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Potting my Acer

JimtheslimJimtheslim Posts: 17
in Plants

Hello again you lovely people. I thank you for having read and some of you replying to my previous posts regarding Acers. I have just purchased a Crimson Queen from my local nursery. It is already fairy well established being in a pot 27cm in diameter and is over a foot tall to where the crown starts to weep over.

My questions are:. Do I put it in my nice decorative 32 cm glazed pot or a larger 46 cm diameter terra cotter pot? Also it seems to have been very happy and well looked after in it's container having what look like slow release fertiliser balls in among the free draining mulchy soil. Should I leave it in this potting mulch and just plant with John Innes around the side in the pot, or should I free the root ball completely and pot in John Innes?

Thanks in advance

Posts

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 35,779

    Hi Jim. I would pot it into the nice ceramic pot. It is much better not to 'over pot' plants. Do not disturb the root ball at all just do as you said - fill in with the John Innes.

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,688

    I'd leave it until Spring before re-potting if it were mine.

    Devon.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,268

    Me too and only repot into a slightly bigger pot. Re potting into pots that are too large can be bad for plants.

    There are ashtrays of emulsion,
    for the fag ends of the aristocracy.

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • JimtheslimJimtheslim Posts: 17

    Yes I'm in no hurry to pot up and was going to wait. I had read that you should not put in a pot more than twice the size of the current pot, both of mine would be under twice the size. When potting up would you leave all the current soil/mulch attached to the root ball or take it all off?

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,688

    If the roots are tight, just tease them loose a bit. Don't remove all the soil.

    Devon.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,268

    Standard rule of repotting is, one size up.

    There are ashtrays of emulsion,
    for the fag ends of the aristocracy.

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • JimtheslimJimtheslim Posts: 17
    punkdoc says:

    Standard rule of repotting is, one size up.

    See original post

     Thanks, I will start with the smaller pot then. Maybe stand it up somewhere safe to make it look more ornamental. I guess I am impatient and want that nice thick trunk and miniature tree look! I was also wondering how shallow you can pot an acer? I understand the root systems are not terribly deep and prefer to spread laterally? 

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,688

    Jim, don't be tempted to over pot. Your plant will just sit trying to fill it up with roots. 

    Patience is called for. You'll not make a bigger plant, just by potting it into a big pot.

    Keep the top of the compost at the same level as it was in the previous pot, neither higher, nor lower.

    Devon.
  • JimtheslimJimtheslim Posts: 17

    Thanks, I guess the 32cm pot is pretty much perfect, being just a few centimeters wider. As the nights are getting frosty should I move it into my lean-to greenhouse? This is on the Northern facing gable end of the house and gets no sun. I could leave it with the doors open for air circulation. Or is frost protection only necessary in Spring when it starts waking up? 

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