By Whizzer
United Kingdom 
I have an acer that a freind told me to plant in ericacious compost. I have since discovered that this is not true but it has been planted 2 years. It is growing but not really thriving. Can I re pot it and change
Compost in one go or would this be too much of a shock?
18 May, 2014
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Well, it is sort of true - Japanese Acers (palmatum varieties) do not like lime - that doesn't mean they must have acidic soil, it means anything from neutral to acid is fine. When potting up, its often easier to just use ericaceous compost, because at least you know it won't be limey, so its unlikely its the compost to blame for poor growth.
I imagine after 2 years it does need potting up into a larger container - ericaceous will be fine, or a mix of that and John Innes No. 2.
18 May, 2014