TIVO, I am exhausted just from reading all the complicated things you've done and are concerned about. My basic approach to ANY thing in life has always been to do it as simply and cheaply as possible. There is a simple thing you can do, which will not cost you one cent, that will make Every Single One of These irrelavant. I used generic potting soil from wal-mart, so I am not sure about the level of nutrients in the soil. I also mixed in a little bit of coffee grounds and composted cow manure, so I probably (i just learned) inadvertently temporally reduced the amount of what ever available soluble nitrogen was available. (I was smart enough to mix in extra perlite b/c blackberries need more drainage than most other plants.) Any way, I have 10 newly potted blackberry plants. I was wondering if I should use Miricle-Gro Quikstart Transplant Solution (or any other brand). Do I risk root burn if I use this before the plants have a chance to get over the shock of shipping and planting? or will it help reduce the shock as advertised? If I leave the plants alone (except for watering of course) will it be awhile before the plants even need available NPK? Do you think the available soluable NPK already in the soil is adequate until the plants show growth? I am also considering putting in plant food spikes (about half or less the recommended amount until growth starts) b/c of the slower release. The small amount b/c it's mostly root and small stems and the desire to "do no harm." What do you all suggest? Here is what I suggest: Simply put a layer of grass clippings on top of whatever soil you have in the pots. (I would have used plain old soil from my yard, which is free!) The grass clippings will: 1. provide all the nutrients your blackberries neeed. Ive had thornless blackberries for 32 years, in the ground. The only "fertilizer" they've gotten is grass clippings- with maybe an occassional banana peel or other kitchen scrap. 2. Make any worries about fertilizer burn- simply Can't happen with them- or nutrient deficiencies a thing of the past. 3. Let you go longer between waterings, because they keep the soil much cooler and moister. 4. Prevent weeds, which can come up even in pots. A couple of tips on using the clippings in the pots. (And later when the berries are in the ground.) 1. Don't let the clippings actually touch the stems of the berries, especially fresh clippings. All the moisture in them could rot the stems, though blackberries are just about impossible to kill. In the pots, you can make small collars from yogurt cups or something similar to put aruond the stems. 2. Always water before you appply clippings, so they can "lock in" the moisture. This holds true in the ground, too, but is even more important in fast-drying-out pots. Then try not to get the clippigns wet for a while, till they've dried. It wouldn't hurt your plants one bit, but they might smell a little. Oh, I'm curious why you think blackberries "need more drainage than most other plants?" I have heavy clay soil, and they've done just fine. In fact, many people are afraid to grow blackberries, cause they are so hardy and "take over the yard." (On that, if you'd like to know a way to keep that from happening, post a question.) Oh, I hope you didn't pay extra to get Ten plants? The way blackberries spread, believe me, One would be sufficient. Ive given away hundreds of plants to other local gardeners over the years. Tyrell

