When your spouse thinks your going to shovel the driveway… yes I will but first…bonsai snow bunker 
while the apprentice handles the less important stuff… driveways
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one nice ting abut where i am we don’t get snow but its only and hour drive away . although i do have envy of some of the frost needing alpines trees
Snow is not bad, it’s the single digit temps that make me question the location…,just 1°… where’s the other digit?
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Mid Coast Maine: -13
*when my back was turned on the 3sisters (Acer palmatum ‘Kotohime’ ) I heard a loud sharp cracking sound coming from ground level… “it was a screw breaking under the root zone air temp heat fluxes…” starts sweating in -13 Fahrenheit
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Wow I will no longer complain about any positive digit temps. Those trees look sweet, are they in development boxes or raised beds in the ground? I hardly ever see that size speciality cultivars
Hey! Sorry, just saw this! They are actually “trash stock” from a local nursery! I’m really trying to cultivate a good relationship with them due to the fact they are giving me street trees for free! 
it’s my job to transport and offload on my end! But damn, these puppies are heavy! I’ve had three rounds of three trees… the trees came to me in burlap in late fall! With the timing I was able to construct just box frame (roots on grass 
) and fill it with mulch. I am not sure if I send it and try to get them in a bonsai pot, or if I slow it down and build a grow box… they are in heavy clay! And were left neglected for about a year before coming to me. I have suspicions the shin is dry on all three 
so really focused on water o2 balance! But my gut says get them in pots early spring. I just need to build a sufficiently large greenhouse/shelter!
ahh I totally get that. Would they be worth keeping as mother stock and cultivating some high level air-layers off of instead of trying to bonsai all three? I obviously have no clue from the pictures but figured Id toss it into the universe. I’d prob have grow boxes ready as a bail out plan if I were going to a bonsai pot in that situation. They look about the size of the maple I got last year from a nursery for free and it weighed almost 300Lbs coming off the forklift…clay is heavy and boy is it messy. Goodluck with them!
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I remember your post! It’s basically the same! A true struggle to move them! I’ve resorted to a 3t chain hoist to lift them! Looking forward to when the landscaping can afford a Vermeer or dingo! (Not a huge fan of the dingo control layout). I’m thinking of using this same technique to do root reduction? The Kotohime don’t have me as concerned as the resinosa… needing strength from the roots and all…
Also, what is your approach to this repot season? Do you have a way to thaw out our frozen solid root balls? I’m recognizing bud swell on the three bigger resinosa and noting if I could get them to thaw out a bit I have no way of preventing a freeze once repotted! Looking forward to hear what others are thinking for cold climates!
I love everything you posted! I bring anything I’m about to report I to my basement (it’s finished my wife is pretty good about it if I clean up lol) where it’s typically about 55-57 degrees. I don’t turn the heat on in the basement during repotting season. I repot in the basement where I have a heat bed for recovery (typically let it stay in there until the first time it drys out) then I start moving them back into the cold frame where I might set up my other heat beds.
Hopefully next year I have a larger cold frame built to make life easier
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I think you going to have to wait a few more weeks for the pine. Some of the bigger stuff I can’t fit in the house I just wait until overnight temps are above 30 for the whole night… knowing where you live that could be a hard-line to wait for.
Unless you have a spot in your yard you can dig a deep enough hole and rest them at the bottom overnight 
but in all seriousness something similar to my outdoor heat bed might be a decent option for you. I did the math this year it’s about $28 a month in electricity to run it 24/7 @ 84 degrees with a foot of Aspen bedding over the top of it.
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yooo incredible help with the visual aid! HAHA first off you should be treating that wife like a queen for letting you do the repot in a finished space! Something tells me you might have been the one to install though so it probably balances! I think I am going to wait for the temps to stabilize, that feels like the safe move! I do have a great spot that is sloped into a nice terrace that could work perfectly. I am planning on building an Anagama there too so maybe i just excavate the anagama pad and use it as a heatbed tucked into a hill side for now! what did you use for the heat bed heating element? I am thinking of using the eve heating caple to prevent ice buildup on roofs! do you know if that can get the 75+ degrees we are looking for?
Edit: link to product referenced
PS: I found the answer and it is a no go! " typically heats up to around 140°F (60°C) "
Hahah you nailed, I did finish the basement myself (smart man). The heat bed build is here (Heat bed construction pics). The heat pad is a spider farm one I got off amazon and has held up better than I hoped. The extra layer of water protection is probably over kill but thats sort of my default. I would probably upgrade to the 1/5-2inch sheet styrofoam insulation if I build another one but I had the floor insulation laying around I went with that. Also the cost of 28 a month was to run both my heat beds (2@ 4ftx2ft beds outside). That pic is the begging of potting season here it is in the middle of chaos. Going with the ceramic floor that looks lijke wood makes soil clean up much easier.
Please take pictures of your development on building the kiln I am super intrigued.
I am working on designing an affordable easy DYI “repotting table/station” AKA Bonsai Desk for us mortals who dont have a studio (yet) and might crowd source some input from the mirai community.
early prototype AI generated so its overly complex but wanted to give a visual
Drawers will collect dirt might want to rethink that.
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Mesh screen bottoms built-in sitting lol
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