Oh Josh! Would you believe I was scared to death to cut off that much? Lolololol. Now I have Al suggesting that I go even further down the road? Now that's chopped!lol Ok, first off I am happy to report that the TWO, yes, two plants are doing well thus far! They are responding very well. In fact, the mix fell right away from the roots of yours Josh. You sent that plant to me in a great mix and which in turn I used the very same mix to repot! It's a good thing we all use the same mixes. I never have a problem repotting a plant from you pal. Blake, I think I answered your question in there somewhere:-) Al, now, that is quite the picture and would you believe it still took me a couple of days to completely understand this? lol. Yes, I knew you would. Anyhow, I must say if I can get just ONE plant to look as good as your Bonsai, I would be thrilled. I really appreciate your guidence along with Josh and others. I can't really envision what that 'hornbeam' is going to look like, but I trust you. I never even heard of a 'hornbeam'! Guess I'll have to google that one. Now that mullberry bush is to die for. GREAT work! Have you ever posted it with leaves? It must be beautiful. Would you beleive I saw the workers at the Bonsai shop hacking their trees way back in the fall, and I just about died? It was very traumatic for me to see what they were doing to what I thought were beautiful trees as was, but then they laughed at me when I expressed this. lol I do have what would be a beautiful huge sweet maple tree that turns brillaint colors come the fall that I have been growing in a 3 gallon container for about 3 years now. Let's just say that if I planted inground, it would be a giant. Right now it's only about 6 feet high. What to do? I will snap a pic of it this weekend, ok? Mike

I try to make it brief not to bore anyone here. I know your climate Rafed its best to wait and just get a jump start in early spring with the containers by bringing in and out of garage at the right time. Unless you feel that they will die cause there not in proper storage. Otherwise by bringing any in much warmer house you will have to wait till outdoor temps are real nice to accimilate back outdoors when time comes otherwise you will set them back. Been there done that. Just my opinion and nothing else. ; ) I do have some waking up in house for different reasons not related to this thread. __________________ Martin Near Chicago,Illinois Zone 5

It seems my hosta are waking up all on their own. In south AL, this is probably the best time for them, if it could be like this the rest of the year, they'd do pretty well, I'm thinking. I took pictures today intending to drop a few into the Alphabet Soup posts. But...might as well show how large some of them are already. Of course, some are still dormant, with signs of green roots going everywhere in the pot. Do not know what this one is. It was dug out of the ground in November in MA zone 5b/6a and brought south dormant. The H.'Fragrant Blue' is looking good to me, never heard of it but figured a 'Fragrant' name meant it would do good down here. So far so good. H.'Lederhosen' was also one dug and shipped south, sitting in a pot this last winter. How about trying to bring them into a coolish sun porch where the air is not too dry?

Some things to consider: * I don't know what USDA zone you're in, but your plant is right next to the radiator. As the radiator warms the room air, the relative humidity of the newly warmed air drops precipitously, so much so that the air becomes drier than the air in the Sahara Desert ...... and this holds true even if you have a humidifier in the room. So that's a problem. * Your plant is in a cache pot. If you're not emptying the cache pot every time you water, your plant is sitting in the salt-laden effluent (waste water) that exits the drain hole. This is a problem on several fronts. It causes soil saturation that leads to drought stress; it causes an increase in dissolved solids (salts) that makes water uptake and movement throughout the plant difficult; it raises media pH; and it compounds the low relative humidity issue in the immediate vicinity of the radiator. At a minimum, your plant's pot should sit above any effluent collecting in the cache pot. * Dave asked, "How often and how much are you watering? How are you insuring its time to water?" The question is so important it's worthy of repeating, so I'll ask that you answer, too; and, I suggest you read about using a "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water. More on that below. * The symptoms aren't consistent with what minor stress might be associated with a move. Generally, leaf loss due to a new home is related only to the leaf loss that might occur as a result of diminished photo load (light intensity, or in some cases - duration of exposure), though a move during cold weather can be immediately damaging such that leaf loss might occur within 1-2 weeks. Low temps and especially sudden exposure to cold drafts often causes leaf loss within a week or two, but usually leaves are still green when they fall - unless they showed necrotic areas before exposure to chill. This should be helpful (click link). Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al