Rescued a pot bound tree but it's not growing new roots

Discussion in 'Maples' started by envirogirl, Mar 13, 2008.

  1. envirogirl

    envirogirl Member

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    Hello there,

    This is my very first post in the UBC Botanical Garden Forum! : ) I've frequently read this forum for gardening advice and found it really helpful (e.g. I recently found European Chafer larvae in my lawn... shivers...).

    I'm sorry if a question like this has already been asked, but after doing some searching, I still don't quite feel it's been answered. Sorry it's long... I gave lots of detail:

    In the winter of 2006 I rescued a potted Japanese Maple from a friend of a friend. Sorry, I don't know what else to call the tree... I'm not so good w/ scientific names... it has tan-coloured bark and red leaves that are very fine and feathery. I don't know how old it is but it's about 3 feet tall. It was severely pot bound when I first found it. I couldn't tease the roots apart at all. I repotted it into a pot that gave it about 0.5" all around to grow into.

    It started out really well, growing new leaves all over in the spring. Then, in the summer, all the leaves started to dry up and fall off even though it was kept well watered and in a shady spot. I put it in the garage over this winter and took it out a couple of weeks ago. Today, I took it out of the pot to discover that it hadn't grown any new roots. The roots are mostly dark brown. I did my best to massage and tease out some roots but they were still very tight and fibrous (even after soaking in a bucket of water). I planted it back in the pot, and I'm hoping for the best.

    Is there anything more I can do for this poor tree, or is it done?
     
  2. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Was there still soil in amongst the roots? I may be way off the mark here (maple/acer growers will be along soon) but I would have teased and trimmed some roots and taken the top down a bit as well then really put it in a good size pot and made the soil really wet and muddy to shake it into every crevis of the root ball and pressed it down very firmly. Maples are sold here bare rooted so to my way of thinking it would not have hurt it to be pruned a bit and new soil somehow got between the roots.
    Liz
     
  3. envirogirl

    envirogirl Member

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    Hi Liz,

    Thanks for replying. There is quite a lot of soil amongst the roots. I tried teasing the roots out with little success... the roots and soil are locked tight into the shape of the old pot. Should I get a large knife and just cut off, say .5" all the way around the mass? And, when you suggest a good size pot, how much larger should I go?
     
  4. whis4ey

    whis4ey Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Could you not wash some of the soil away from the root system with a strong hose? And THEN tease out the roots?
     
  5. envirogirl

    envirogirl Member

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    Hmm, never thought of doing that. Makes sense... it's less damaging for the roots than cutting them. How can I tell if the roots are still good? Will they be a certain colour, texture or size? Right now most of them are dark brown, tough, and range in thickness from 1mm to 3mm.
     
  6. alex66

    alex66 Rising Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    mumble,mumble if roots are every brown ,maple is not in life ,cut one small branch if not see liquid or green your maple is dead,sorry !but one possibility is cut trunk ground level , cut roots and re pot.good luck..
    please send a pics after cut if possible
     
  7. Layne Uyeno

    Layne Uyeno Active Member 10 Years

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    Hi,

    Do you know how long the tree was in the old pot? After about 2 or 3 years the roots will circle and girdle and the tree becomes pot bound. I've always suggested any one interested in container gardening get a book on basic bonsai techniques and learn about branch pruning and root pruning.

    You don't have to wash off all the soil, but tease some of the girdled roots out. It helps if the soil is not wet like after you watered. Since the tree is not healthy I'd cut no more than 1/3 of the rootball and no more than 1/3 of the canopy. It's important to cut back the top as well as the roots. If the tree were healthier you could stand to cut back more. Or, you can just pot up to a bigger pot, but at some point this will be become impractical and you will eventually either have to plant in the ground or prune the roots.

    After you repot the tree keep it in open shade for a few weeks as the tree just went through some major shock and to lessen it's need for water. Don't fertilize, but you can give it some liquid kelp extract mixed with water. Keep the soil moist but not wet. Temps down here are in the 70s/80s and I'm watering every 2 to 3 days right now.

    Check your watering regimen in the summer. You may have overwatered your tree causing root rot. The symptoms for overwatering are the same for underwatering....leaves drying up and branch die back. The only difference is for overwatering the symptoms come on gradually whereas with underwatering the symptoms can show up in a day or two. The problem with overwatering is that we think the tree is not getting enough water because the leaves are drying up so we water more, thus compounding the problem.

    What are the summertime temps up in Vancouver? Down here in Los Angeles, CA the temps can get into the 100s and we can get nice ocean breezes one day and hot, dry desert winds the next. Leaf dessication is part of life down here and doesn't really harm the plant and we accept it. As long as we water properly, keeping the soil moist, but not wet the trees will do fine.

    Hope this helps,

    Layne
     
  8. envirogirl

    envirogirl Member

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    Layne,

    Thanks for replying so thoughtfully. I don't know how long the tree's been in the original pot... based on how it looked when I got it, it was at least 2 or 3 years.

    Since the first round of suggestions I received, this is what I've done: I gingerly trimmed off a few dead-looking roots, root by root, from around the sides of the root ball. I made sure the root ball was thoroughly saturated with water then repotted it in a pot that gives it 1" new soil all around.

    The canopy is quite sparse so I've only pruned the branches that did not produce leaves last year and are now very grey, dry and brittle. For the last few weeks the tree's been growing little leaf buds all over and seems to be doing okay so far. But, this is what it did last year, then suddenly started taking a downturn for no apparent reason.

    You could be right about overwatering. It doesn't get as hot here in Vancouver, and we don't get dry winds really so I think what happened was during a dry spell the soil dried out too much, causing the leaves to drop and fall off. In my shock, I probably then stressed the tree by overwatering!

    Anyway, I'll keep an eye on it and keep your message in my files for reference. Thanks again... I appreciate your message!
     
  9. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Plants in poor condition before planting slow to respond, may just deteriorate further despite improved situation.
     

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