Hi Vuwugarden The idea that all roses are best grown ownroot is just plain wrong. Some roses do very well ownroot, old garden roses, some hybrid perpetuals, knockout-/explorer-roses, some Kordes hybrid are not comparable to most modern roses. Now and then even the odd hybrid tea does well(I grow Peace in a container, selfmade from cutting). Even in warmer climates grafted roses can do better, in general grafted roses will grow a bit taller than ownroot. These are results from large test in the fields of many countries and observation has been as much as 7 years or more. If you live in area with fairly cold winters and a short growing season I dare state that modern roses will perform considerably better as grafted plants. Not all roses does well on the most common rootstocks, but this is something the large nurseries know. Suckers are not a big problem, if you check your roses two times a season or something like that rootstock will never have the chance to take over. You simply take out some leather gloves and pull them off. Some rootstocks sucker more than others, but you will probably not see more then one or three a year per 60 roses. Catrose: when the roses gets olde they will all form a "fist" of older wood near the ground. In fact, it is not that easy to tell the difference between a grafted and an ownroot after a few years unless you do some digging. Graftpoint usually is planted a few inches into the ground. I have several roses both grafted and made from cuttings of the same variety. Growth habit is by far determined by the variety, not the root stuck. Rootstock will give stronger growth, and plants will on average grow taller. They tend no more than ownroots to get leggy, spindly. This is more determined by variety and pruning than rootstock. Scardan123; As far as I know the Meilland roses we get here are grafted. Where my family and I have been gardening (Norway, Denmark and France) we buy mostly grafted, and all Meilland roses are. There are a few exceptions; some old roses, rugosa hybrids, some park-roses, species and near hybrids, groundcovers, but even the Meilland ground-coverers I have are grafted (probably on laxa). In short, Meilland roses are no less grafted than other roses. How ownroots will do are dependent on climate, soil, growing season and care given. I am not against ownroot roses, and will happily try to root any variety from cutting. If I where to grow ownroots exclusively I would have to give up most chinas, hybrid teas, floribundas, many climbers and shrubs, at least they would stay small and puny plants. That is mostly due to the short growing season; grafted plats gets an earlier start in spring, grow faster and stronger. These roses will not be more winter hardy as ownroot, if they freeze to the ground they will sprout back, but will have problem really taking of and becoming good plants. Hardy varieties with strong growth will do better. This is at least my experience on the subject, and I have spend a lot of time and energy on different rootstocks and ownroot roses. I know this is a subject that depend very on climate, soil, care roses get..., but still I am surprised how different experiences we have. I suspect that there are differences in the rootstocks that are used, USA use other types. It might have something to do with the grafting techniques too. Here oculation is by far the most common, if not the only one; an eye from the cane of the desired variety is placed in a T-shaped cut on the neck of the rootstock. That produces plants where grafting-point is hardly seen after planting, if at all. My post became far too long, I get carried away by this subject :-)

Hey Josh, Thanks for your comments and advise. Well...last night I made the decision to let it ride and see what happens. This morning when I woke up...I had a change of heart. I checked the wick and it was still pretty wet, at this point I figured I really need to see what the bottom of the pot looks like. I decided to remove the tree and check what was going on...I did this inside the garage so the wind wasn't a factor. It was indeed VERY wet on the bottom...somehow the smaller particles seeped to the bottom of the pot (Mike suggested I check to see if this happened), Thanks Mike! The rest of the mix was moist, just the top inch or two was dry. So I don't know why the first time I checked it with the wood dowel it came up dry? Guess I didn't do it right... I've now come to realize the mistakes I made were human error on my part...thinking back...I don't think I screened the ingredients well enough since I was a bit of a hurry.I didn't premoisten the mix before I added it...I only wet it once I started adding it to the pot. I take full responsibility for the predicament I'm in, plus in my experience Mango does not like their roots disturb and bare rooting them is the worst thing I can do to it at least that's been my experience...(more so than any trees/plants I've ever done). I noticed as soon as I removed the tree from the pot that some of the roots are starting to rot/die off...again the mix was very wet on the bottom...few of them were turning dark brown/black :o(...I don't know "if" its too late to save this poor tree, but all I know is I had to try... I dumped the potting mix into a wheel barrow and re-do the mix a little to make it a little less moisture retentive(did some re-screening) and mixed it up really well...repotted it back up. Now I wait...if it dies at least I know I've tried and did my best to to save it. It was going to rot anyways if I hadn't redone it. I will leave it in the shade for another week and slowly acclimate slowly to sun (if its still alive by then,lol) Wish me luck...thanks again for your help Mike and Josh! Much appreciated. Its a lesson learned for me, hopefully I won't make the same mistakes again.

Rokal, Are you in New Zealand not New York? If so a great book I got years ago was published in Australia called, Growing Hibiscus ISBN # 0-86417-045-9 by Kangaroo Press. Very useful and covers grafting as well as other things about tropical and hardy types of Hibiscus. It doesn't cover Moy Grande however since Dr. Moy from San Antonio Botanical Gardens didn't introduce it until the 90's and this book was published in 1985 and reprinted in 87. You might consider getting a few seed from Burpee's of the Luna Blush hibiscus a real beauty as well. 5 for $4 Good Luck and Happy Growing