Here is one I didn't know about. Looks like they LOVE the high summer rainfall, and deep sandy soils of southeastern Virginia! The best Cryptomeria I've ever seen on the east coast (probably, anywhere! I've never been to JP or CN) was somewhere in Norfolk but I doubt I could ever find it again. http://bigtree.cnre.vt.edu/detail.cfm?AutofieldforPrimaryKey=660 Time for those folks to install a lightning arrester for that tree! Or make sure the church spire is well grounded so that it diverts the charge LOL.

" I wonder how one would do in pure muck soil where taxodium grow, if inland enough where saltwater flooding isn't a problem." Not well! It would last about a week in summer before the root rots would take it out! In the rest of the southeast where they do grow, they definitely only grow on well drained soils. I have had one die from root rot. In spite of being hexaploid, they are not invincible. FWIW, there's a 'trick' about the PNW - coastal CA climate. I saw rhododendrons almost in the bottom of swales at the old Greer Gardens in Eugene, OR.* You would NEVER see them growing somewhere like that in PA, NJ, or MD. But...the time plants like rhodies and redwood are most susceptible to root rot organisms is in the summer. That's when most of those disease organisms grow best...at temps >= 15C. I see redwoods in the native environs growing in soil that appears year round damp, but guess what? It's only going to be inundated with water, during California's wet winters! Likewise with the rhodies that would experience wet (but not underwater, mind you) soil conditions at Greer...only in winter! There's just NO WAY for Eugene to have 3" of hot wet rain in late July, on a single day, as we can have! (or, now that I think about it, at Sonoma Horticultural Nursery, which is called something else these days, the same is true. Although Polo did put some rhodies on the lowest plains of his property in impromptu little raised beds. That might be necessary because he was so mild in winter, root rot organisms could still grow well during the wet season.) Now that a nursery has supposedly grafted Sequoia onto Metasequoia, maybe people in the southeast can plant them in poorly drained soils with abandon. We'll see. * - although, TBH, it wasn't much to see and not even as nice as the peak of NJ Rarefind around the time Hank died in 2009, I'm glad I got to see it in 2011 and meet the famous Mr. Greer. Greer might have had rarer, more tender cultivars in zone 8a, but Rarefind had just more plants, and better displayed, period, in their 6b garden.

Magpie, what part of California are you in? Up in the wild you know how big these get. In yards its a little more under control. I would still try to give the fella AT LEAST 20 feet from my house. My main concern is always trees falling on the room your grandkids may stay in. Are these huge retaining walls holding up a 100ft tall cliff or just the standard 4 foot ones to let your driveway be more level? If your neighbors have some it probably grows pretty well in your area. Are they out watering 80ft trees to keep them alive or anything crazy like that you may want to avoid? Naturally the first year or two in the ground you are going to have to water with anything though. "Our soil is decomposed granite, mostly," Is your yard similar to your neighbor's where redwoods grow? Assuming so I wouldn't mess with it. If your lot was the last one and there is some backfill issue you might have to. Once again, what if you find a tree that by the time it is 80 foot tall needs you to dump a ton of xxxx wonder fertilizer in the yard or else it will die. **************** I am envious that you can grow these.

Yep, low in initial fertility is the key. Obviously you don't want to burn or inhibit growth, but a light charge of nutrients should be available once the plant/cutting can effectively make use of the nutrients. I almost always include some Osmocote in my mix for that very reason: the nutrients won't be heavy up front, but they'll be there when the plant needs it. I wait approximately two weeks to begin fertigation after re-potting a rooted plant, as well. This phase of low initial fertility apparently helps with the re-establishment of roots in a new volume of soil/mix. Josh