Monday 10 October 2011

Repot - Chinese Juniper

I have this tree in my collection for around a year now, bought it for wiring practice unsure of the final image and regret paying the £30 I did, as with a greater amount of knowledge I have come to the conclusion that it is a very poor tree with no real pros and a lot of cons. Since purchase it has put out very little growth, put this down to poor medium and pot bound roots. Recent advice has told me that October is a good time to repot coniferous trees (I was due to repot my juniper in the coming spring but it was root bound, so decided autumn would be the better option, also providing it with better winter protection).

This current growing season (2011) the tree hasn't put out much growth and has, instead, been producing juvenile foliage (unsuitable for bonsai) so to develop it I decided it would be potted up into something bigger allowing it more room to grow, this would also mean I wouldn't have to do too much root work before winter. I also wanted to change the potting angle as the tree leaned forward too far.

Front View (before repot)

Potting mix (decided to go for 3 parts cat litter : 1 part compost. I like using some organic medium in my mixes as it helps hold onto more fertiliser and water than inorganic medium.)

Growing box, plenty of drainage holes to ensure free draining mix.

Front View (after repot, and a good soaking)
Reasonably pleased with the outcome and will be on a high feeding regime this coming growing season in the hope that it will be rewarding me with tons of new growth that I will be able to work on in the coming years.