Thank you. You all have been so helpful. I have gleaned new and useful information. I have 7 bands that are potted in the local nursery's organic potting soil with the ingredients listed above. The next 8 bands will be potted this evening in the Miracle Gro with moisture control. These bands have been received anywhere from 5 - 8 days apart. I am really curious to see what the difference will be between the bands that arrived last week to those arriving this week. The ones planted in organic planting soil will receive a very weak dose of fish emulsion every Sunday. The M.G. plants will receive water. Roseseek, thank you for the information and the images:) Again, Thank you all:) Lynn This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Fri, Jul 19, 13 at 19:26

You have to up size your pot slowly to get the fibrous roots you want by the time your tree in in its final pot regardless of your soil mix. The 5-1-1 mix Is the best mix for tree root health regardless of how big the pot is for any size tree. It is also the citrus trees best friend. You can't go wrong. My tree are all going in ground outside so I don't want a fibrous root structure . I want a spreading root structure. That is why I went from a 1 gallon container to a 5 gallon and to a 30 gallon and into the ground. By up-potting in small jumps you will have a fibrous root system that will let you lift the tree out of its pot and clip any root/roots that are wrapping up until you need to up-size to a larger pot. Let Mike add more. He has 10 years more experience than I. My goal was to make my trees grow like a weed from very small to too big to handle in one year instead of 3 years as most do. I used bucket lights and a hot/light box to achieve this. Most citrus'er find it's to much hassle. It did jump me from seed sprouts to 9-12 feet of linear twig growth per tree in the first year. 1 year old Sweetlee tangerine tree from seed sprout in bucket lights then grow box over winter. Inside the buckets with a bucket light over head. The grow box came next What I did wrong for potted citrus. 1) I up sized the containers way to fast with to big of jump in pot size regardless of mix. 2) My soil mix is very very heavy that requires vacuuming excess water and aerating often. 3) Grew trees from seed when I should have bought grafted trees I was wanting. What I did different was the strange lighting systems that jumped me forward 3 years of growth in one year. Click the link below for picture of my lighting set ups to see if any thing would apply to you situation. Steve Here is a link that might be useful: http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/wreristhechimney/library/sunshine2013

I've been waiting all season to start re-potting several Japanese Maples. Buds are breaking quickly. I have no idea how to comb roots, etc. Can someone direct me to a website or provide specific details on what to do? My soil is dry. Thank you

First, I doubt you have a Bloodgood - the leaves are far too small/lobes too narrow, even on a young tree, for that cultivar. There are a lot JM's being sold as Bloodgood that are just seedling trees. That could account for the leaf aberration as well as the coloring. Bloogood is a very deep wine red color, although it can bronze up or lose some of its redness in full sun in hotter climates. But it should never have distinctly green leaves like what is showing in your photo. And no, it will not produce any more new leaves now. It is fall and the tree will be entering dormancy soon and dropping what remaining leaves it has. I hope you didn't pay much for it :-) It is in bad shape, suffered some serious drought stress and looks like it has some tip dieback as a result.....not to mention a good likelihood of labeling issues. Just get it planted and hope for the best in spring. btw, if you have more questions, it is advisable to start your own thread rather than tacking on to an old, stale one. And there is forum dedicated specifically to maples as well that will give you very precise JM advice.