Hi there, new here and to bonsai.

I bought a kit from Hobby Lobby last year, right now the only survivors were a few Bristle-cone Pines and a couple Norway Spruce. They're in straight peat moss right now and I want to re pot and hopefully cut the taproots in the next few weeks. From the pictures, can you guys tell if they're ready for that? Like I said, they're just about a year old now.

I'm looking at using this pre-mixed soil found here . I see it's a 1/3 each of pumice, lava and akadema which is what this site recommends for coniferous trees.

Just wondering if anyone has any other advice or recommendations for me?

Manchego wrote: From the pictures, can you guys tell if they're ready for that? Like I said, they're just about a year old now.

I don't want to be responsible for killing your trees due to bad advise, but yeah, I'd say now would be a good time. Don't know what your season is like, but you might be a bit on the late side to do this though.

I'm in Northwestern Montana, our temps are just starting to get into the 40s so I think if I do it within the next week or so they'll be fine. From what I read, mid February to early spring while they're still dormant is the ideal time.

The other question I just thought of is, say I went with this mix, do I also want some kind of bark or soil to go on top?

From the books/guides I've seen on re-poting, people push bark down into the roots and on top with a chopstick. Is that just when they tress are full grown and have bigger roots, to hold them in place better?

This trees seems to be able to stay in that pots for a coupple of more years. I would not hurry.

Manchego wrote: I'm in Northwestern Montana, our temps are just starting to get into the 40s so I think if I do it within the next week or so they'll be fine. From what I read, mid February to early spring while they're still dormant is the ideal time.

The other question I just thought of is, say I went with this mix, do I also want some kind of bark or soil to go on top?

From the books/guides I've seen on re-poting, people push bark down into the roots and on top with a chopstick. Is that just when they tress are full grown and have bigger roots, to hold them in place better?

It is pretty easy to put the soil in and have large holes with no soil, which does no good for the tree. The chopsticks push the dirt into the holes. You don't have to use chopsticks. Any long, fairly straight stick will do. I got a large pack of bamboo skewers in the cook out section of Home Depot. They amount to $.02 apiece and I use them for lots of things, including soil compacting.

I decided to just let the trees stay in these pots at least another year. Thanks