Sometimes, I cannot bear to just weed out (and kill) a plant that is not a weed in my mind. I threw the maple in a pot, I may have watered it, but if I got the clump of dirt with no root damage, I may have just potted it and left it. I really paid no attention to it. Last year, when it was so colorful, I noticed it, and moved it to where I have other trees in pots waiting to go into the landscape. Then, I paid no attention to it. It may have gotten water from me as I watered the other trees. That's it. I have some maples here that plant themselves in pots! I will try to get a photo. It is raining today. Also, I have to have my neighbor come over with her digital camera. I will post by next week, I think. Robin

All trees that need to put on some size appreciate large pots, but no trees appreciate a combination of large pots and a poor soil. If you use a soil that doesn't hold perched water, you could plant your new charges in a 10 gallon nursery can if you like - you'll get great growth and vitality. Hoffman's Bonsai Soil has too many fines and holds too much water to use for small plants in large pots - so don't be tempted - and who can afford it? ;-) Do you know of any plants that use nutrients (NPK) in a 1:1:1 ratio? Me either. I know a whole bunch of plants (almost ALL) that use NPK in a 3:1:2 ratio, though. Ratios are different than NPK %s, and a much more important consideration. Plants use about 6X as much N as P, and about 3/5 as much K as N. After the calculations are done for how P and K are reported on the fertilizer box, 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers supply nutrients at almost exactly that 10:1.5:6 ratio that plants actually USE. Also, your 10-10-10 fertilizer gets its N from urea, which tends to make plants leggy. Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 is a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer that supplies most of its N in nitrate form (helps keep plants compact). It has ALL the essential nutrients plants take from the soil (including Ca & Mg, usually missing from soluble fertilizers), including all the micronutrients, and supplies nutrients in the right ratio - hard to improve on that. Al

It appears to be a juniper, procumbens nana. They appreciate lots of sun, but afternoon shade is helpful for a tree in a pot. It will want to dry out between waterings. It will do best if outside all year, and definitely needs a dormancy period over winter with temps below freezing, though it's good to protect them from drying winter winds. ez

Unfortunately, it was mislabeled. It is actually, a ficus microcarpa and is often called a tiger bark ficus. Outside in Hawaii should be perfect for it all year round. They are pretty tough trees. Since it is in a pot without the same size root system it would have in the ground, it might appreciate a little shade in the afternoon, but otherwise full sun is what it likes. When watering, because the soil can dry out and become hydrophobic, it is good to drench the soil until running out the bottom, wait 5-10 minutes, then repeat twice more. Don't know what's up with that funky leaf in the third picture. Others might comment. ez