Thanks for the fast response! OK I understand gritty 1:1:1 soil will likely show vitality decline somewhere around year 3-4 and 6 is really pushing it. However, either: 1) my statement of "no soil change out for 3 years" was misleading suggesting it was staying in nursery pot for 1st three years I own it, or 2) your suggesting a (conservative?) transfer method of existing soil into the gritty mix. (BTW I saw threads and your/JaG replies about this topic; "How much original soil in rootball do we keep for gritty mix?" esp. when one person suggested the "two differing soil textures" when taking their entire rootball w/hard soil, without removing soil wedging, and plopping it into gritty mix. Her soil dried out and became hydroponic and water flowed right off it and then through the grit.) The citrus I purchase at the nursery are all in very loose soil (I can wash it off easily with a hose). Assuming healthy tree and roots NOT bound, I was going to bare-root it from nursery soil directly into the gritty 1:1:1 mix during mild weather dormancy. Understanding the (temporary) risk of soil shock but by spring flush they would be healthy. Unreasonable hopeful assumption? Multiple Choice Answers 1) Keep the schedule you described above, your post was accurate as-is because it's too risky to bare root. (no need to continue reading) 2) Bare-rooting in a good-soil situation in dormancy is a reasonable risk. Keep the below schedule (assuming adequate-ideal nutrients, environmental care, etc.) Year 1: Bare root into large container 1:1:1, remove all fruit. Year 2-4: Keep healthy. Limb prune for shape and aeration. Year 5 Start (or before if plant health steadily declines or soil becomes compacted): Re-pot in same container. Replace 100% gritty mix, BOTH root prune 1/3 and limb prune 1/3. Year 6: Keep healthy - minimal limb prune for shape/aeration. Year 7: BOTH Root and Limb prune 1/3. Year 8: Keep healthy - minimal limb prune for shape/aeration. Year 9: Re-pot again and BOTH Root/Limb prune 1/3. 3) None of the above. Please explain ;-) Thanks!

pnbrown, Getting two crops may not be out of the possibility. As little as 10 'grow' weeks might get you there. Of course, what I observed in reduction in days to maturity (DTM) may have been a fluke that I will not be able to duplicate. It wouldn't be the first time. Things under consideration as a cause of the reduction in DRM are: 1. A change in the root system caused by being constricted to the container size. 2. The even distribution of fertilizer in the soil at transplanting. 3. The extra aeration from a deep fluffing of the soil at transplanting and immediately before the corn makes a growth surge. I have another trial underway with the same variety where the container time was extended to 36 days. The corn is just starting to show tassels. The DTM seems to be reduced but the plants don't look as well developed and I wonder if there will be a harvest. I also have started another variety with a listed DTM of 72 days. Hopefully I will see a reduction of DTM to something around 65 days. For starting early, I have a great micro climate of shelves on a south facing concrete wall. Next year I'm going to push the start date back to 3 weeks before last frost date. With the corn in containers I can just bring it inside for the probable hard freeze. If I can duplicate the reduction in DTM with some certainty, I propose to do corn in 4 small locations next year as shown in the calendar below.

If those were my trees they'd carry some fruit. How many is the question. You seem pretty conservative about the number so I'd say go for it. I've found that if I thin to what seems about right and then take off every other fruit now I'm getting close. The fruit seems much thicker and heavier after it gets full size. And on a small tree it's as much about the weight as anything. The tree should easily support what's left at full size or it's too much.

I was emailing back and forth with Richard Cowles of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station, entomologist who is working on baits and controls. He gave me this recipe for bait: "I was the one who came up with the vinegar, grape juice, alcohol combo. It is an alternative to 60:40 mix of red wine:apple cider vinegar. This mix is much, much better than apple cider vinegar alone. It is also only a fraction as attractive as the actively fermenting baits, the best of which, so far, is 12 fl oz water 1 c whole wheat flour 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 Tbsp active dried yeast Yes, this is a super-attractive bait. You could probably use less yeast, and simply let it multiply." No sticky card needed, though it is easier to count the flies. I was seeing flies around a patch of wild blackberries that were shaded. The 90-degree temps in July probably kept them from moving in too early but they're here now. He suggested netting the TC blackberries I planted last year that are ripening now, but problem is primocane-fruiting raspberries are still flowering and bees need to get in. He's working on some new methods of control, but it's a challenge: " I am working on a number of tools, including attract-and-kill baits, and am improving attractant traps to the point where it may be possible to protect cane fruit with the combination of Entrust and use of these traps. The problem is that Entrust may only be used twice, and then a different class of insecticides is legally required before you return to using Entrust. Plus, Entrust may only be used three times, totally, on one crop. Without an effective insecticide to use in a rotation with Entrust, organic production of cane fruit while maintaining fruit quality when SWD are present is practically impossible." He said some flies seem to be recovering after spraying pyrethrins, but since you have to use a different class after using spinosad, I don't know what else an organic grower could use. I suggested kaolin clay and he replied that it was promising: " I believe that SWD can travel several hundred feet in a day through fruit crops. They also disperse throughout a crop because they may travel back and forth to shady places in nearby woods. I believe that kaolin clay is a good option. Based upon my lab tests, flies encountering the clay are repelled and die within a few hours (it’s a pretty good desiccant). Pyrethrins have not proven to be effective. There are reports that the flies may recover following poisoning, which is a very bad development. " Fine netting (I'm using sheer curtains) after pollination is the best we can do right now. I'm not selling any more soft fruit this year - just using the blueberries I picked in July and froze for jams. The domesticated RB and TC BB are too few to market, only planted a few last year but they're spreading, I was hoping to have a nice patch for market in a few years. Wild blackberries are fairly prolific (a little dry in July for them) after last year's drought and I was planning on a good cash crop with them this year but unless I pick the small patch just renovated 2 years ago (in full sun) and test with fruit dunk and don't find any larvae I won't be selling those. Of course the soak (and crush) makes them unusable for fresh, have to make jam or jelly out of those too. I do have yeast traps out he suggested every 30ft in grid pattern, so far I've just put them where I've seen the flies b/c I don't want to attract them to other areas. But netting the wild ones is not an option. I'm going to email him again and ask if I should just clear-cut and bag the infested area I've found along the roadway, or if I should keep the canes and traps there (while picking any overipe or damaged fruit to prevent reproduction) as a "trap crop". I didn't know they would infest apples and pears, thought it was just soft fruit. There is concern that Junebearing strawberries may be at risk - everbearing are.