Stream Request: Cedrus Repot

Resources
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Have heard Cedrus doesn’t like root work. Would love to have a stream demonstrating best practices this spring.

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I agree we need way more on these great trees. There is a handful of streems if you include all the sub types, but yes, some clear gaps as well.

The 4 types of cedrus, depending on how you split them up and some are quite different. (libani vs deodara for instance) To complicate things, in the nursery trade one is even used as root stock for another sometimes!
So I get frustrated when the info which is often only applicable to one type, is presented as a one and done answer for all of them. (not here on Mirai, but in other sources) Anyway, make sure as you are researching for your trees, that you make note of which they are taking about, if they even know :wink:

  • Cedrus libani (Cedar of Lebanon)
    its offshoots that are sometimes called a subspecies:
  • Cedrus brevifolia (Cyprus cedar),
  • Cedrus atlantica (Atlas cedar)
    or the very sturdy and noticeably different in horticultural behavior:
  • Cedrus deodara (Deodar cedar, or Himalayan cedar)
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I have found C. atlantica ‘glauca’ (Blue Atlas Cedar most likely grafted) to be a bit finicky about root work, but not exceptionally so. I obviously don’t root wash and tend to repot as if they were a pine. On the other hand, I had a cheap nursery stock one in a big pot that I wanted to get into a smaller training box that I did a partial root wash and it is due for another repot about 4 years later so they can take some abuse.

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While I’m relatively new to bonsai, I am a voracious reader and researcher and am the type to compare conflicting articles word for word and make spreadsheets on data. One thing I’m learning quickly is that, “Doesn’t Like Root Work” means a LOT of different things and only occasionally means that you actually need to be scared of root work all together.

What it seems to mean more frequently is are clinging to some long ago assigned myth about a particular tree, and would benefit from a fresh look at all factors and would likely find one or more of the following playing a role.

  1. A specific species or cultivar prefers something different that its general categorization suggests.
  2. A tree is new enough to the hobby that we are still going on anecdote and not confirmed data.
  3. There is a combination of factors that seem to be interacting in a way that makes or breaks during repotting and we haven’t teased them apart yet.

get to the bottom of these and it seems most trees will let you get away with a whole lot more than give them credit for.

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There are 2 videos in library repotting atlas cedar from nursery cans. Very helpful. Also I’m not proud of it but I too have bare rooted an atlas or two. Didn’t skip a beat.