Holly, no problem on the thread hijack... we're all working toward the same goal here :) Now that I've gone back and read every message in Al's "Trees in Containers" threads, I realize I probably should have posted there in the first place. Blake, thanks for all your help. I appreciate the advice, and what you've suggested seems to be consistent with everything else I've read. That being said, I'm in a better position than Holly to experiment, give that I have 6 (soon to be 9) trees to nurture (or torture). Like Holly, I received these recently via mail order. I purchased the young trees recently because I have a 7' Sango Kaku that I believe is infected with Pseudomonas. I decided that, in the event I end up watching my tree suffer a slow death, I'll comfort myself by taking care of some younger Acers that may one day earn the job of replacing my Sango Kaku. Since I've ordered the trees, I have come to realize that there is a lot more to caring for them than I originally anticipated. There is an amazing amount of helpful information in this forum alone. I appreciate all the time everyone here has spent building such a large wealth of information, and hope to someday contribute some useful experiences of my own. As my brain is always in sponge mode, I've been trying to understand more and more about tree growth, container gardening, soils, etc. In the interest of furthering that understanding, I decided to select a candidate (victim) to move into the gritty mix. I'll likely be moving the rest into the 5-1-1 mix or something similar as was suggested. I am, however, a visual learner, so I decided the best way to learn my lesson was to subject one of these poor young trees to what I'll describe as a partial "repot". About 24 hours ago I moved the Trompenburg into a larger pot with gritty mix and a wick. I took it out of its current pot, and carefully removed around 75% of the soil from the root ball by repeatedly dunking it in a bucket of water and poking it away with a small screwdriver. The roots had done a pretty good job of filling up the original container. I didn't prune them, nor did I mess with them much other than to untangle them a bit. My hope was that by minimizing any damage to them, I might make this "repot" a bit more successful. I watered thoroughly then poured on another gallon of water that had some Mycorrhizae and superthrive mixed in. My plan is to root prune and do a full repot next year if the tree survives this ordeal. I plan on observing it and hopefully learning from this experience. I consider it a training exercise to prepare for the disaster scenario where I may some day be forced to repot a tree that is in leaf. Please let me know if you think there is something I should have done differently (given my fabricated disaster scenario). I've included some pictures below of the 6 trees: Trompenburg, Sister Ghost, Seiru, Olsen's Frosted Strawberry, Kogane Sakae, Japanese Sunrise. These were taken just a few minutes ago. Most of the trees are still stretching out after their exciting adventure with the fine men and women of the US postal service. Thanks again for all your help. -Chris

I want Japanese Maple Seedlings or seeds also

When you get your plants from World Plants, they will have leaves. What I would do is I would put the 4" pot in another pot, like a one or two gallon and insulate the the 4" pot inside the larger pot with bark. Since they have leaves, they will need sun, so you can move them into a garage at night or put them in a sheltered area like a porch or something of that nature to protect the foliage. A frost will not hurt the leaves on those varieties for the most part, a freeze will. When it gets warm enought, I would use the pot in the ground method, paying special attention to drainage. Do not fertilize this year but use a well draining potting soil to provide nutrients. If you have something like 0-10-10 you can give a small does of this in the spring and fall. The 0-10-10 should contain 6-10% calcium so you will not be able to use the organic formulas derived from fish. It will also have 2-3% Sulfer. Keep an eye out for stress, this being burned leaves or dieback. Should this happen, I would lift the plant from the pot and inspect the roots. Be patient with them. The 4" pots can be hard to grow if we try to force them. They have to be left to their own devices for a year or two. That 4" pot will not make a good one gallon for at least 2 full seasons. After that point, it could be bumped to a 5gal. It is at this time, when you have the solid 1gal root system that you can consider putting it in the ground. Provided you do not have any setbacks, after a year in the ground, you can consider a little nitrogen in the spring. Something like 6-12-6 granular immediate release. I would continue the 0-10-10 in the fall indefinately. I hope that will get you started. Your patience will pay off---it just takes a while. MJH

I am looking for Rose of Sharon. Would you mind looking at my list and seeing if there's anything you're interested in? Heidi