Forgot to mention that I am looking for any japanese red maple rooted seedling, cutting, small plant.

Kristimama, Citrus are nearly carefree in the Bay Area, so there is no reason not to grow as many as you like. Fill up your whole yard with them! The only real problem that most people run into is infestations of sucking insects (particularly scales), vectored by the omnipresent Argentine ants. Other than that, you basically just plant them and let them go. Give them some acidifying fertilizer in the winter, and keep your soil healthy through mulching. That's about all you need to do. Calamondins are small, sour citrus fruits. They are generally used for their juice, much like you would use lemons, etc. (You wouldn't eat them out-of-hand, unless you *really* enjoy tart flavors!) Calamondins are essentially everbearing, meaning that they should carry ripe fruit just about all year long. This is a very nice characteristic. It is very handy to be able to pluck a few fruits for squeezing into water, over a piece of fish, etc., at any time! I haven't been following this forum that closely, so I'm not sure why folks here prefer to put citrus in smaller pots. However, I would say that most participants on this board probably don't live in areas where there may be absolutely zero rain for months and months on end. Keeping potted plants going when it is extremely hot and dry can be burdensome, and using large containers like half-barrels will at least minimize this problem.

Following up on some greenhouse questions- Westgirl - I did design it myself, I wouldn't call it easy but, you can certainly do it yourself. One recommendation - if you do build your own start in spring, this way you have a lot of time to work out the kinks. My watering setup is a simple timed based automatic irrigation system, normally off until the summer, When they need watering every other day. In the winter I just water by hand as needed. Mike - The frame is 2'' PVC. its strong and flexes a little, its available and not that expensive if you mess up a cut. The plastic is called greenhouse film, 6mil bought from a greenhouse supply store online. Heating is electric with a backup gas heater, just in case. Mksmith - Dimentions are roughly 30ft long 12ft deep and about 9ft at the tallest spot in the center, its a decent size. Heating is a challenge sometimes. Like I mentioned above, Heating is electric with a backup gas heater, just in case. The good thing as its fairly well insulated but, last night when it dropped to 16F it struggled to keep it above 40F, but it did :)

Worst problems with larger trees and shrubs typically date back to when they were small trees. The only difference with the specimen being more advanced is that you have more to work your way back through to look for a tight knot or fist below the crown dating back to when it was left too long in a band or small pot - buying them small only makes the deformed roots easier to expose and see. If the disposition of the roots is too severe you are either stuck with planting it and hoping for the best or giving up on it - I threw out a 35 dollar one gallon weeping Nootka cypress because at planting I found that the ENTIRE root system consisted of what looked like a ponytail hair braid like some women belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses wear. How the grower was even able to get the rootstock to twist around itself like that I cannot imagine. Not only was it coiled but it dipped down and then back up, in a U shape. You only plant in spring because that is when the plants are on the market (in good condition, apart from the usual root issues) or because the plants are tender kinds. Otherwise hardy stock should always be planted in fall, late enough that summer heat and drought has passed or is waning but early enough that the big fall annual root elongation has not occurred. (If the roots have to be operated on to a sufficient extent most of the extending of existing roots in fall may be lost, as only intact roots do this). You can tell if a specimen may be about to do this or already doing it by looking at the top, the setting of winter stem buds at the ends of mature, hardened shoots is what causes the root tips to grow at this time of the year. Spring planting is culturally inferior because the soil has been chilled all winter and summer heat and drought are around the corner. Bare-rooted stock from grower warehouses is only planted in spring because the feeder roots are all dried up and dead, need to be replaced before the specimen is fully functional - fall-planted bare-rooted stock is essentially hardwood cuttings with old roots already present but still needing to be protected from the worst winter conditions. New roots grow in spring in response to the opening of winter stem buds. Both in fall and in spring these buds generate hormones which cause the roots to grow. This is one of multiple reasons you don't want to cut tops back at planting, you are reducing the amount of hormones that will reach the roots.