How to Re-pot Royal Poinciana: In-depth Tutorial

Earlier today, I decided to re-pot my Royal Poinciana bonsai tree. This seedling is four to five weeks old at the time of posting. The rate of growth has been astounding! Compared to all the other seedlings planted at the same time, this Royal Poinciana is by far the best specimen.

Summary of Care

If you haven’t already, go check out the post about my first batch of seedlings. There, you can read more about the care performed up to this point on this seedling and all the others in the first batch. For more information on Royal Poinciana care you can check out the Database page. This post will be dedicated to re-potting the Royal Poinciana bonsai tree.

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How to Re-pot Royal Poinciana Bonsai

The above-ground growth of this seedling has been so rapid I was concerned that the small container it was in would stunt its root growth. That was the main reason behind re-potting this tree. The whole process was really easy and is nothing you should be nervous about doing to your own trees.

These are the supplies you will need:

• New soil
• Fine gravel mix (Lava rock, Akadama, Pumice, etc.)
• Supply of water (I used about a cup’s worth of water)
• New pot
• Spray bottle
• Tools to remove and pat down soil (Optional. A finger works just fine too)
• Wire mesh (Optional based on the size of your drainage holes)

The first thing you want to do is place a thin layer of fine gravel mix at the bottom of the pot. Depending on the size of your drainage holes, you may or may not need wire or plastic mesh at the very bottom of the pot. If you have larger drainage holes, soil and the fine gravel mix can fall out of the bottom of the pot when you water or move the pot. Wire mesh prevents anything from falling through your drainage holes. Use this as needed.

Once you have the layer of thin gravel inside the pot, fill the pot with the new soil. Since my seedling already has a root system, I filled the pot nearly to the top and poked a hole in the center where I wanted to place the tree. Once the soil is in place, wet it thoroughly until water is draining from the bottom of the pot. You do not want any dry soil to come in contact with the tree’s roots. This could cause the root system to dry out leading to the death of the tree. It’s very important to get all of the new soil soaked with water.

After the new pot has been set up, it is time to remove the tree from its current container. I used a flat scraping tool to smoothly loosen up all the soil. After that, I started to remove the Royal Poinciana. I slowly lifted the tree upwards brushing the soil off its roots as I went. It’s critical to keep the root ball nice and moist once the tree has been removed from the soil. The roots of the tree must stay moist at all times, this is where the spray bottle comes into play. To remove the remaining soil and to keep the root ball moist, I continuously sprayed the tree throughout this process.

With the new pot prepped and the seedling removed, the last step is to plant the Royal Poinciana! The most efficient way to do this is to poke a hole in the center of the pot where you want to place the tree. Place the tree into the hole and press in the soil on all sides to fill in the hole. You want to ensure that the soil is compressed directly up against the tree’s stem and roots and that no air pockets exist. Air pockets allow water and mold to collect near the tree leading to root rot. Root rot is a very dangerous condition and should be avoided at all costs.

The absolute last step of this re-potting is a final soil touch up and watering. After you drenched the soil in water it may have sank down a little bit. If you want, add additional soil until the soil level is at your desired height. This new soil will be dry, so wet it just like before until water is freely flowing from the bottom of the pot. Finally, place your tree anywhere you want and enjoy it!

Below is a video of me performing a re-potting on my Royal Poinciana bonsai tree. I just created a YouTube channel to post all the videos I will be making so be sure to check it out! Watch the video below and see the whole process for yourself.

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Future Considerations

This tree has been growing so fast, I will have to start introducing some fertilizer and wiring to it soon. However, for now, I will let it grow freely and watch in amazement as it develops more leaves and branches. I probably won’t have to perform another re-potting on this tree for a year or two. I have been astounded at how fast my Royal Poinciana has been growing and can’t wait to see what happens next. Below are some pictures of the Royal Poinciana after the repotting.

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This has been my in-depth guide on how to re-pot a Royal Poinciana bonsai tree. Stay tuned for more posts about my Royal Poinciana and the rest of my bonsai tree collection. From now on, I will be categorizing all posts relating to this tree in the “Royal Poinciana” category and not in the “Seed/Seedling” category. This tree has matured enough to get its own pot so it deserves its own category. As always, you can all these pictures and more in the Gallery. Additionally, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel for more videos coming soon!