That's an outstanding looking plant! Congratulations for finding a specimen that's so large and healthy. Now the hard part (for you). Do you know what rootstock it's grafted onto? This could be crucial if you're in NJ where your handle implies. Firs in general and Abies procera specifically can be extremely fussy. As far as your choices for siting, I'd go with the second as they don't care for extreme heat and humidity. Ideally their roots should be able to cool down into the 60s every night like it does in the Cascade and Rocky mountains out west. During hot spells, I have actually put ice around the bases of my proceras and lasiocarpas at nights when it doesn't look like it's not going to drop below 70F. Also being a western plant, it's used to a Mediterranean climate, meaning little summer rain. You'll need to plant it in as well-drained a location as is feasible. I wish you luck; you have a project on your hands. ~Dave

They look like they're perfectly rooted. I'd simply pot those to an 'Anderson tree band pot' that's taller than the root-system. Everyone who uses Anderson band pots uses the larger of the 5" size, however, your plug looks to already be 5" tall so, use the 9" tall band pot. I'll provide you a link. After your plants are fully-rooted & after grafting, just be sure to tease all the roots prior to planting. You'll want to inspect all roots that are container-grown, always. Dax Here is a link that might be useful: Grower's Nursery Supply, Inc.

Here with our cool summers and mild winters it's primarily bugs. Spruces and true firs are very commonly planted, yet seldom attractive once they have been in place long enough to have been noticeably diminished by insect and mite attacks. A funny thing is how many true firs grow for some time - perhaps decades - and then go to pot rather quickly. Many yards have the native Abies amabilis, as with A. lasiocarpa these may live to grow 20 or 30 feet high but seldom taller. Even lowland native, swamp-dwelling Sitka spruce planted on normal soils in the Puget Trough may grow fairly big but often looks terrible, gaunt and riddled with galls. On the outer coast and in the mountain foothills, where precipitation is considerably greater the gauntness and galls are not much evident.

Your second choice for a heat-tolerant, root-system is A.nordmanniana which is common in the trade. No to A.firma it isn't root-hardy for you. What you won't find is Abies koreana and that would be your second choice for heat tolerance, fyi. Dax