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I’ve bought a very large cloud tree and I had it put into a decorative pot, without removing the pot it can in. I’ve just noticed white plastic appearing as I’ve gone to put a decorarative layer of compost and pebbles on the top. Should this be removed or can it be left? I’m hoping it can be left as I don’t know how I’m going to manage to lift the tree to take it off. Can anyone help? Thank you in advance.

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  • Does the decorative pot have holes in the bottom? If so, can you drill through those holes through the bag? If the pot does not have holes at the bottom, how does it drain?
    – davidgo
    Commented Oct 15 at 5:33
  • A picture never hurts.
    – Vorac
    Commented Oct 17 at 7:06

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Assuming that the tree is basically in a plastic bag with no drainage, you must remove the plastic to keep the tree alive. Lack of drainage will rot the roots pretty quickly.

UPDATE 1 Another issue I can see with your tree is the soil in the pot. You wrote that the soil is "very fibrous, as if it’s the fine roots of the tree." If the soil is indeed well-filled with tree roots, then you'll most likely have to water it very often to keep it healthy. It would be better if the tree could be repotted in that case, but I understand that it's already too heavy for you to lift, so be vigilant in checking that the tree doesn't dry out too much between waterings.

UPDATE 2 (Added from comments) Are there holes in the bottom of its pot? If not, can you get a drill and make some, drilling through the interior pot and the plastic? That would provide the drainage that the tree is apparently lacking.

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  • Thank you, I can’t tell if it’s got holes in the plastic (polythene) or is solid 🥴, it’s a big tree in a huge metre-wide pot, planted in soil, I only realised there was plastic there when I saw a bit peeking through the surface today. I’ll try and dig down to find out but the soil is very fibrous, as if it’s the fine roots of the tree. I have no chance of lifting it 😢.
    – Julie
    Commented Oct 14 at 19:48
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    Are there holes in the bottom of its pot? If not, can you get a drill and make some, drilling through the interior pot and the plastic?
    – Jurp
    Commented Oct 14 at 21:22

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