Repotting my Large Collected Ponderosa Pine

Jan 2, 2017
2 min read

This was the picture that sold me on the tree. I purchased it from Todd Schlafer from his website First Branch Bonsai about 2 years ago. It showed up freight in a box that shows the size of this big boy.

The big box showed up and just fit in the truck...

I repotted the tree after shipping and due to some large roots it had to got into a pretty large box. It defiantly became a two man box.

The time has come to get this tree into a pot and start looking forward to what it could become. The decision was made to keep it as a larger tree. After a weighing the options for it future with Boon we decided on the one the one that includes big bending.

As a side note tree roots from coast to coast love growing in Boon's Soil Mix. This Ponderosa even had two flushes of growth this year. This is a good sign of the trees vigor and that it is in great health.

The large root in the picture below had to be reduced to fit the tree into a pot. It only made up about 15-20% of total root mass so it was removed safely.

You can see where the large root was reduced back so it could fit in the pot.

The pot was prepared with coated copper wire so it would have added strength over aluminum but making it safe for the roots. Uncoated copper wire in pot will cause copper toxicity over the years and will do damage to roots trying to grow in near the wires.

The repotting was concluded with a the ponderosa in a not so small pot but it is much easier to handle and all ready to be bent in the future. The plan is make a very large bend in the straight portion for the trunk to make it more of a semi cascade style.