We are due for dessicating dry winds (Santa Anas) and heat yet again, sigh. Make sure you keep them hydrated. You might put the pots into the ground to keep them more moist during the Santa Ana spells.

I will do that -- thank you for the reminder. I'll tuck them in the shade and shelter of some large shrubs on the north side near the patio.

I have mine on the side of the house where the winds won't beat them up. The wind is supposed to start tomorrow afternoon/evening for me. Waaaaaa! I had a stroll around the garden this afternoon looking at the flowers before they get thrashed by the wind. I even got a super huge Maria Callas bloom when the weather was in the 70s.

My bands were shipped during the heat snap and the pots were warm in my hands when I unpacked them. Poor things. They didn't lose any leaves however. They have blackspot everywhere. Did yours have that? I don't know if I should spray them when they are so small.

I went out around sunset, and cut a few things for a vase, before the wind starts. I just HATE these drying winds. All the bloom we have now will be potpourri.

Jenn -- If you can water your little pots early and late, I would. Mulch piled around them is helpful.

And, in answer to your original question -- we DON'T feed them, in the 1-G containers. We'd rather just let them grow roots, rather than push topgrowth.

Time enough for that, when we move them up to 5- or 7-G pots, while they wait for a place in the ground.

Jeri

Kit - mine did not arrive with blackspot... sorry yours did. Mine did have some mildew on the leaves though.

Jeri - Wouldn't topgrowth aid in the production of roots? I definitely will not let buds form. I've been using the Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 to feed some Iris babies in pots -- I separated them yesterday and there are lots of roots. Not trying to argue, just wondering.

Ignoramus question - bands - if you have a spot selected that isn't expected to kill off the baby before it gets large enough to endure stressful conditions, can it be directly planted, or is it a general rule of thumb to grow them up into a 1 or 2 gallon first?

This is hypothetical for me at the moment, but I have a band coming in the spring...

Jenn -- Fertilizers tend to push the growth of canes and blooms. I don't particularly WANT big top-growth and bloom at that stage of the game. I just want sound roots.

I'm in no hurry, so I am happy to let them perk along and grow roots, and a little top growth. They usually explode in growth when I pot them up, and THEN I will feed them lightly.

Jeri

Thanks, Jeri. Perhaps a root stimulant such as liquid seaweed/kelp? (Can you tell I'm having a hard time with the no-fertilizer thing? :-)

HAHAHA ... :-)
Jenn, some of us just feel we have to do SOMETHING.

I don't think dilute kelp would hurt at all. Just remember that you really don't want to push huge topgrowth at the expense of the roots. So, I'd avoid a lot of nitrogen, and I probably wouldn't use alfalfa tea, either.

AAMOF, my DH uses both willow water and Natures Nog (which contains kelp) when potting up cuttings for rooting. He will initially water them with a very mild solution, and that seems to push root formation along. He has a pretty good track record, so I don't think you could go too far wrong with dilute kelp solution.

Jeri

I water my bands with the water from the fishtank water changes and that seems to be enough. The fish get the good bottled spring water so I think it's better than the tap water. There should be enough good stuff in the premium mix you are using to get the roots growing.

Minflick I grow my bands in pots up to the 5 gallon size before planting in the ground but I do not have any freezes or real winter weather where I am. Some people winter pots in a garage but I have no experience with that.

Still waiting for the Santa Anas... no sign of them where we are.

Maybe you're going to skate, Jenn.

It blew badly, yesterday here at the coast. The wind is ramping up again, and it is hotter than it was yesterday. I mean, before Noon, it is hotter than yesterday's high.

Jeri

Kitty - I have a tank, I could DO that! I'm in 9b, and we did get some nippy weather last winter (my first here, so not sure it's customary), I think we had 18 or so days where it got down to 28? No horrible storms after a big wind storm that hit the week before Thanksgiving and did lots of damage around the county, but none at my house, TG! I was relying on an online weather site to tell me how cold it was, aside from COLD, but I got myself some thermometers, so I'll see just how cold it gets here at MY house, not a mile down the road and up the hill.

Last winter was quite the learning experience, as I lost a lot of plants - sob, wail! I replaced some of them, and this year I've moved some stuff into the house, and walled the cats away with chicken wire. REALLY hope it works and they don't mess with them, or eat them (and poison themselves!) Other stuff I've resigned myself to not having again while I live here.

Jeri et al, how long--generally--does it take your bands to progress to five or seven gallons?

Thanks,

Colleen

Today was dry but no nasty blowing winds and I moved my bands out of hiding. I picked off the worst of the BS leaves and am going to observe them. Heaps and Heaps of leaves and twigs everywhere. It took me all day Today to rake it all up. A limb tore off and hit the window Friday and made me jump. All my Pink Lady apples got blown off the tree before they got ripe but the pomegranates managed to hang on.