This is my young dawn redwood i purchased from the johnsteen tree company earlier this year and was wondering if i need to cut back or just let grow till next year…potted in a 1 gallon nursery pot in 100% akadama…thanks in advance.
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I would let it grow and thicken. That is what I am doing with my 2-year-old seedlings. Under the right conditions they grow like weeds. However, akadama is best for refinement rather than thickening.
Mine went from the small 50 cells per flats in which they were started to 4" pots using a mix of screened bark and pumice this spring with some root adjustment. If they grow the way I expect, they will go into 6" pots with further root adjustment next year. Repotting that frequently will slow them down a bit, but I want to make sure i have decent roots.
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My best experience with seedlings is placing them in colanders, pond baskets, or grow bags and keeping them on the ground in a raised bed. The likelihood of overwatering is greatly reduced and the contact with living soil through the container helps the formation of roots and beneficial organisms in the soil. I use pumice and worm castings for young plants and fertilize heavy to put on rapid increase in tissue with gentle wiring to give them some movement and work towand a future design. Very important to check them weekly to ensure no damage is done from weather or wire cutting badly.
I take a very similar approach. Pond basket or grow bag (depending on estimated duration in development) and incorporate them into my landscape. Soik mix is about 50% organic 50% inorganic. Species and current state of the tree dependant but some combination of pumice or perilite 1/4inch-1/2inch, Aspen bedding, mushroom compost and maybe some peat.
Thank you all for sharing…the 100% akadama was an experiment to see the difference in what kinds of soils to use…my next thing to think about is where to put them in the winter as i do not have a green house and the weather in the PNW can be under freezing for weeks at a time…i have a no insulated shed that looks like a barn that i may put them in and use low light and maybe a heater to keep in 40s but i have all summer to think about it.