Eric answers a common question he receives from both Bonsaify customers and our YouTube community: should I pot a starter (or pre-bonsai) that I just received? Basically, should I slip pot it?

Slip potting is the process of pulling a plant out of one container and sticking it into another, usually larger, container, outside the typical repotting window, so without doing any root work. Eric answers through demonstrating four different examples of species at different ages of growth.

00:00:48 Beginning with a Japanese Black Pine as an example.

00:01:03 Leave the majority of the roots alone, BUT a little root work on the top is ok.

00:01:55 TIP: Most important thing to remember!

00:02:53 Itoigawa Juniper used to show potential downside of slip potting.

00:04:17 Texas Cedar Elm example.

00:06:25 Japanese Black Pine in a 3x9" Anderson band, intended to create root-over-rock composition. Eric cuts off band on bottom and nestles it on top of a larger container for stabilization.

00:07:35 Back to the Itoigawa - basically repotting as-is into a larger container.

00:08:24 From a 3" to a 3 gallon Japanese Black Pine! Thorough explanation of when to come back and pull tree out during next repotting window to do proper root work.

00:10:08 Keep climate and weather conditions in mind.

Thank you for watching! Did Eric answer your questions about slip potting? Please share your experience with us in the comments below. Give this video a heart, share it with friends, and as always, we'd love for you to subscribe to the channel!