It definitely needs repotting. The interveinal chlorosis might be nutritional, but it looks more characteristic of foliage that is in the process of being shed - ie the plant is translocating pigments & nutrients out of the leaves for use in other plant parts. Here is what my thinking is: If you prune it back now, you'll be pruning it back to already compromised foliage that is likely to be shed in the near future - not a good move because it leaves the tree unable to make it's own food. If you REALLY want to rejuvenate the tree, I'll help you, but anything you do, other than a full repot, is only going to give the tree a temporary lift. Actually, I just left this piece (below) from one of my other posts on another forum here. Read through it, please, for an illustration of the difference between a repot and potting up. If you do decide to repot, I can give you step by step instructions, starting with what to do now, so you can have the tree back on track by summer's end. If you decide to go forward, we can talk about suitable soils and a fertilizer regimen the tree will respond well to. The timing of certain procedures is closely related to energy management, which gets too little consideration by most growers tending trees in containers. Because repotting and root pruning seem to be most misunderstood on the list of what it takes to maintain trees that will continually grow at close to their genetic potential, I will include some observations about those procedures to open the discussion. I have spent literally thousands of hours digging around in root-balls of trees (let's allow that trees means any woody plant material with tree-like roots) - tropical/subtropical trees, temperate trees collected from the wild and temperate nursery stock. The wild collected trees are a challenge, usually for their lack of roots close to the trunk, and have stories of their own. The nursery stock is probably the closest examples to what most of your trees are like below the soil line, so I'll offer my thoughts for you to consider or discard as you find fitting. I've purchased many trees from nurseries that have been containerized for long periods. Our bonsai club, just this summer, invited a visiting artist to conduct a workshop on mugo pines. The nursery (a huge operation) where we have our meetings happened to have purchased several thousand of the mugos somewhere around 10 - 12 years ago and they had been potted-up into continually larger containers ever since. Why relate these uninteresting snippets? In the cases of material that has been progressively potted-up only, large perennial roots occupied nearly the entire volume of the container, plant vitality was in severe decline, and soil in the original root-ball had become so hard that in some cases a chisel was required to remove it. In plants that are potted-up, rootage becomes entangled. As root diameters increase, portions of roots constrict flow of water and nutrients through other roots, much the same as in the case of girdling or encircling roots on trees grown in-ground. The ratio of fine, feeder roots to more lignified and perennial roots becomes skewed to favor the larger, and practically speaking, useless roots. Initial symptoms of poor root conditions are progressive diminishing of branch extension and reduced vitality. As rootage becomes continually compressed and restricted, branch extension stops and individual branches might die as water/nutrient translocation is further compromised. Foliage quality may not (important to understand) indicate the tree is struggling until the condition is severe, but if you observe your trees carefully, you will find them increasingly unable to cope with stressful conditions - too much/little water, heat, sun, etc. Trees that are operating under conditions of stress that has progressed to strain, will usually be diagnosed in the end as suffering from attack by insects or other bio-agents while the underlying cause goes unnoticed. I want to mention that I draw distinct delineation between simply potting up and repotting. Potting up temporarily offers room for fine rootage to grow and do the necessary work of water/nutrient uptake, but these new roots soon lignify, while rootage in the old root mass continues to grow and become increasingly restrictive. The larger and larger containers required for potting-up & the difficulty in handling them also makes us increasingly reluctant to undertake even potting-up, let alone undertake the task of repotting/root-pruning which grows increasingly difficult with each up-potting. So we are clear on terminology, potting up simply involves moving the plant with its root mass and soil intact, or nearly so, to a larger container and filling in around the root/soil mass with additional soil. Repotting, on the other hand, includes the removal of all or part of the soil and the pruning of roots, with an eye to removing the largest roots, as well as those that would be considered defective. Examples are roots that are dead, those growing back toward the center of the root mass, encircling, girdling or j-hooked roots, and otherwise damaged roots. I often explain the effects of repotting vs potting up like this: Let's rate growth/vitality potential on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. We're going to say that trees in containers can only achieve a growth/vitality rating of 9, due to the somewhat limiting effects of container culture. Lets also imagine that for every year a tree goes w/o repotting or potting up, its measure of growth/vitality slips by 1 number, That is to say you pot a tree and the first year it grows at a level of 9, the next year, an 8, the next year a 7. Lets also imagine we're going to go 3 years between repotting or potting up. Here's what happens to the tree you repot/root prune: year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 repot year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 repot year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 You can see that a full repotting and root pruning returns the plant to its full potential within the limits of other cultural influences for as long as you care to repot/root prune. Looking now at how woody plants respond to only potting up: year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 pot up year 1: 8 year 2: 7 year 3: 6 pot up year 1: 7 year 2: 6 year 3: 5 pot up year 1: 6 year 2: 5 year 3: 4 pot up year 1: 5 year 2: 4 year 3: 3 pot up year 1: 4 year 2: 3 year 3: 2 pot up year 1: 3 year 2: 2 year 3: 1 This is a fairly accurate illustration of the influence tight roots have on a woody plant's growth/vitality. You might think of it for a moment in the context of the longevity of bonsai trees vs the life expectancy of most trees grown as houseplants, the difference between 4 years and 400 years, lying primarily in how the roots are treated.color> Good luck! Let me know if you would like more help. Al

