Professional bonsai and suiseki from Peter Warren. Japanese bonsai educated by well known bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi.
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Saving a Sick Satsuki
Once the branches had been cleaned, it was time to attack the roots. As you can see there were plenty of thick rooted weeds growing in the pot, choking and strangling the tree, taking precious nutrients and generally doing no good. The soil around the nebari was also black and compact, a common problem with satsuki. Many varieties, Gyoten included, will suffocate themselves to death after 5 or 6 years in a pot. The fine hair like roots will matt together and combined with organic fertiliser and broken down Kanuma soil, form a very dense, impenetrable layer which neither water nor oxygen can penetrate. It is therefore very important to repot every three years just as this is starting to happen and prevent potential damage. The repot was very severe, cleaning out all black soil, a thorough root wash adn removal of all dirty black soil. This was initially done with a root claw tool but once the soil was a little looser, only a chopstick and water was used. It is important to ensure the surface layer is cleaned and there is an easy passage for water down and through to the core of the root ball.
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Once cleaned off, it was ready for the pot. Rather than put it back into a ceramic pot, I chose a polystyrene box which are much more beneficial for sick trees. They retain much more warmth and allow much better aeration and drainage, all of which are essential for healthy root development. The box I had was rather large so after drill many holes in the bottom, I filled it up with broken polystyrene to ensure that bottom of the pot does not stay wet and cold.
A layer of large grain Kanuma is placed on top of this and then a layer of medium. Once this is in place I watered it thoroughly until the water ran clear. Even though the soil was sieved several times, an incredible amount of dust still came out. If it is not washed out immediately then it just begins the clogging up process again. Two steps forward, one and a half back.
The soil, thoroughly washed, was ready to receive the patient. It was tied down using aluminium wires which had been passed through holes in the bottom of the box, however it is not possible to put too much tension in them and tighten it up as you would do in a pot as there is little to stop the wires from cutting through the soil or the polystyrene. Caution must be taken to not allow the tree to move in the pot once it has been planted. It is enough to stop it falling out and keep it still, but never pick the tree up by the trunk!
