I am nervously on the verge of repotting my very large jade. Part of nervousness is sentimental... it was a gift from my daughter some 15-20 years ago. It's 2.5 feet high and same in diameter, has 9 trunks, is top-heavy, and in its original pot. It has been spending summers outside, faces the northwest and has been faithful and splendid 100%. Spoke with local univ. horticultural contact & we agree it should be repotted by an experienced horticulturist at a respected nursery. I'm still very nervous. This blog has helped tremendously. Thanks all.

Nik, go read al's advice to you in the container forum. He uses his mix, of course, but he states that he has hypertufa pots, and he does NOT put drainage holes because they are so porous, they self drain. Not sure how accurate that is, but Al's mix is much different than the dirt the majority of folks use, and if you do have drainage holes, maybe you might need a heavier soil? I'd still put holes, but not big ones! The thing that attracted me to hypertufa in the first place was how lightweight it is, and the fact that it allows air to get to the roots. I BELIEVE in air pruning roots so that they don't circle and get root bound, like in a regular plastic pot. I'm not sure if hypertufa pots prevent roots from going root-bound, so I'd be tempted to stick a thousand bamboo skewers in the sides and bottom of mine for light and air holes. When a root meets light and air, it stops, prunes it's self, and forms many root branches. It then can take advantage of all the nutrients in the soil, and any branches that meet your air/light holes, will do the same and branch more. I'm not sure on a big 3" thick pot if the thing would be porous enough without dozens of tiny holes. If you have not heard of that concept, google "air pruning," or "root pruning," and you will understand. A farmer's view (orchard growers) of a container, is different than a gardener's view for sure! Good luck with this project! I'm watching every step! Also, feet on the bottom will lift the container and the roots will prune themselves and not stick out of the drain holes. Suzi

Nimzo- The rootstocks you got are trash. I ordered some from Raintree last year and they were these skinny, whispy things with a few hair-like roots. The Bud 9 rootstocks I get from an Oregon wholesale grower (commercial quantities only) are thick as my finger and have a veritable mop of roots on the end. I mistook them for M111 when I first saw them. They whooped the daylights out of the Raintree ones. I have no doubt that a tree with scrawny roots, whether bought bare-root at a home center or rootstocks from a mail-order nursery, will spend the first few years trying to re-grow those roots back, and will die in hot weather half the time. You're better off growing your own apple rootstock from seed than buying scrawny rootstock. Get the seeds out of Pink Lady apples around April, as the seeds are starting to sprout inside the apple by then and are easy to grow in a 5-gallon pot of straight dirt. The trees you see in pots are potted in plain dirt left over from digging the foundation to our house addition. The ones in the ground were planted in plain dirt also, no amendments. They are both irrigated with straight city tap water. The only fertilizer is the mulch around the base of the tree, consisting of shredded leaves or bark. Our house at one time was a black walnut orchard around 1925, but I don't think any fertilizer was left in the ground. However this is citrus orchard country, and the soil is good and deep. Other than that, I can give no explanation other than our long season and starting with good roots. Applenut

if there is snow.. and you had as bad a winter as most of us had... then you are at least a month early in worrying about this thing ... the future is all in the buds... and though about 50% of my conifers are showing winter damage.. i can find no indication of any bud failure ... so when you take some pics... get one of the buds.. so we can look at yours ... not to mention ... the bad winter.. but your tree also is dealing with transplant shock.. for at least 2 years ... and.. if it is a pine [some folks call everything a pine] ... consider that when it is a 100 foot telephone pole.. that those few low branches are not really all that important ... if you had it planted.. and have a warranty.. talk to your seller.. later in the spring ... if it ever comes for you.. lol... i still have a very little snow left .. i am waiting also ... and if it fails.. get a 3 footer.. and plant it yourself.. properly ... and we can tell you how to do that ... ken