每日吃瓜

brkirkland22 wrote: What you grow it in depends on what you want to do with it. If you are wanting to grow the tree, as in make it larger, use a big container or plant it in the ground. Once you put it into a small pot, you will not get much change in size. If you wish to start refining a tree, as in taking pre-bonsai material & creating a bonsai, any kind of pot will do. I have trees in bonsai pots, terra cotta pots, cut-off nursery cans, wooden boxes, and plastic tubs. What type of container doesn't matter as long as you meet the needs of the tree. A bonsai pot, for all intents & purposes, is for just for bonsai display.

Well.... and to my understanding, to help a tree develop an efficient "root network" so you can move it to a smaller pot later on. Right?
I just started with this hobby, and most my trees are Nursery material, with large big enough trunks that what they really need, is to develop a dense root network close to the tree, so I have them on big "training" bonsai pots. So if your tree is almost ready for 每日吃瓜 pot but still needs to grow some terciary branches, and develop an dense root network, bigger bonsai pots can be useful. Is that right?

Bigger isn't always better. It takes more than a pot to create a dense network of roots.

Most importantly is a good soil mixture. It does many things that are beneficial for good root systems: It allows water to drain, so they don't stay wet. They retain some moisture, so they don't dry out. They give plenty of room for roots to move & grow with out impeding them, as well as not being so full of gaps to create dead zones. When water drains properly, it also draws in fresh air, which is important for root growth. Stagnant movement of air & liquid creates major problems.

Another way to promote root growth is pruning. Just like branch ramification, proper root pruning can initiate more & finer growth. When I repot transplanted trees (nursery or collected), the majority of roots are around the cut marks. Adventitious roots do occur, but most surround the damaged area. To assist the areas that are void of roots, I will make a few cut marks with a sharp knife or drill very small holes, add rooting hormone, and repot. I find new growth of roots in those areas.

Density is also species dependent. Some produce prolific roots, others not so much. Pine & Juniper don't create the masses that Maple or
Elm do.

The picture shows a ligustrum (privet) that was mostly stump at the bottom. 3 years of work as described above produced a fine network for this year.

brkirkland22 wrote: Bigger isn't always better. It takes more than a pot to create a dense network of roots.

Most importantly is a good soil mixture. It does many things that are beneficial for good root systems: It allows water to drain, so they don't stay wet. They retain some moisture, so they don't dry out. They give plenty of room for roots to move & grow with out impeding them, as well as not being so full of gaps to create dead zones. When water drains properly, it also draws in fresh air, which is important for root growth. Stagnant movement of air & liquid creates major problems.

Another way to promote root growth is pruning. Just like branch ramification, proper root pruning can initiate more & finer growth. When I repot transplanted trees (nursery or collected), the majority of roots are around the cut marks. Adventitious roots do occur, but most surround the damaged area. To assist the areas that are void of roots, I will make a few cut marks with a sharp knife or drill very small holes, add rooting hormone, and repot. I find new growth of roots in those areas.

Density is also species dependent. Some produce prolific roots, others not so much. Pine & Juniper don't create the masses that Maple or
Elm do.

The picture shows a ligustrum (privet) that was mostly stump at the bottom. 3 years of work as described above produced a fine network for this year.

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So, do you think the pot won't help at all?. I am not saying you are wrong at all, it is just that I've read from many sources that a bonsai pot would restrict the growth of vertical roots, and the tree would be force to grow horizontal roots. I am leaning towards your argument, because it makes much more sense.

eangola wrote: So, do you think the pot won't help at all?. I am not saying you are wrong at all, it is just that I've read from many sources that a bonsai pot would restrict the growth of vertical roots, and the tree would be force to grow horizontal roots. I am leaning towards your argument, because it makes much more sense.

Azalea pots seem to work good for me, sort of half way between a standard pot and a cactus pot, It gives a little room, to grow down wards. Plus they were out of cactus pots. Except for the tap root (we cut that off), you won't get a lot of vertical roots. That might be why bonsai pots are so short, like cactus pots.

Samantha wrote:

eangola wrote: So, do you think the pot won't help at all?. I am not saying you are wrong at all, it is just that I've read from many sources that a bonsai pot would restrict the growth of vertical roots, and the tree would be force to grow horizontal roots. I am leaning towards your argument, because it makes much more sense.

Azalea pots seem to work good for me, sort of half way between a standard pot and a cactus pot, It gives a little room, to grow down wards. Plus they were out of cactus pots. Except for the tap root (we cut that off), you won't get a lot of vertical roots. That might be why bonsai pots are so short, like cactus pots.

Yeah I know, that's what I was saying, 每日吃瓜 pots "stimulate horizontal root growth", that's what a lot of people say. And I've gotten advice to "go to a big training pot" if you want to prepare the tree for a small bonsai pot, basically to go to a bigger bonsai pot or something similar. So my understanding is that bonsai pots serve a purpose other than just "display". What I got from brkirkland22 is that root pruning and soil mix are what truly promotes good root growth, and that the bonsai pot doesn't really serve a purpose other than display.

You don't want your pot to big neither, you get soggy spots that get sour, and rot your roots.

The pot certainly serves a function as a container. The shallowness of it causes the roots to spread laterally. The material & aesthetics the pot is made out of really don't matter as much. A plastic pot doesn't breathe like terra cotta, but neither does a glazed bonsai pot.

Roots that grow vertically instead of laterally will be pruned during the next repot, and since the tree isn't in the pot for more than a few years, they don't grow very thick.

If the tree is allowed to grow in the ground or a larger container, the roots will certainly spread more & thicken greatly - vertical & horizontal. The minute you decide to use that material for bonsai, then the training of roots as described above begins. Hope that clarifies what I said earlier.

The small container restricts the outward growth of roots. A smaller rootba stimulates the tree to produce finer growth.

brkirkland22 wrote: The pot certainly serves a function as a container. The shallowness of it causes the roots to spread laterally. The material & aesthetics the pot is made out of really don't matter as much. A plastic pot doesn't breathe like terra cotta, but neither does a glazed bonsai pot.

Roots that grow vertically instead of laterally will be pruned during the next repot, and since the tree isn't in the pot for more than a few years, they don't grow very thick.

If the tree is allowed to grow in the ground or a larger container, the roots will certainly spread more & thicken greatly - vertical & horizontal. The minute you decide to use that material for bonsai, then the training of roots as described above begins. Hope that clarifies what I said earlier.

it does. Thank you

Here an idea how people in Indonesia grow trees outside without burring them straight into the soil.