Things to consider to transplant a bonsai tree into a training pot [Bonsai]

This post is a follow-up on my DIY Project: Let's Make Bonsai Training Pot. That post has become very popular in the last few days. It talks about why a training pot is needed, how it helps root growth and trunk thickness, how I made the training pots, and why I designed the training pots the way I did.

In this post, I'll be showing the results of what it looks like transplanting a young tree into one of these self-made wire basket pots.

Every photo in this post is original works.

As you can see in the two photos above, the tree really needed some help. Even though this Forsythia tree is a vigorous grower, it has not developed a good spread of roots. The pot had been spilled several times due to squirrels and humans, leaving the roots exposed to the air.

In the new wire pot, I used a bonsai mix as the primary soil, which consists of inorganic lava rock, pumice, akadama clay, and granite. I also mixed in a cheaper bonsai potting soil mix, which includes some pine wood bark, in smaller pieces.

For my next transplant, I have this lime tree I wanted to move into a new training pot. It has been growing in this blue pot for about two or three years, and it has a sister tree growing up alongside it. The tree has been very loose in this mix of potting soil, and I would like to have it fixed more firmly in the pot so it can develop stronger.

The first thing I do is remove it from the pot, to find out what the root structure looks like.

The trees are grower very close together at the base.

Most of the soil was falling off the roots with even gentle handling.

This is the strangest root shape I have ever found in my trees.

Both trees formed a square-shaped root around a corner, and continue to zig-zag. All the other roots are growing freely in long strands, like hair.

There is no thickening in the trunk above the root zone.

At this point I ran into quite a few difficulties. I decided to switch to the same inorganic soil as I used for the Forsythia tree, but my supply for bonsai soils is getting very low.

Positioning the trees in the new pot was also very difficult due to the odd shape of the roots.

At first I tried positioning them side-by-side, as they were before, but they were not able to stay upright or remain close together. The roots were blocking the roots of the other tree.

It then struck me that these trees are better suited to be slightly inter-twined in the roots if I want to keep them close together. Let them support eachother, instead of resist eachother. I was able to use the shape of the taproot on the dominant tree to encase around the taproot of the smaller tree. For all the fine roots, I spread them outward, with most the roots of one tree headed to one side of the pot, and the roots of the other tree headed to the other half of the pot. I also like to use a few wooden sticks to tie my wires to, to hold the roots down snugly.

Here is what it looks like after I finished. I decided to keep some of the old potting soil and use that as a thin top mulch layer. I really do not want this lime tree to dry out in the new rocky soil, and I think the potting soil will also help keep some of the moisture and nutrients close to the roots. A few decorative rocks were added, buried under the surface.

The angles of the two trees are slightly different than before, but I did my best to use the soil to prop it up at a suitable angle. Next time I do this, I might try using some kind of a clamp to maintain the two trunk angles while I work with the soil, roots, and wiring of the roots to position the tree.

This is the first time I have brought this tree outdoors for the year, so I'll be keeping it in the shade for a few weeks until it shows signs of strong new growth.

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Thanks for viewing my post. I enjoy sharing my journey with others. Mistakes, successes, mishaps, discoveries, and all.

#teambonsai

Try something new for a change. Variety is the spice of life.