Cutting Roots

Rvt · Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:50 am

I was repotting my bonsai and attempted to wrap the root around a rock, in the process the root got damaged two spots (this being the main root). Will my bonsai die it is quite an old one circa 1984.

JTred · Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:47 am

There's really no way to tell. Just take care of it and hope for the best. What species is it and was it growing well before the repot?

Marsman · Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:12 am

If there were enough fine roots left intact, it should be fine. What kind of tree is it?

djlen · Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:28 am

Agree with Mars above. The long taps are not as important as the fine feeders. If you have enough of them it should be OK.
I'd like to know what kind of tree it is as well. Maybe a picture?

Bonsai Nutcase · Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:24 pm

I also agree. Depending on the type of tree it is, you may want to withhold water for a few days until the wound "scabs" over. Some bacteria can enter from the wounds but it would really help if we knew what plant you're dealing with and a picture of the broken roots (unless they are buried now) would help.

Rvt · Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:03 am

Thanks so much glad our bonsai is going to be fine, I got it for my husband as a present and it is very sentimental to us. It is a Ficus/ Veld Fig. I will post some pictures as soon as I get a moment.

This is such a great forum as the bonsai gardeners in Cape Town were not very helpful about the repotting and said we should send it to them. was not really keen as I feel I want to be involved in the repotting seeing as we have been caring for it for 2 years already (it is 25 years old now)

Bonsai Nutcase · Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:12 am

Ficus in general are very forgiving plants so yours will probably be just fine. I'm sorry to hear the bonsai people in your area aren't very helpful. IMHO, you can't learn anything if someone else does it for you. Do you have any bonsai clubs in your area? I have found the members of a club to be very helpful and encourage you to do the work as they explain how to.

Marsman · Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:13 am

Would love to see pictures of it. I'm sure it's beautiful.

Tachigi · Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:51 am

Your Ficus will do fine with proper care. You can literally flush cut the entire root mass off ( as many have done to improve nebari) and they popped roots and kept on trucking.

If you have the slightest doubt that this can be done you can view someone that did this to a ficus in this transcript from a study group.

[url=https://bonsaivaultforum.freeforums.org/shohin-study-group-february-18-2010-topic-trop-shohin-t952.html]Shohin Study Group[/url]