If you look closely at the photo I've attached you'll see the new bud growth (4) at the bases of two of the three remaining branches. Because of a lack of proper sun light I've acquired a grow lamp that could be contributing to this new bud growth but I alse have to thank moochinka for the advise to cut back on some of the branches.These are the three remaining branches. They seem to be getting longer and longer, but on a positive note though there is the (4) new bud growth. Is there a safe way to control the growth length of these three remaining branches without damaging the tree? It just seems so stringly and spindly at this stage! Is there any way I can promote more new budding at the bases of the limbs? The orphan and its companions are thriving thanks to the knowledge I've acquired on the forum. Thanks bonsaiprice

Viv - If you're worried about the roots cooking because the gritty mix doesn't hold enough water, you might be surprised - especially because you can adjust the water retention by increasing the amount of Turface in the mix while decreasing the amount of granite, all the while keeping the bark fraction at 1/3 or less. I'm not trying to twist your arm - just wanted to be clear about the fact the gritty mic can hold a lot of water w/o holding perched water. As far as temperatures go, the gritty mix is going to be quite a bit cooler than heavier soils because it is more porous & takes advantage of evaporative cooling. I have several friends in FL & TX that use it with excellent results. ;o) I don't think the key to successful figs in containers lies in providing a spare (not rich) or rocky soil. The key is even moisture (damp not wet) with good drainage & no soggy parts of the container, along with a favorable pH and good nutritional supplementation program .... and sun. Beyond that, figs don't ask for much. ;o) BC - Most fir bark comes prescreened & ends up being better suited to the gritty mix because of its lack of fine particles, which would clog up all the large pores & negate the reason for using it in the first place; that's why I like fir bark in the gritty mix. Pine bark that's screened to the right size is also fine for the gritty mix, but unscreened pine bark in the size range dust up to 1/2" works best in the 5:1:1 mix, which is very good for figs. I'd be using the 5:1:1 mix if I didn't like the gritty mix better. BTW - I would have chosen a more clamorous name for those soils, but other forum members started calling them 5:1:1 and gritty, so I just went along. ;o) I'm sort of reading your post & posting as I go along, so if I sound a little disjointed, it's because I'm replying to you on a paragraph by paragraph basis. That some trees are found in sandy or even clay soils doesn't mean that a clayey or sandy soil is a good choice for the same plant in a container. As I mentioned to someone who took me to task upthread, containers have their own set of rules that govern how water behaves in containers - quite different than it behaves in the earth. Container soils are all about structure and the ability to retain that structure. It's also nice if they're made from materials that hold enough water, but I make a convincing case that aeration and durability should be our focus when we decide on a soil for our containerized plants. Where cuttings are concerned, the 'durability' isn't quite so important because the cuttings are soon bumped to larger pots, but aeration is a very significant issue and has considerable influence on root initiation and development/growth. About the ash - it would contribute to the vitality of the plant only if it supplied something essential the plant was missing. We can be sure that it contributes nothing physically - nothing to the soils structure, so it's value would have to be chemical, and whatever it supplies would have to be in short supply in the soil solution. Rock dust isn't soluble, and mineralization takes a long, long time. Heck - even bone meal (an organic amendment) breaks down so slowly in containers that it is considered insoluble by commercial growers. You can put together a very effective nutritional supplementation program by reading labels & making sure that you're supplying all 12 essential elements plants take up from the soil solution, or by using a fertilizer KNOWN to have them. I use Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 because it has ALL 12 essentials in favorable NPK ratio AND in a favorable ratio to each other. This allows you to fertilize at the lowest rate possible w/o nutritional deficiencies - a decided advantage for you and your plants. If you're using a fertilizer that DOESN'T have everything, it's doubtful that the volcanic ash can be relied on to pick up the slack. It's more likely it will simply duplicate some of what's already in the soil. If you're worried that your fertilizer is short some nutrients, it's better to change fertilizers to one that supplies everything (except perhaps Ca/Mg) than to try to supplement with elements or compounds aimed at eliminating a deficiency of only 1 or 2 nutrients. That usually leads to a loss of potential in the long run. The KISS method is best when it comes to fertilizers. I don't really have a final mix. I use the gritty mix for all my woody plants, from the smallest seeds to the largest trees (4 hand bonsai take two good men to move about), so if it's woody, it's either IN the gritty mix or about to GO IN the gritty mix. ;o) Whew! Al

I'd like to clarify some of the confusion regarding the "fuse-grafting techniques, and training methods that I have used on some trees. I will employ this same method on the fig trees that I have just purchased. I realize that this technique is not for everyone. I just wanted to share this information with you guys. Use it as you wish. "Fuse-grafting" techniques DO NOT involve cutting into the healthy bark so that the cambium layers can be aligned. No wounds are created by this technique so no insects or diseases will enter or infect the trunks being joined. No special follow-up treatments are needed. It is not labor-intensive. Once the stems are joined together, just follow your regular fig growing routines. The mainstems are simply screwed together to create a fatter, and stronger "trunk". The "composite-trunk" will not be weak, nor will they pull apart. The screwheads will quickly be covered over with new bark, and in time, you will not be able to tell that the heavy, fat trunk was at one time, made up of individual stems. This "grafting" will take a few years, and the spaces between the individual trunks will fill in and smooth over with new bark. Your trees will look like a bundle of tied-up cornstalks for a while so be patient. In addition, this method consolidates plant material which would normally be grown in separate containers. I do not have the space to grow individual trees, so I needed to find a way to grow my fig trees in one container. Fuse-grafting to the rescue. Now I'll have three times the plant material growing in one place ... and maybe three times the figs too. I also like seeing trees with short, fat, trunks with lots of taper supporting a nice rack of ramified branchlets. More branches, more nodes, more nodes, more figs. This preference is a hold-over from my bonsai days. Large diameter trunks convey age and endurance. Exposed rootage does too. I like thinking outside the box. I know that this training method might be too unconventional for some, but I'm going to try it out to see how well it works...or, fails. Wintering-over will still be a problem for me. I have an unheated shed where I stored some fig trees over the winter '06. The trees did OK. I'm hoping for the same results with my new trees. I've also read that fig trees can be brought into a heated room to break dormancy about a month before they are ready to be grown outside. For my zone, this would probably be around mid, to late April. I'll try bringing my trees in on Tax Day and I'll put them outside around Mother's Day. I read that it takes about two weeks for dormancy to break and for buds to swell, and, at least another two weeks before the new leaves start suffer from low light. Any thoughts...pro or con?

I do all my gardening in containers as the previous owners have the sunny part of the yard surroundd by railroad ties and i question the quality of the soil.I grow peppers, tomatoes, herbs, beans,cucumbers,strawberrys,and blueberries.The most important thing in container gardening is to be sure the container is large enough,the bigger the better.I grow my tomatoes upside down in 5 gallon buckets hanging from a strong part of the house overhang and the peppers in what i believe is probably 4 gallon pots just be sure to use light colored pots.When I switched from black to gray pots I had a much bigger yield of everything.For my strawberrys and blueberrys in the winter I set the pots in a protected area and surround them with my full of dirt pots from the peppers and beans and cover them with fallen leaves,so far I have had good luck,but once again the bigger the pot the better good luck