i dont twitter .... can you link us below???

i would take them out of the pot.. and heal them into the veg garden ...

and while you are at it.. reduce by half.. lol .... my dear daughter.. look.. only half made it thru winter.. lol ...

ken

Ken, here is the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to tree photo

This post was edited by ilovemytrees on Mon, Oct 21, 13 at 12:25

Red Maple, Acer rubrum.

Hairmetal4ever,

Thank you for responding, sir. Do you think these trees can wait it out on the porch, in THAT pot, for the winter? Ideally, I'd like to put them all in separate pots next spring and wait out that year too, or at least til fall, because the spot I want to plant them in is currently covered by a giant concrete block 40X40 or so, and we aren't getting that taken out til next spring.

I don't want all their roots getting all bunched up together, and I figure the longer they share that pot, the more likely that's going to happen.

Isn't it amazing how fast they grew in just one season?

You could overwinter them in a pot against the house (the foundation should keep the roots a bit warmer).

They'd be best off in the ground, but if not, at least separate them. You can bare root them now as the leaves are changing, so they're "done" for the season. I'd say go ahead and slip them *gently* out of the pot, rinse the soil off the roots and pot them separately if you want to keep them in pots for another year.

Repot, then sit the pots against the house where it's cold enough to keep them dormant but a bit tempered from the cold on the roots (which will get far colder in a pot than in the ground, since the pot is exposed on all sides.

That one in the middle, especially, is quite vigorous. Red maple seedlings can put on 2-3'/yr or more once they get going.

Thank you so much for answering my questions.

This morning I sat DD down and let her know that we don't have the yard space (1/3 of an acre), for all those maples, but that she could keep one. She was happy she could keep it, and was a good sport about it.

I told her an expert on the tree forum suggested the middle one because it's grown so tall and looks so beautiful, and she agreed.

I'm going out on the porch in a few minutes, and gently pull the other trees out, then I'll place the pot in a short cardboard box and insulate around the pot a bit.

Thanks again for your help.

If you're keeping the same pot, I'd suggest just clipping the others off right at ground level so as not to disturb the roots of the one you're keeping - they might resprout a couple times, but keep snipping and they'll eventually stop.

Ok. Will do! That is a great idea, and I'm glad you told me about doing it.

pots in z5 can be tricky ...

if you dont want them.. maybe i shouldnt tell you how to do it... lol ..

well.. lol ... the problem is the great white north.. is that a frozen pot.. can NOT drain ... and it doesnt help.. that you put mother earth in a pot ... media goes in a pot .. you ought to know that.. did you ever buy any of your potted plants in dirt.. anyway.. i digress ...

if your frozen pot.. get rained on.. especially late in the winter ....you have the potential to turn the dirt into a mudsickle ... and roots dont grow nor live long inside an ice cube ....

so many peeps.. simply lay the pot on its side.. come january ...

and the rest of what hair said ...

and it will not matter if this spent all winter .. on its side.. under 4 feet of snow ...

also .. if that is any kind of fancy pot.. the expanding ice.. can crack the pot..

regardless.. its a maple... dont fret too much about it.. you can barely kill them

havent you seen a house in the hood.. with a couple million growing in the gutters ... lol

you are a worrier .. simply dont worry about this .. just knock the pot over ... out of the sun ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Well, it's done.

I clipped all the other trees to the level of the soil, then I put the pot in a box that is only as deep as the pot, and wrapped a blanket around the pot. I'm going to get some pebbles for mulch tomorrow.

I don't think this pot is going to crack. It's made to be outside; it's a 5 gallon tree pot. It'll (hopefully)be fine on my covered, north-facing porch. It's done really well potted without the correct potting media so far. I don't know how, I've barely paid any attention to it. Of course, that could be one reason why. lol

I get that my native soil is not meant to be in a pot, but it'll have to do for now, and if it doesn't survive, well, as effortlessly as DD got these maples to grow this spring, we can just do it all over again next year.

I've included a pic of the maple left. The blanket (and the rocks keeping it in place because it's windy) are only temporary until I can get some mulch.

Here is a link that might be useful: Updated photo of the one maple left.

Ken is right about the soil vs media in a pot...however, Red Maple, Acer rubrum, is also called SWAMP maple, and can probably tolerate the too wet situation of heavy soil in a pot better than most.