Root Pruned Last Few Pots

15 years ago

I root pruned the last few pots today, wow what spring preview we are getting 64 outside today. I did the el sals and got started on the hardy chicago . The darn hardy chicago i was cutting with pruning saw as i cannot use stanley knife anymore on these when they were smaller but this particular plant had the biggest roots out of all of mine and it took some cutting, its my 3rd oldest yet the biggest roots and i have an idea as to maybe why but not sure. I used top soil bag on this one about 3 years back as i remembered soon as it took out of the pot and saw it and im thinking that the roots have a harder time penetrating the top soil as opposed to potting soil and grew more thicker roots. The smaller roots are there but just the bigger ones are thicker and more numerous than my other plants yet its a slightly younger tree, so i really dug into this one to remove a lot. Just my thoughts about that not absolutely sure. I have Als mix inside of garage and im using it in jasmine and oleandar pots and they seem to like it a lot, i thought about it for these larger pots as i sure they would also like it but decided against it as i had a hard enough time with the weight of these as they are. Trees now sit near overhead door and will go outside as weather permits, im holding them back inside for another week cause our weather is funny, they say next week around wed or thurdays it will be in 30s so i take my time and wait another week or so before i start wheeling in and out of garage onto driveway. Still i have door open and there getting some fresh air today. Here are 2 pictures, for those not familar with shultz and fertilome UPM i took picture, the 50 quart upm was a gift yesterday from nursery man when 1 of the 3 cubic foot bags was broke, they were the last ones he had till next delivery. The shultz i had a little left over from my small plants but did not use in the big pots.The italian fig plant from Bolonia i pruned yesterday better give me more than 1 fig this season as its going on its 4th growing season or its going to go to the glory road. I also brought out some of the patio furniture out of shed to make room for garden tractor so i could fit the fig plants behind car in garage, this car we dont hardly use unless 1 of the other ones breaks down so thats not a problem. So im done except when it starts to get real nice out for good i will transplant the ones under grow light and get them used to outdoors. After wards it was lunch time and i was to pooped to make anything so i went and treated myself to a good old fashion hamburger and fries!

Martin

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Comments (6)

italiangirl74
15 years ago
Ciao Martin, just seen this, very nice work. they are looking good. I just did mine yesturday, as it was 74 degrees. The weather has really been beautiful. Many of the regular trees in the area are swelling leaf buds. I am just so happy about spring coming. My figs have all been going outside for some sun and air. My already leafed out figs are hardened off and even got a little bit of rain from a thunderstorm we had. The air smells wonderful now. Ciao
dieseler
Original Author
15 years ago
Maggie sounds like you are gettng your spring weather!
We are supposed to get to the 60s next couple days then it will be only in 40s toward end of next week. Mine are still asleep but im sure there tossing and turning now as its getting warmer little by little. Weather here is still up and down by big margin but many signs of spring now with the birds finally and some tree's starting to show small buds. Curious to see how my fig tree's will bud out this season and how much damage there is to any of them.
Eat well Maggie ; )
Ciao
Martin
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Hey dude, absolutely, the way to do it is create a wicking bed underneath the pot. You can use pretty much anything that's a few inches deep. I did a quick search for "wicking smart pot" and came up with the link below (it's for growing weed) but applies to veggies and more -- you set the smart pot on top of a wicking substrate like perlite, pumice or a capillary mat and the water will be pulled up towards the plant. The pot doesn't sit in the water, rather there's a inch or so of air between the water level and the pot, allowing water to be pulled up by the plant as needed. You can also create a float valve system tied to a hose so that when the water level goes down below a certain point, it triggers the valve and lets more water in. These are used all the time in rain gutter grows. I'm going to do it with my veggies in Root Pouches and $1 oil drip trays from the dollar store. Finally, wicking systems (like Earthtainers and Earth Boxes) only really work for one grow season. And they only work with normal soil mix, not 5-1-1 or gritty. For growing veggies in one season, self wicking is fantastic. For trees and perennials, go with a drip system, otherwise you run into all kinds of issues such as decomposing mix, severe salt buildup and more. Hope that helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Self Wicking Smart Pots
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Well, this was a good discussion and covered a lot of good points. Thanks, everyone for the replies. You've given me a lot to think about. And thanks, Jane and others, for urging a little prudence. I do go overboard from time to time. I think my original post was misleading, as I didn't mean removing roots to fit them into a tiny pot. Gordon recommends pruning so they are shorter and will fit into an azalea pot, 5" deep. Turkeytaker, I wouldn't have called myself an overwatering "fiend" exactly, but I do err in that direction. :) Whitecat, your comments about the bonsai reference affecting your attitude toward this were very interesting. Also about the huger pots. The frame of reference is: the volume of medium is too much in a bigger pot, the inside of the medium stays too wet, and the roots will rot. A smaller, shallower pot is the answer to preventing rot. An azalea pot is 5" deep, so to fit them into an azalea pot, he prunes them to 5" when potting. Jerry, haven't seen you here for a couple of years. Glad to hear your additional comments on this. Your explanation of long roots cracking and being less useful makes perfect sense-- I've seen an occasional long healthy root, but yes, most of them are damaged or rotten in various ways. Your point about losing a precious plant was taken to heart. Howard, as it happens, I found I don't like using peanuts. I've used them a few times, but I don't like seeing them thru the sides of a clear pot. They're just ugly to me. They also make the pot lighter, and that interferes with me knowing when to water. I put a 2-3" net pot in middle of the pot instead. Richard, Brooke and Clara, your experience is always helpful. Well, the experiment was already launched. I'm marking the plants I handled that way, so I'll know what happened within a few months. I don't think I'll lose any, because I think I was reasonably prudent about it. But some 6" got repotted down to 5". And truthfully, conditions are much less than ideal, of course. I call my light room "phal heaven", but that's compared to what the catts thought about it. They complained non-stop. And the blooming ones get less heaven than that, especially as the winter actually comes on. Thanks again for the replies.
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citrusnut
15 years ago
Martin, those are some fine looking trees. How often do you root plane?
dieseler
Original Author
15 years ago
Every 3 years, except the 1 italian unknown im trying i will have to look at in 2 years because the root system on that particular one was 3 seasons old an was really choking itself. That tree produced its first ripe fig last season and dropped all the others before they swelled and im thinking because the root system grew so fast and boound so bad that it hurt the production unlike the others which produce as usual. This season will tell me more if that was the case, i did have few choice words for it when i was root pruning it as one of the limbs smacked me very hard on my neck and the next thing i new i had a sorta red ring around the collar. At dinner time the family asked "dad what happened to your neck"
Martin
eukofios
15 years ago
Martin, they are looking great! Please keep us updated, I'm interested in knowing how they survived this winter. All of mine seem to be greening up at the terminal buds, except (ironically) Hardy Chicago. Still too early to know.
A few choice words actually helps them grow, by the way. It's like fertilizer.
Daniel
dieseler
Original Author
15 years ago
Daniel they saw the outside today for the first time, i will try to post pics tomorrow, it was 57 today , 65 tomorrow , 70 for tuesday then it get cooler with only 50s for high for a few days so they will be out this week and in a night, its a start finally ! Ill post pics as they come along .
Martin

Root Pruned Last Few Pots

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Root Pruned Last Few Pots

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