Scots Pine Trunk Bends

@AndyJ even though the tree is in coarse grit, I would probably leave the repot for the following year if the tree responds well after your initial bend. The coarse grit allowed the tree to recover after collection and will allow it to recover from a very large, aggressive bend. Pines are very dependent in their roots for their vigor. By not disturbing them you will get the best growth out of the tree. The grit makes it extremely difficult to over water as it does not retain water in the particle itself and will not compact or degrade.

I’m sure the microsphere in the container is well established, pines have symbiotic relationships with fungi and bacteria that aid in the uptake of nutrients and water. Another reason to avoid repotting at this time. Though the grit is probably inert I believe by not disturbing the entirety of the root system you will get the most out of the tree. No roots reduced will is another insult avoided to recover from.

Heavy fertilization will give the tree macro and micronutrients. You could use for instance organic fertilizer cakes monthly and organic liquid feed once a week or if diluted to 1/4 strength with each watering. The bonus of the grit in this case is that it has extremely low CEC and salt accumulation will likely not happen and can be flushed out with heavy watering without fertilization.

I like fox farm fertilizers or Alaska fertilizers, currently using fox farm grown big w/ microbrew and seaweed extract + monthly application of homemade fertilizer cakes (5-4-6) through growing season.

When I used Alaska products it was fish fertilizer with seaweed extract and fertilizer cakes. There is also a product called Neptune’s Harvest that is fish and seaweed concentrate, I used with great results as well.

I plan to switch back to Neptune’s with fert cakes and add microbrew soon as use all my current supplies. Mostly due to ease of application due to number of products being used.

Sorry for the rant, hope you find the information helpful.

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