Fruitnut: just curious, have you ever used pots that were shorter and larger diameter, say a 15 gal pot that is 2' dia. x 2' tall vs 1.5' dia. x 3' tall? I realize the math is not correct but the idea is to go with a more squat pot to increase the water holding capacity of the soil once the irrigation is shut off. Looking at your pots and reading what you wrote about irrigation frequency just made me curious if you had tried different pots and if they worked to decrease the required irrigation intervals. Back when I was in school and very involved in the greenhouse potted plant business we used very specific dimension pot growing media combination for a given potted flowering plant due to their specific needs for root space, wet vs dry feet, etc.. I remember the hydrangea pots were very short and relatively wide when compared to most any other pot we used and they definitely held water throughout the root ball for some time after the irrigation was turned off. Our teacher demonstrated the water holding phenomenon of tall and skinny pots vs short and wide by soaking a sponge and holding it parallel to the ground, a few drops dripped off here and there; next, he held the soaked sponge vertical and the water poured out of it. I've never forgotten that simple, eloquent demonstration. I'm guessing you've tried lots of different stuff to get to where you are today.

Hi Trace! I like to see stocky growth on my fig tree babies, not have them shoot up too fast and be spindly. I like to see girth forming in the leader and branches. Making sure that the trees have well-balanced conditions all round is a good idea. Mulch is good for the trees. That's a must to keep the roots from drying out. Fig trees send roots way out from the trunk to pick up moisture and the roots are close to the surface, so mulching keeps them cooler and helps keep moisture from evaporating so fast. Make sure you have mulched adequately far enough out from each tree. By that, I mean the outer edge of the mulch. Mulching up to the trunk doesn't hurt them, they will just send roots into mulch that is close to the trunks and that's all right, too. Where do you live? What kind of soil do you have? When you planted the babies, did you add in soil conditioners to help keep the soil from getting compacted? Are the babies in the full sun, or do they get any shade? If your soil is sandy, root knot nematodes are a possibility and you can see that by looking at the roots. RKNs form nodules on the roots. The richer the soil is, the harder it is for RKNs to survive. Is your soil well-drained? Sodden soil will kill fig trees because the roots can't get air to breathe, so they need to be kept moist without getting drowned. Since your trees are young, you can dig them up and, or move them before they break dormancy in the Spring, if you wish, and they should be all right. If you opt for pots, I can tell you that the sun in our zone will cook the roots fast. I'm trying pots, but am not so crazy about the notion anymore. I like to keep the babies in pots the first couple of years, but that's just my preference. Some people bury the pots to keep them cool and use white pots to reflect the sun, but the sun and heat down here is brutal. Mine are mulched in their pots as well. I've been keeping my babies' pots where they only get morning sun and they've been doing well so far. Pots in full sun, here, absolutely no. Depending upon where you live, if you have tender growth still on the trees when it gets cold, if it gets cold where you live, the trees would need to be protected from the cold. My two Celestes went through late tender growth when they were little and covering them kept them from getting cold-splitting. Good luck with your trees, Vivian

Just make sure to get as much soil as possible with it, wihout cutting or exposing too many roots. We moved our Washie from one area of the garden to another in May. Lots of the soil fell away and exposed too many roots as well, we had to cut all the roots from about 1 foot around and 1 foot under. The palm lost all of its fronds, except the center. It's recovering now, but looks like crap because the fronds that are coming up aren't perky as they should be and show signs of damage where water had entered the crown. I'm sure it'll be ok by next spring though. So, lots of soil is highly recommended.

Lozza, you could impart a lot more information to people if you didn't do it in such condescending and sneering manner.... Yes the various states have their Rose and Horticultural Societies, and yes they usually have people only to willing to help out those seeking information about growing roses, and anything else (I guess I can say I speak from personal experience here, my Mum was a member of the W.A. Rose Society, Gosnells Horticultural Society, accredited Rose and general Horticultural and Floral Art judge with the W.A. Horticultural Council. That was the environment I grew up in. The info was always there at hand.) But today, for the average person just getting going, sure they can ask at their nursery but unless they happen to come across an exhibition being staged somewhere like at one of the big shopping centers, they are not going to come across Rose Society members,or other types of horticultural people or even think about consulting with them. Most of them would be too afraid of being shot down in flames for their ignorance, such as I have seen here,after watching the carrion fowl circling and waiting, after reading back through some of the archived postings.... Wal, listen to Misty, she is already doing it your area so to speak. In the warmer climate, proper dormancy is not going to be achieved; MISTY, do think your roses, when they were under water stress, went dormant? I would choose to do it at the time of the year when the weather was at it's coolest for your area. Although this is probably going to be your driest part of the year it shouldn't be a problem. If you are going to be keeping them in pots, for the purpose of transplanting them into your new garden arrangement, I am sure you will be pretty diligent about watering them. I was always taught that you reduced the canopy by the same degree that you reduced the root mass/ball... I have relocated a lot of roses into pots at one time..., (the ones that I could save from a malevolent ex)(if it were people, I think they call it forced migration) about 300 of them. But because we have such sharp winters here, I could hold of until they were truly dormant. I dug up, with a great deal of grunt and push and effort, (ladies think of childbirth) plants that had been growing in the very fertile Donnybrook soil for about 6 years. Most of the H.T and Floribundas had exceeded their growth stats as described, and as for the D.A.'s, if they weren't 7ft tall, they were 7ft wide, and as for the O.G.R, well, digging them up was another challenge. But we did, a sister and a friend came out to help. Totally backbreaking ... heartbreaking as well, but we got the plants dug up. Then, because the only pots that we had managed to acquire in enough numbers were 10- 12" ones, that's where we made things fit. There were a handful of larger pots, that we managed to put in the larger plants, like my beautiful Albertine. But mainly we dug and heaved and grunted, got the bush free off the...