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Help with an Acer in a pot

Winchester_flareWinchester_flare Posts: 46
in Problem solving
I've inherited (from the people I bought my house off) a lovely Acer tree.  I've had it since Feb 2019 and each year more and more branches are dying.  I'd say it's lost about 30% of it's branches in the last two years. It's in about the most sheltered place it could be but gets very little sunlight (just a couple of hours in the morning).  Last year I fed with Tomato feed and give it some water when the soil in the top couple of centimetres feels dry to touch.  A month ago I topped up with some compost and gave it some Acer feed.

I'd really appreciate any suggestions for how best to care for and where to put it?


Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I think it'd be happier planted in the ground
    Devon.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    I do have a lot in pots, happy y provide pictures, Ericacious compost,lots of water semi shade,i scrape weed topdress on spring, though I do think your pot could be bigger
  • MolamolaMolamola Posts: 105
    I'd check if the roots are coming out of the pot at the bottom, which would suggest it is due a repotting.  Even if it's not, it could probably use fresh compost, so perhaps repot it and check that the roots are healthy. 

    You should use well-draining compost (some people use a mix of 50% bark and 50% compost), as they do not like sitting in water (nor do they like drying out, and I put a layer of bark on top of mine for that reason, so I don't have to water too often). You might mix in some mycorrhizal powder like RootGrow when repotting too to help the roots establish quicker.

    It's a beautiful tree and I hope you manage to save it!   
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    It looks under-potted to me so, if you can't get it out in the soil, you need to move it to a bigger pot with some fresh, loam based compost such as John Innes no 3.   I had some in pots for several years till I git them all planted out last year and they were watered regularly, 10 to 15 litres at a time, especially on windy days and warm days. 

    I gave them an annual top dressing of some fresh compost and a generous handful of pelleted chicken manure.  If we had no rain I'd spray them with the hose pipe.  Their foliage is fine and easily dried out by winds and warmth, even in the shade.

    If you do re-pot and find it's stuck, water it thoroughly then use an old bread knife to saw up and down round the edge of the pot to loosen everything and bring out as much f the root ball, intact, as you can.  Have a new pot already prepared with crocks and compost in the bottom then fill round the sides of the root ball and up to the same level as it was before.  Water well and keep it watered to help it recover form the shock.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    They hate full sun and wind, I have lost one to wind burn
  • Winchester_flareWinchester_flare Posts: 46
    The pot is 50cm diameter and 60cm high so I think it's a little bigger than appears in the picture.  When is the best time to repot?

    In terms of sun, is a couple of hours first thing in the morning ok or does it need more than that.  I didn't realise it needed so much water so that's definitely something I can up.  Will any tomato feed (on top of the Acer feed I gave it at the beginning of the year) be useful too?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Not tomato food. If you want to feed, use a liquid seaweed [ideal for foliage] or a proprietary food designed for ericaceous plants.
    Purple acers actually like a bit of sun, but keep it out of full, midday sun, especially when in a pot. Wind is more of a problem as it dessicates foliage and dries pots out very easily. That's why watering is so important. 
    Refreshing the top layer of soil each year is also necessary as @Obelixx says. I'm assuming you have it in a soil based medium and not just compost too. That isn't enough for long term potted plants. A mulch of bark or decent compost will also help. 
    You can re pot any time, but something a bit wider would be beneficial. It doesn't need to be any deeper.  :)  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Winchester_flareWinchester_flare Posts: 46
    I eventually reported this Acer… a lot of the advice on reporting talked about cutting several cm off the root ball with a saw. But it was just a mass of tiny roots. I ended up not doing much with the roots but my question for future reference is whether there is anything I should have done to the roots when repotting? Hopefully this Acer tree is happier in its new larger pot.


  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited March 2023
    Winchester_flare said:
    I eventually reported this Acer… 

    Oh dear, I got there too late.   Your pot was the right size to balance the plant visually.  It might have been a good idea to have read a book on bonzai cuture.  But never too late.

    Pots that are narrower at the top are a problem when it comes to repotting.  Generally try to avoid.  I have a couple of potted bay trees, growed in John Innes, compsot, which I repot each year and fill the gap with peat-free compost.  I can without too much difficult repot these back to the original pots after a small root-prune and a bit of JINo3 replacement.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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