I am just bumping this up - hopefully there will be some answers...

I know very little about JMs although I have 3 in pots.
One is in a 28" Terracotta pot with fast draining commercial potting soil, which is to say potting soil that has way too much peat and isn't nearly fast draining enough in the real world. I did put in wicks and Terracotta is porous, which is probably why it is doing OK after the third year. The other two were potted two years ago in a mix about mid way between Gritty Mix and 5-1-1. They are clearly doing better.

I have 40 citrus trees in pot awaiting planting in my backyard grove, which I'm finally just about to start planting now after 2 years accumulating various cultivars. Some are in the original pots from the nursery, some are in EB Stone Cactus/Citrus Mix, some are in Gritty Mix, most are in my gritty-ish mix as I found Gritty too fast draining in my hot inland SoCal climate. I really feel like taking some pictures as it is now obvious fast draining soils work!

I have 3 identical Durling #5 Page Mandarins bought within a couple months of each other. One in the original nursery container doing fair and same size as purchased. One potted in EB Stone Cactus/Citrus mix in a 16" Terracotta pot doing visibly better and 20% larger than original. One in my gritty-ish mix in a 10 16" plastic pot that has doubled in size and produced good tasting fruit. Pretty shocking example of the difference.

I just really need to take a chance and somehow get them into better soil-stuff.
What did you use for wicking?

I bought a commercial mop head as recommended by people in this container forum, probably Al. You want the kind that has a flat spot in the middle and a bar clamps the head. I think one mop head was $10 and you will have wicks forever - and so will all your friends.......

I bought it 2+ years ago but it looked like this: http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Joe-GJO54204-Cotton-Material/dp/B005V6358W/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1431884405&sr=1-4&keywords=mop+head

Hmm...
And you just stick one end in the bottom pot hole and let it dangle? :)
I have elevated most of my post so it'd be drawing water to the ground.
I need this.
Thanks!

If you are really going to use wicks in your containers, I would use a synthetic material as it has a much longer life than cotton, when used as a wick. Calistoga Al

I would just use them until I can more safely repot them in decent soil.
"Synthetic material." Is there something you specifically recommend?
Or I could just stuff some nylon underwear in there and hope for the best.

I think Al has a good point about the synthetic material. I'll retract my answer and let's use his. Perhaps it was a synthetic mop head recommended in the container forum.

I just repotted a plant done 2 years ago with a cotton wick and it looks like it would only last another year at best. You can always add another wick from the bottom hole later but that means you need to get it in up as high as the perched water, which means sticking in at least 3-4 inches. Of course, as the media breaks down with age it needs the wick more.

I'm so paranoid right now about things dying. I guess I'll look for a synthetic mop -- but aren't they all some microfiber stuff now? Maybe I'll over compensate and shove cotton and synthetic up in there.

This leads to the question. When repotting, should a wick be run from the top of the pot down through the bottom hole anyway? Over compensation?

I think you are overthinking it; water collects/perches in lowest part of pot. So no need to have wick all the way to top (it could - possibly, 'drain' necessary moisture that way?)
Cotton will rot if wet (& it will smell too), so I would stay away from it. That's why synthetic is better.
Rina

Buy a rayon mop head and use that for your wicks. Do you have a spot where you can partially bury your pots? - that will fix your water retention issues. You can probably treat the insects and diseases with Bayer Advanced 3-in-1 for Insects, Disease, and Mite control available over counter. If you repot now, your trees would have to be strong enough to defoliate. If anyone disagrees and points to the "fact" that it's passé to remove the plant's food source (leaves) when you repot - ask them how many maples they've collected or REPOTTED (different than a simple transplant) while the plant was in leaf. That argument often pops up, but it doesn't hold water in the case of deciduous repots while the plant is in leaf.

You might also employ the pot in pot technique to help eliminate excess water.

Al

I've repotted a few I know were in solid, concrete-like soil. I simply lifted them out and put them into a bigger pot with pine fines. I broke the root ball a little. I figure when they're dormant, I'll do a better root treatment.

I've got the Bayer 3-in-1 and treated my big maples (Autumn Blaze, etc) with the Tree and shrub. Now that I know what to look for as far as insects are concerned, I'm horrified.

