I think the main reason nurseries use a peat-based mix is to reduce weight for shipping. There's very little nutrient value in peat but it makes a great blotter for holding quantities of force-fed nutrients in an environment that bears little similarity either with a garden or with a home. If you are just buying 'colour spots' as some sort of living bouquet then the fact that the plant will become root-bound, run out of nutrients, become excessively thirsty, doesn't really matter to many because it was only ever intended to be temporary. As soon as I buy anything that's not a Sarracenia, planted up in peat, it is taken out and shifted to what is, for me, a 'regular' potting mix - one based on composted bark with the addition of pumice or quartz chips to increase drainage. I'll do this even with plants I intend for the garden because if the peat dries out it is extremely hard to rehydrate and the plant can drought to death in the midst of plenty. Too, it seems to encourage wicking if any of it is left above the soil. I prefer my plants to be sturdy to stand up to my climate (windy and wet - often). I don't want juicy and vulnerable. I do want a very active root mass for anchorage and food foraging. Peat doesn't doesn't do that once a plant is older, in my experience. Plants grown in a gardening environment are usually going to be treated 'unnaturally'. They'll be watered when it's dry and fed to produce more than would be 'natural' and pruned to balance production with replacement and renewal. 'Civilizing', I suppose. I agree on the Citrus and the Clivias. They're both inground items in this zone and, guess what, their roots roam - with no diminishing of their productivity.

Thanks, hoosier, for corroborating what I gathered together from different areas of the internet to do with my Hass--info I was a little insecure I was getting right or not. I'm in Redlands, CA. The tree is on a corner lot right out in the sun. I have everything but the sloped spot, but my yard is raised about 8" from the sidewalk (the whole house is on a slope). I'm going to post a question about how to prune it since it's getting a little sparse. (Unless I can post that here?) But it did flower this spring. I need the pollinator in a pot because I don't have the room for it to go in the ground, and I'm using my back yard for a miniature orchard (it's still in infancy). I'm going to be at capacity once I get the pollinator going. Ha. ;) If anyone doesn't mind answering, my Hass is about 7ft tall and isn't so bushy this year. One side has about a 3.5ft area on the upper half where no branches are growing (one broke off during transport home). I like the over all shape, but the branches near the trunk need more leaves and I'd like to start a branch on that empty section. I fertilized one month ago with Kellog's Organic fert for fruit trees. Any ideas if you don't mind?

I have never been to Hawaii myself, but I have ordered a few times from www.fruitlovers.com (located in Pahoa). The owner is very knowledgeable and helpful. Tomas

I second the recommendation for Green Thumb in Canoga Park or West Hills and their other store, Green Arrow, in North HIlls. They carry better distributors such as Dave Wilson Nurseries trees but at about 50-60% of the cost for the same tree at Armstrong. They are also bigger, with more stock. I love these guys. Be careful when selecting deciduous fruit trees at ALL Socal nurseries. All nurseries will make trees available that really won't fruit here. In SoCal you require "VERY LOW CHILL" trees -- there are not enough chilly hours in the dormant season to make most trees fruit. So a "low chill" tree that requires 500 or 400 hours is still too high of a requirement. I'm in Northeast L.A where I get 80 to 300 hours of chill per year, so all of the trees that require more than 250 hours will seldom fruit -- only some years. Read those labels!