Satsuki and Bonsai in Mack's GardenRenewal April 23, 2011 |
My repotting of satsuki trees in 2011
I would like to introduce the details of my repotting of satsuki trees in 2011.
I dug out 4 trees from the nursery on 13th March, which, having been planted in the corners and grown to thick trunks, had sometimes suffered from a water shortage last summer. And I potted them after pruning them and washing their roots completely on 22nd. I gave grains of fertilisers and big balls of them to all satsuki bonsai on 23rd. As two big satsuki trees in the flowerpot died, I dug out a big Kozan and a big Shuho no hikari with 3 small trees on 24th from the nursery. And after pruning 5 arakis and washing their roots completely, I potted them on 26th and 27th. I repotted two big Kozan on 28th after pruning them and washing their roots completely. All of these trees have a few flower buds on each branches.
My big Kaho has still a lot of leaves and one fifth of flower buds after I pruned it, washed its roots completely and repotted it on 1st April, It is because it has a lot of fine roots after I washed its trunk and roots. As Osakazuki (netsuranari) is a little bit weak I had to remove all of the flower buds, leaving a small number of leaves, when I pruned it on 3rd. And I repotted Nikko B, having been planted in a terracotta for 4 years, in a good flowerpot after I had pruned it and washed its trunk and roots.
Korin has a considerable leaves and two fifths of flower buds after I pruned it, washed its trunk and roots and repotted it on 4th. Therefore I will be able to enjoy its flowers. But I had to remove all of flower buds of Shinnyo no tsuki (a tall tree which I have grown since a cutting) and Kusudama (which I put into a tree of five trunks when I bought a tree about 30 years ago which had more trunks) because they are a little bit weak now.
On 7th I repotted two cascades of Shinnyo no tsuki and Murasakifuji which I have grown from the cuttings. And I repotted 2 trees of Komei which are weak because they have big rotten parts on the lower trunks. Moreover the tree which has not been registered in the satsuki dictionary since I had bought it in Tenri near Nara about 37 years ago.
On 8th I repotted Daigokuden, Gekkeikan and Namichidori which have been grown from cuttings and are very weak. Daigokuden has a big dead branch on the middle height of the trunk. As Gekkeikan has a big rotten part on the lower trunk, I removed it and stuffed the hollow part with a kind of bond. One fourth of the roots of Namichidori are dead. I think they may die in several years. As they are 37, or 38 years old and had had their flowers every season for more than 30 years, that is, I repotted them after blooming, I think they have been getting weak year by year. Recently after I pruned them and removed all of their flower buds in March or April, I repotted them.
I would like to show the summary of my repotting of satsuki trees in March and early April. Bringing the repotted trees to the garage, I can repot the trees in February. But as I am very busy pruning a lot of the trees in the nursery in February, I cannot do so.
A. Drastic repotting (an ordinary method).
1. Pruning a tree and removing almost every flower buds.
2. Removing Kanuma soil from the roots.
3. Washing the roots, trunk and branches, and removing Kanuma soil completely.
4. Potting it. Judging from the size of flowerpot, I have to decide what Kanuma soil I can use. I never use soft Kanuma for all varieties of satsuki trees except for cuttings and saplings. I always buy three kinds of Kanuma: large, middle and small ones which are sieved and sorted. And I mix middle one (60 %) with small one (40 %) as upper soil in the flowerpot. When I plant a very big tree in a very big flowerpot, I put large one of a fourth or a fifth of the whole soil on the bottom of the pot.
5. Spreading sphagnum on the surface of the soil after soaking it.
C. If a tree has a lot of good roots when I wash them, I will be able to enjoy a fifth of flowers after repotting. I can judge the conditions of the tree before pruning it if I always look at it carefully, watering it.
D. If a tree is very weak, we mustn't wash the roots. After removing only the part of hard soil very carefully, we have to repot it so that the roots may have fresh air and water easily.
Now I have only some trees which I have grown from cuttings since more than 35 years ago and are still strong. But a lot of trees died. I think a great reason of their dying was that some friends of mine asked me to lend some trees for several days every year while they had their flowers. They didn't give them a lot of water though I asked them to do so. And some of them put them in the air-conditioned rooms. Therefore I didn't lend them the expensive trees which I had bought.
Besides we had to put our satsuki bonsai on the shelves in the air-conditioned rooms for 3 days when we held our flower show. All of mine died in two or three years because I think a water shortage and a cool wind by air-conditioner made them weak. As I always give my satsuki trees a lot of water and fertilisers, the change of condition made them weak, that is, I should have taken special care of them. But as I was very busy before my retirement, I couldn't do so. For example, it took me more than 50 minutes to give water to them in the early morning in summer and 40 minutes to do so in the evening. Moreover it took me about 70 minutes to give water to the trees in the nursery once per two days. Therefore I had to get up at 5:00 every other day because I left my house at 7:45 and arrived at my office in our university at 8:00.
My brother helped me to make a structure to shadow the satsuki trees on the shelves two years ago. Therefore though it takes me an hour to give water to them and others in the early morning, it takes me 10 minutes to do so in the evening, several minutes to spread the nets at about 8:00 and several minutes to close them at about 16:00 only in summer. Besides they look healthier than before.
Nikko A before being pruned which was dug out from the nursery.
Nikko A after being repotted. Height = 39 cm, circumference = 22 cm
Nikko B which was repotted in a good flowerpot after being washed. Height = 32 cm, circumference = 30 cm
Kaho. Height = 72 cm, circumference = 35 cm
Kozan A (left). Height = 41 cm, circumference = 41 cm. Kozan B (right). Height = 43 cm, circumference = 47 cm
Korin after being repotted. Height = 35 cm, circumference = 40 cm. As the photo was taken on 15th April, you can see a lot of young leaves.
The roots of Sinnyo no tsuki after being washed. You cannot see any grains of Kanuma among the roots because they were washed completely.