I'm not so sure as far as fungus is concerned, but I got the recommended fungicide and applied it to the trees Owen found fungus on. I'm watching Oshi Beni, Sherwood Flame and Nicholsonii closely, because
1/2 of those aren't good. Owen things a lot of the die back I
experience isn't necessarily from the cold winters, but rather bad
soil. My Inazuma death after being in the ground for about 5 years was bugs and fungus.

Where I have obvious bugs (dead leaves on the end, chewed foliage) I've used a big spray. My Sunny Sister is practically bald from bugs, and the deer haven't touched the Green Cascade again after the deer-stink spray. It's refoliating.

I did put a Winter Flame into a bigger pot, then that into an even bigger pot, buried 1/2 in the ground with rocks in the bigger pot. That's one that will go into the ground this fall. I have 2 others I did the same to, but I don't remember their names at the moment.

I'm confused by your use of the term passé. As it usually refers to a fashion statement, as in last year's, I can't tell if you're referring to repotting as a good or bad thing. I do think I have some trees that could handle it, but I'm practically paralyzed with fear.

I do know I just killed my Fjellheim. 7 years old. I grabbed the wrong bottle when I followed directions and soaked the leaves to dripping with fungicide. I realized what I'd done and rinsed it thoroughly, but I'm afraid 8 hours of Round-Up is deadly.

I'm looking for turface and oil dry. Owen had me get Turfstone, which is recycled glass and can be rinsed and reused. I am looking at all the threads on particle size, and thing these must be a bit big in conjunction with pine fines. Plus, they're stupidly expensive for someone with over 100 to repot.

"Passé" - it used to be thought that "balancing the volume of roots to shoots was a necessary part of planting a tree out. The nursery trade now rightly points out that the leaves are necessary to make the food that helps roots grow, but that oft repeated advice doesn't take into account that a deciduous tree repotted or lifted while in leaf can easily collapse entirely from (water) demands of the canopy the roots can't fill; so, if you were to repot now, you'd need to be sure the plants were strong enough to tolerate a defoliation to prevent the collapse I mentioned. It's pretty common for someone who has memorized current convention to point to convention as proof of my error, so I mentioned it in advance to stave off the back and forth discussion that usually accompanies the disagreement.

Round-Up is a nonselective herbicide - prolly what you meant instead of fungicide? - and I'm pretty sure that an 8 hr exposure to the chemical probably sealed that tree's fate.

Al

Exacto-mente. Sadly, she's browning as we speak.

I see what you mean now. Thanks for explaining. I did just plant a Red Pygmy, because it was water soaked when I stuck my finger in the drainage hole. I figure I don't have a lot to lose by giving its roots some drier space.

Today I also planted some peonies I'd overwintered in the garage, in wood chips. They were putting out beautiful sprouts, so I didn't think too much about it. Upon turning them out of the wood chips, I found them to be standing in water, which should have already killed them. I stuck 'em in the ground and we'll see.

Just wondering - why did you overwintered peonies in the garage?

Rina

I dug 'em up late in the fall because I wanted to move them. A woman is leasing an acre from me, because she is opening a peony nursery. Her advice was to put them in pots and do that, until I made a choice about where they were going. So I did.

No, I didn't know about the JM sensitivity to sprays. I wonder if that's why a few are having dying leaves on the very ends. Too much spray? I have been careful about bugs, and probably insecticiding myself, while I try to get the stuff all over the tree. So it's not a direct spray, which is my point. None the less...

Good to know about your own repotting. You're in a much cooler area than I, so I really try not to do it when the temps are above 70, maybe 75. and then they do live in the shade for the year.

I'm becoming more and more convinced I've got root problems, every time I lift something up and it's SOAKED.

I hope to remedy this over time, and even next year should be better. Grrr.... My babies.

Note that Pam pots up at will, which is common and safe practice. She makes sure to REPOT, which includes more extensive root work and usually bare rooting, for when the tree is still in the quiescent stage after dormancy. Nothing there deserving of disagreement from this quarter, Pam.

Al

I understood that. I've potted up, and only repotted in the fall or spring.