate
winter wet. So certain ones, or if I'm not sure of the graft union, get
planted in spring. If I put the pot in a hole, the hole would fill with
water and the plant would drown! Your plan would work if I had very free
draining soil probably, but it's pretty heavy here.

Well you could always just bank the soil up around the pot so the whole
thing is above ground.
Or just wrap well with bubble wrap, or a few inches thickness of shade
netting around the pot to keep excess frost out.
David @ a still dry and sunny side of Swansea bay

On Mon, 25 Nov 2013 14:13:54 +0000, Spider wrote:

[]
Is it possible to take the base off the existing pot, then plant that up
into the bigger pot? It should allow the roots their winter growth into
good soil without promoting soft top growth. At the same time, the
whole rootball will have extra protection over winter. Come Spring, the
maple will be ready to romp away, whether you plant it out or pot it on
for another season.

Hi Spider,

I think that's basically what I'll do. I was concerned that I'd break up
the new growth (again) putting it into the ground in spring, but this way
I can be careful with it, and also keep it in a cold and fairly dry
(safe) environment over the winter.

Thanks!



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy