Happy new year to eveyone! I got interested in bonsai art and culture recently and was gifted with a tree. For information, I locate in Istanbul and the tree is probably a chinese juniper bought from a local bonsai shop. I keep it in a balcony, which is as close as I can get to outdoor conditions. Temperatures are between 6-12 degrees celcius night/day. I guess tree is quite healthy, but when I check the soil, it’s really dense, I can’t even poke it with my finger. Might be due to shipping but I’m not sure. There are roots coming out of surface and some from the drainage holes on bottom of the pot. It must have been sitting in this pot for some time but I’m not sure. I was planning to repot to a better soil in early spring but today I tried to water it a little to see the drainage, the water just stayed on surface for around 5 minutes until it got soaked by soil. Soil got a little softer after it soaked the water tho. I got worried because I heard that junipers get root rot easlily. So, should I take any immediate action about the soil? Or can it survive until early spring, like 2 months? Also, I plan to keep it in nursery pot for a little more, what kind of soil mix should I use when I repot into another nursery pot? I’m adding pictures of the trunk and surface of the soil, also a picture of the tree.

Repotting is seldom an urgent task. Better wait until the right time to do so.

If you ask 10 bonsai artists about what soil to use, you will get at least 12 different answers. Go check what successful growers in your own area is using and copy that. Then it cannot go totally wrong. Once you get more experience, you will proboably want to change and experiment for the very best soil in your conditions and care.

Thanks for the reply! It’s nice to hear that’s not an emergency, like I was worried. About soil, is using inorganic soil a consensus at least, that’s what I see most?

I think most people use 10-30 % of some kind of organic materials. Other than that, yes unorganic soil is most common.