On 2014-10-05 16:38:57 +0000, stuart noble said:

On 05/10/2014 12:40, David wrote:
Teasing the roots isn't always easy IME. I've had shrubs where cutting
slits in the root ball was the only option.
My local GC has just emptied all unsold seed packets into a dustbin
and marked them down to 50p. Now that they're all jumbled up, they
won't sell any. I know because they do it every year!

Ray is opposed to teasing out roots in general, as he thinks people
often do more harm than good. But sometimes, if you get something really
compacted, it's necessary but only in the gentlest way and with no
forcing.


I never tease out the roots, I use a sharp knife and slice down the
length of the root ball on 3 sides.
The new roots then grow away from the old clump.
David @ a rain free side of Swansea Bay

I've rarely had the courage to do that, but I did drill out the centre
of a camellia root ball which was absolutely rock solid. Much to my
surprise it gave it a new lease of life, but I'm still loath to do
anything much to a newly purchased plant

I've never had the courage to do that, either though sometimes we take
a small saw to really tough root balls on e.g. mature Cannas or
Hedychiums when splitting them. It never does them harm.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:07:44 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Tue, 7 Oct 2014 09:19:55 +0100, sacha wrote:

I've never had the courage to do that, either though sometimes we take a
small saw to really tough root balls on e.g. mature Cannas or Hedychiums
when splitting them. It never does them harm.

I divide my hedychiums (H. gardnerianum) with a hand axe! As you say,
never does them harm and they come again with lots of vigour.

Heh, I divided mine for the first time this past winter. I had waited
too long as they really put on a lot of root mass. Ensued much hacking
with a fully extended cutter blade... But maybe hedychiums are a special
case, like crynoids.

As for teasing roots, the thing you have to worry about is encircling
roots strangling the plant as it grows on in the ground. When this
happens you end up having to cut major roots in the ground, which can set
it back or even kill it. So for really pot bound plants I do like David
and make 4 cuts. If the pot is just "full" or a little more, I tease out
the roots to avoid encircling, and sometimes remove the very longs ones.



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy