Chinese Elm Bonsai Repotting for Beginners

In this video I am going to be repotting Chinese on bonsai the type of material Is the most basic you’re ever going to Come across it’s usually sold in big-box Stores or grocery stores at certain Times of the year and it’s probably one Of the most common pieces of material That raw beginners would come across so I wanted to demonstrate how you can Repot them to gain maximum health and Success in the future if we’re only just Meeting I’m Darrin and my channel is all About bringing you information and Inspiration as I grow my trees through The seasons so if you’re new to my Channel consider subscribing now I want To honor the more experienced viewers Out there this is going to be really Basic stuff it’s aimed at someone who’s Never repotted a tree before who might Not have much confidence this is rural Beginner so if you’re a bit more Advanced in your experience this video Probably isn’t going to be very Interesting for you but coming up in the Next few weeks It’s repotting season so I’m looking Forward to showing you some of my more Advanced projects that I’ve got going on If you do stick around I’m always Learning and I always think that there’s Room for improvement so if you do spot Anything drop me a comment below Repotting is important for a number of

Reasons but as a raw beginner the most Important thing to consider is the Health of the root system generally Speaking the soil that these Chinese Elms come in are not suitable for bonsai Cultivation and so working towards Replacing that soil should be a priority So a safest time to carry out a Repotting and work the roots is in the Spring just as new growth is beginning So you’re looking for the new leaf buds To start getting bigger just so show Some green at the bud now there is a Window after that time so just as the Leaves are opening or indeed just before That time so as the birds are swelling This is the perfect time to be doing Repotting but as long as you’re careful And respect the tree’s roots that window Is fairly flexible but it just requires More aftercare okay let’s jump into the Repotting okay this is the tree that I’m Going to be reporting today it was Probably prepared for sale by giving it Some heat which has obviously made it Shoot all this foliage out despite it Still being winter now the goal is to Get this tree into this container now we Can see that the container is a bit Wider but a fair bit shallower so we’re Going to have to remove some material to Get it into the pot a good idea when You’re repotting a tree that you’re not Familiar with is to start from the top

Work your way down until you find that Most aesthetically pleasing trunk base Which is usually the widest part where The trunk flares and the route to begin It gives it the appearance of really Gripping the ground this piece of Material however though we can see that Instead of getting wider actually what Happening what’s happening is it’s Getting narrower so I’m not going to Need to go down from the top what I will Do is work up from the bottom let’s Remove it from the pot so it’s not going To be too tricky to take some height off Because it’s just crumbling away the Tool that I’m going to be using is a Chopstick which I have shaped into this Point and very gently with a light grip I’m going to use this to tease away soil From the roots I’m being extra careful Not to rip any roots I’m not yanking any Of the roots away I’m simply using the Tool to tease soil out from between the Roots My grips nice and loose on the tool I’m Not ramming it in I’m forcing it through I’m just gently scraping the soil and Then attempt to separate it Notice there’s a sticker rear here while Making their tip that in my head work Around it Dense dense organic matter it might be It’s probably filled soil sandy mixture Or some sort of clay checking around for

Roots the thicker kind Working on any high spots of soil trying To try my best to ensure a flat base so I think what’s happening is there’s a High spot this thick root here and here I’ll remove any immediately loose lumps Or clods of soil here I’m not going to Go bananas so this root here I’m Wiggling with my finger looking at it There’s very little if any fine roots Growing from this root so removing it Isn’t completely safe and the same goes For this root here it’s got a couple of Fine feeder roots attached to it but Very little we can go ahead and remove That So it’s still a bit wobbly but it’s more Stable than it was so now what I need to Do is investigate what this reaped here Is doing what its feeding what it’s Connected to I’ve removed enough soil from around This thicker root so I can now tell that The root comes from somewhere here Whereas along the bottom divides Continues and then goes back up into the Root ball I can’t safely cut this root if I was Absolutely confident of the health of This tree there would be very little to Stop me from investigating further and Removing this root there’s probably more Than enough fruit to support a very Healthy tree in this root ball but

Because I’m not 100% sure how this tree Is going to react I’m gonna be take the Sympathetic approach and leave this in Place and I’m not going to go any Further with removing soil from this Area I’m going to leave that as it is Now now because of the awkwardness of That big root down there we are a bit Wibbly-wobbly which isn’t ideal but we Don’t really want to go any further it’s Important to release the roots that are Growing around these edges to ensure That when we replace soil around the Root ball they can very quickly and Easily establish themselves in that new Soil and don’t just continue to grow Into this field soil in a rebound Condition so again sympathetically I’m Going to rough the edges up until I can Be confident that I’m exposing some Roots again I’m not trying to hack any Route through any routes I’m not worried If they’re tangled I’m not doing any Combing I’m just removing some soil to Release the roots from any root bound Condition that they they may be in at The moment As a dense matter rich in there I’m not Going to go any further with that bit as You can see the whole system’s moving I’m gonna remove some soil where there Aren’t any roots there if it’s serving Their purpose it’s fine to remove it It’s may apply keeping this horrible

Cloudy stuff for no reason Okay that’s as far as I am going to take This root ball now I’ve tried to Establish a nice flat base that’s going To give us a bit more stability Obviously we’re hampered a little bit by That thick root so it’s a little bit Wobbly but it’s as flat as I can Possibly get it around the side you can See that I’ve started to expose some Root and where there aren’t roots Exposed I’ve determined that hacking Away at it is simply going to do more Damage to what roots are growing through The soil so I’ve reached my limit I Don’t want to start damaging roots just For the sake of removing soil so a Really good question at this point might Be I thought in a previous video Darren That you’ve said it is best to provide Soil that gives us a good balance of Water and oxygen isn’t this soil that We’re keeping intact isn’t it just Terrible for that balance of water and Oxygen yes that is true But if we maintain a portion of this Soil we’ll just have to be a little bit More careful with our watering to ensure That we get that balance of water and Oxygen we’re going to be able to keep This tree alive and thriving it’s going To reestablish itself very quickly and It’s going to grow and regain strength That it would have lost through the

Whole ordeal of being shipped out to Stores in darkness sitting in a shop Being forced to When it wasn’t ready by maintaining that Root ball it’s going to recover much Faster I’m going to have a high degree Of success so having regained a load of Strength next year we can do a secondary Pot we can leave all of the roots that Have established into the good quality Soil alone roots would have migrated Away from that muddy stuff we can take The mud away replace it with good Quality soil and in two repots we would Have completely renovated the root System of our tree with maximum strength And vigor in the tree minimal risk okay Now it’s time to tie the tree into the Pot I’m not going to pass wise over the Whole root ball and tie it in that way It looks pretty bad having those tie Wise in full view instead I’m going to Use Ryan Neil’s method of pushing some Pieces of bamboo into the sides of the Root system and then I’ll tie the wires Off to those pieces of bamboo and then Bury the wires underneath the new soil Completely out of view giving us a Really high-quality finish before we go Ahead and pop this again I’m going to Trim these roots so that any ends are Nice and cleanly cut just in case any Rips did happen this clean cut is going To ensure that the root recovers and

Begins growing again as quickly as Possible if the roots if there’s any Tears the root just doesn’t heal as Quickly so by ensuring a clean cut we Get faster healing faster Re-establishment But that Reid is actually not doing Anything at all there’s no feeder roots Attached to this one so let’s go ahead And cut that back anyway so we prepared Our pot earlier and the substrate that I’m going to be using is molar clay in The form of sunny cap pink and bark Chips to secure this tree into the pot I’m going to use a couple of pieces of Small bamboo pushed into the root ball At each side and I’m going to tie the Wires off to that this is going to give Us a really nice snug secure hold I’m Going to use a couple of pieces of thin Bamboo this is just stuff that they sell In garden centers split that in to Create a bit of a point shorten a bit so Now that’s a case of finding a place There we go And a nice place where you can push that In like so Looking at the base there’s a hollow Section here that’s going to sit about There so and to work a bit more soil to This side and to settle the tree down on Top of the hill and to really screw it Down into that mountain to form as snug A contact as we possibly can

Loosely secure with my hands cut it to a Length that’s easier to work with pull And twist down pull twist down pull and Twist down pull and twist down pull and Twist I can see that the wire is pulling The bamboo downwards increasing the Tension come around to come around to This side position the wire manually to Start with twist hold the tree in place And with the pliers pull twist down pull Understand oh and twist down and twist Down and with each twist the bamboo gets Lower indicating that it’s nice and snug Now to cut the wire I’m going to twist And cut Same again twist and cut where you will Begin to like ensuring that we make them As bigger mass as possible pushed into Place working all that soil down any Spaces That’s the soil level goes down we’re Going to come again because of that Awkward section there I’m gonna have to Really work Soil down into that section You can see that as I work the soil in The level is kind of down same from this Angle [Applause] [Applause] Everything’s feeling nice and thumb on This side [Applause] Okay once we’ve ensured that we’ve got

Good soil contacts all around the root Ball using our chopstick we’re going to Remove any excess soil from the surface We just want a slight lip so that’s Contoured down nicely this is going to Help ensure that when we water it stays In the pot and doesn’t just ruin off the Edges it’s a very slight lip it’s Perfect so two more jobs to go first is Going to be to top dress for that I’ve Simply ground up some moss that I’ve Collected from a surface that’s similar In nature to the soil that I’m using and Then it’s a case of watering the tree Don’t a massively thick layer of moss Should still be able to see through to The soil surface Breaking up any larger chunks remove Weeds as well Now that I’ve put the top dressing on And have to spray it very lightly the Spray is going to help keep the moss in Place when it comes to watering don’t it To all get blasted away That’s the repot completed all that’s Left to do now is to give it a nice Watering put it back to where it lives Okay that’s this tree repotted I hope You found this useful as a beginner if You’re more experienced and you’ve Spotted anything that you think I might Be able to improve please share it in The comments I’m always looking to learn Let me know

So smash the like button subscribe if You haven’t already I hope to speak to You soon thanks for watching Take care