It was probably too wet. Regular potting soil often doesn't drain well enough for fruit trees. Plus you probably should have spread the roots on the potted tree. Next time get a bare root tree in winter and use a well drained mix like the 5-1-1. You can read about that on the container forum. Also when there are no leaves on the tree you only need to water maybe once a month or less. Only water when the mix has dried some to the touch.

So I've finished my comparison between the following "sweet" cherries: 1. Sunsugar (hybrid; SS) 2. Sungold (hybrid; SG) 3. Ambrosia Gold (OP; AG) 4. Big SunGold Select (OP; BSS) All were grown from seed and then transplanted in ground with similar soil conditions, sun/shade, watering. Ranking data is below with the best listed first. A. Germination success: SS, SG, BSS, AG B. Productivity: SS, AG, BSS, SG C. Growth: BSS, SS, AG, SG D. Flavor: AG, SS, SG, BSS E. Brix: SS, SG, AG, BSS General observations: GERMINATION: As expected, hybrid varieties tended to show a lot higher germination rate than the OP varieties. That being said, germination is also a factor of seed harvesting techniques, storage and age. I don't have any information on these characteristics, but it would be interesting to note if my germination for the OPs goes up for seeds that I saved and grew out next year (I'm betting it would be a lot better). Take home message, when growing the OPs from seed, make sure that you plant more than you need due to germination success. GROWTH: All varieties grew at a similar pace indoors as seedlings all showing good strong seedling health. As I recall, none stood out as particularly better or worse than others during the seedling stage. Once transplanted BSS definitely observed the tallest plant with thick strong limbs. There was not that much difference between SS and AG. For some reason I always see SG as being more wisphy and frail and this occurred again this year. PRODUCTIVITY: SS was the best with productivity generally showing good strong trusses and generally observing good success from flower to fruit. AG was a very close second. BBS came third and SS was a distant fourth. As noted in the pics below, BBS is indeed a large cherry (1-2oz) and is easily double the size of the hybrid varieties. AG came in second. SS tended to be a bit larger than SG, but they were relatively close in size. As noted by others, SG tends to having more cracking/splitting issues vs SS. AG and SS tended to hang on the vine the longest. BSS showed some cracking, but not as much as SS. In terms of coloring when ripe, SS tended to have the strong golden orange color. SS was more yellowish orange while both AG and BSS were a deeper red when ripe. FLAVOR: Flavor is of course very subjective. My personal favorite was AG, not b/c it was the sweetest, but b/c it has a noteworthy complex flavor. It definitely has sweetness to it, but it mixed it with a tang/acidity which I quite liked. SS was also very good, but it had more of a linear sweet taste which I like (as well as my kids) but it didn't have the complexity of AG. SG came in third. SG tends to be a little more variant in it's taste. Sometimes sweet, sometimes slightly sweet like it was not completely ripe even though it appeared to be the case. BSS was by far the least flavorful. BSS had a somewhat bland tomato taste, which was not awful, but was definitely not sweet. BSS would be fine in a garden salad and is obviously the largest of all cherry tomatoes evaluated, but if you want to get a nice large cherry with good taste there are others that are better (like Gardeners Delight which I also grew). BRIX/SWEETNESS: I thought I should mention this since after all these varieties are supposed to be "sweet" cherries. SS was by far the sweetest. Although I didn't actually do a brix test, I'm certain the sugar content would be the highest. Next up was SG, but as I mentioned above, it's sweetness tended to be hit or miss. AG came in third with a pleasant sweetness but not overly sweet. BSS was not sweet at all. CONCLUSION: I have grown SG for many years and for many years it has always done well. SG always germinates well and is a solid producer as cherries go in my garden. That being said, SS was hands down a better hybrid. It produced more and the flavor was more consistent. It was definitely the sweetest of all cherries that I grew and stayed longer on the vine and split less. As mentioned above, I also really liked AG and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and productivity. It was my personal favorite of all four. It observed many of the same characteristic as SS, but was larger and had a more complex flavor. I was very happy to note these attributes especially since AG is an OP and the seed can be saved and regrown year after year. BSS was a dud. But only b/c of its flavor. I suppose if BSS were marketed as a large cherry with traditional tomato taste, I would grade it much higher, but as a "sweet" OP that was supposed to compete with SG/SS, it wasn't even in the same ballpark. That being said, you definitely get your biggest bang for the buck due to its size and growth. .

I am new to this forum business. I have about 25 years of gardening experience. But many years of that was experimenting, attempting, fails and successes. I am a big fan of container gardening. This year I have 5th n 6th generation cherry tomatoes, sunflowers, purple beans, sweet peas and many other 2nd or 3rd generation flowers and peppers etc. This is our first full summer in our new house outside of Madison. My significant other bought me (to arrive in May) 2 different zone 4 grapes. Dwarf self pollinating peach tree and D.S.P. cherry tree along with 2 dwarf apple trees. I am huge on doing my research but I figure practical advice is always welcomed. My two main questions are 1. I plan to train/prune my trees into the "bowl" or "goblet" style. 3 prong best? Anyone with any suggestions forhow to go about getting the best quality (not quanitity) from my dwarfs? 2. I am huge on recycling. I'd prefer to use "found" materials for my grapes vine trellis. My original idea was to build a few vertical bicycle tire trellis' for the vines to grow. My questions and concerns are - would the rims be bad for my plants? Rust or burn the vines in the sun heat? Could I paint over them to avoid rust or burning and if so would you recommend Rustolium? Or another paint? (Rustolium has lowest voc and we have used it succesfully in the past with our birds cages) Any suggestions are very much appreciated. If in Madison area and would like to do a seed trade or trellis supply drop off also would be appreciated. Thank you!

Sue36--You're not understanding Buehl's duct. The opening is in the floor, next to the wall. It's not spaced out from the wall where she could use a floor duct. The duct is not coming up into the stud cavity. This style of register is quite common here in the upper Midwest though they were new to me when I moved here from the south central part of the United States. My house has them & is 30+ years old. And it is the overwhelming choice for forced air systems in new builds. They looked weird to me for a while, until I got used to them. Now, I don't notice them because they're 'normal'. We've owned houses with both styles of registers. I prefer these because less dirt & stuff gets into the duct than what does with floor registers. And, there's no need to attach a deflector to them, either. Moving that opening out from the wall is a big deal if she has rigid metal ductwork. I can guarantee blood loss & depletion of one's French vocabulary. :) And for no good reason other than, to a few people, a minor aesthetic one. No one is going to notice that duct except for Buehl and only for a few days and that's because she is admiring her beautiful new floors. Everyone else is going to see the gorgeous floor, the pretty windows & what's outside the windows and the duct is going to disappear in the same way that outlets & switches do.