I just printed 90 labels today with one Brother TZ-131 1/2 inch wide tape roll for $ 9 or so. Plus I printed another 10 labels and discards. Thanks Ken, I will also start taking the H. and the '' off, wastes tape. I do not know yet how on my Ptouch 1010R I can print continuously, because I have to define 'Length' up front. I figured out that I can save a little tape by using 2.0 in length for small names and 2.5 in for longer names, but I still at least waste 1 in each label. All my conifer names were 2 lines. I just ordered another tape, and a power adapter because that way in a year i.e. I will not run into dead batteries. Only 100 more to go tomorrow, no SAD due to labeling! (I only have 58 different conifers and 138 different hostas) Bernd

In CA, it's against the law to dispose of medical sharps in the garbage. I hadn't thought about other types of sharps though. Talley Sue, I love your idea for a smaller container for sharps. I had a kidney disease cat for a number of years and used IV needles with her. They didn't accumulate very fast, so when I used even a small detergent bottle, it took up so much unnecessary space. Eventually I settled on using instant coffee containers with the pop-up lids. Caroline, if it's okay to discard them in the trash where you are, I don't know if it would be worthwhile to label them, but you could always do what I was told to do here for the hazardous waste people, which was to wrap the container with masking tape so it would be hard to open, and then label it with a red pen saying "medical sharps." When we use to turn in our cat's sharps at the local waste place, I was careful to label the container so there was no question what it was. Later, they made it so you had to put your container of sharps in the burn barrel yourself- I noticed that the choice of most people seems to be those plastic containers that foldgers ground coffee comes in- probably because of the size and red color. Either way, I was told to use opaque plastic because it's thicker than clear, and less likely that a sharp would work its way through.

Aw, plllog. While I'm glad that you're "fine", I continue to think about you. Truly, I can only imagine ... just every single aspect of life would be impacted. I know that I had trouble not knowing when the polar vortexes would end -- not enduring them, just not knowing when it would be over. Not only has this been long term for you, it's so much more encompassing. I'm hoping for some (a lot actually- but no floods!!!!! or flooded garages!!!!) of "gentle, but measurable" rains and that life returns to at least a good new normal. And that you get back to enjoying baking (I know I would coping and not feel inspired right now-- just me.) Maybe it will brighten your day to know that I told my son you responded to his bagel pic. After a few seconds of reading your post, he smiled, and I knew that he came to the description "foundation bagel." More reading and the eyes widened with the real-deal smile erupting, accompanied by a loud "Ha!" I said, "What?" although I knew (and I know you know) what words he had read -- "flacid doughy rings!" A day-brightener! No need to respond to this, but maybe to lighten your day -- here's an excerpt that he had to write about a couple of years ago for rhetoric -- introduction paragraph to review Alton Brown -- Good Eats. Although he's ChemE (thinking about actuarial now, oh my) he loves to read, edit and write. And cook. "Some of my earliest and most powerful memories are of cooking with my mom. The crimson iridescence of a sliced strawberry, the sound of frying bacon (a standing ovation), the smell of proofing yeast…all are indelible sensations that permeate my childhood. And my culinary experiences weren’t just limited to the kitchen. The only TV stations I watched growing up were PBS and The Food Network (I wasn’t aware that others existed or that you could flip between them with a device called a “remote”). When I wasn’t tuning in to Kratts’ Creatures or Arthur and his anthropomorphic friends, I was learning how to flambé with Bobby Flay, filet halibut with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, and make Coq au Vin with Julia Child. Only one host, however, continually captivated me with his wildly inventive, mad-scientist approach to food. His name? Alton Brown. His game? Good Eats." Continue to think about you! Cathy in SWPA