Fruitnut, I have 2 methods and I'm sharing my trade secrets here (what the hell- I'm 6 months from 60 and hope to retire in 25 years anyway). I start some plants straight in the ground, planting them way too close in a fenced off area. Planting them close makes maintenance per plant much less expensive given that it's all done by hand (don't ask). For apples in my climate it takes about 3 years to size them up to about 1.5" diameter- at least when planted this close. I carefully dig up these BR and put them in short 20 gallon pots (wide and shallow) in a mix of 1 part peat, 1 composted wood chips or stable waste ( almost pure humus with some carbo lumps) and 1 sand, plus a little wood ash. They limp the first season but I sell them the next for around $180 per. At this point they are bearing, 12' tall and well branched and the foliage is back to mormal. Other trees I transfer to Carl Whitcomb grow bags in real soil and let them grow about another 3 years and sell them for $250 per, or less to contractors. The grow bags I use are his last edition because they allow more root out of the bag and I can grow them without any irrigation at all- even through drought. Irrigation would reduce production by about a year, I'm sure, but in my operation only my potted plants get any and they are set in the soil as well. I always take some trees in the grow bags, remove the bags and put them into 25 Gallon pots with the soil intact but surrounded by my potting mix which allows me to sell some larger trees during the growing season. Surprisingly the soil surrounded by potting mix works very well and you might want to try that method for your trees as the soil gives you much more bang per square inch and costs less. Repotting would require only replacing the artificial soil on the edge of the soil ball. It makes things real heavy though, and my soil is not too fine so I don't know how it would work with a more clay soil but I bet it would work just fine. I'm sure my prices seem outrageous by your regional standards but I'm less than an hour from NYC and here it's more than competitive- it's the best deal around- because I have scores of varieties and they're actually properly shaped for fruit production. They also plug in better than the competitions BB'd trees, especially the ones I have in pots.

ECHO is where I buy my papaya seeds. They have the Red Lady papaya that is a dwarf. It is a good producer and the fruit tastes good too. I start my seeds in September and keep them in a pot so I can protect them from the cold since I am in zone 9a, then I plant them in my garden in March. The seeds can be ordered by mail. I highly recommend this variety that ECHO sells.

Jeff-n-jessa. Pine Island always has a great selection and have sent out top-notch plants. If you ordered anytime this week, your plants would be shipped out the following Monday. Keep in mind that their policy is a minimum of two plants. A mango may fruit the following year or two. I'm in Ohio and I kept a mango and several other tropical fruits going in a spare bedroom. It's work and it will take some doing. I now have a greenhouse. The miracle fruit is something I would shy away from unless you have a greenhouse and can keep your humidity around 80%. They will not last without high humidity. If you want, you can contact me thru email if you have any further questions.

Left several messages with Anderson and haven't gotten a response yet. Exotica answered the phone and gave some good information. Looking over the stringent documents from our plant protection lab - about 6 documents in total - I note: "Rooted plants may be shipped in previously unused potting media provided that the root ball (pot size) diameter is no larger than 1 � inches (3.8 cm). All other imported rooted plants must be shipped free from potting mix (bare root). Importers wishing to import plants in pots larger than this diameter must apply in writing to this Department for consideration." 1.5 inch pots???? Question: What are people experiences with bareroot survival rates for tropical plants? I am awaiting the full list of available plants but they so have about 6 sapote types, 2 jujube types, pomegranate, mulberry and cherimoyas. Mangos are a question mark.