What I have done with maples and elms, is split a plastic 6 inch pot in half with shears, Tie it around the air layer including the moss,removing whatever is holding the moss, leaving room for bonsai soil. Then I put the soil into the pot and make sure all air spaces are filled, water like a bonsai and during the winter remove this from the lower roots. I have had good luck with the roots moving into the soil and avoid losing the plant. Penny

I entered a discussion about purple leaves in Capsicum last spring. Following is part of what I wrote. You can review the entire thread if you follow the link below: The most common cause of purple leaves (very common at this time of year)[I wrote this last Apr] is a deficiency of phosphorus (P) because P is required to make ATP and ATP is needed to turn sugars to starch and to load sugar into phloem for transport. No P - no ATP - no move sugars/starches - anthocyanin (purple pigment) builds up - plant turns purple. The most frequent cause of a P deficiency is cold soils, which is why so many plants planted out too early turn purple. A P deficiency is not the only suspect cause of purple leaves. Nearly any environmental condition that puts the brakes on growth and the accompanying use of sugars, but does not limit sugar production (photosynthesis) can cause anthocyanin buildup and purple leaves. If only the outer edges of the leaves are purple, it may be a K or Mg deficiency. If the center of the leaves are also purple, it could be too much Ca in the soil or the result of too much water in the soil blocking uptake of P and Mg. Do not apply a fertilizer with the middle number higher than either of the other two numbers (N & K) to container plants. There is never a need for that much P (relative to N) in container culture unless you're supplying only N in another form. Plants use about 6 times more N than P and the massive doses of P in 'bloom-booster fertilizers' cannot do any good. Al Here is a link that might be useful: I'll take you to the other thread, if you click me

check the 7th link.. at the link ... its going to get dustier... lol ... pollen ken it was minus 20 for a month.. wind chill.. i am not impressed with your 20 degree temps... i would have been outside in a t shirt looking at my plants in 20 degrees .. but for the fact they were under 3 feet of snow.. BTW.. i have seen no damage on my hinoki.. those i can see of course.. your winter means nothing to these plants ... though transplant shock later in summer might be an issue.. but it has nothing to do with this.. IMHO .. Here is a link that might be useful: link

Jennifer —-(Spraying with Neem Oil and or and other mixtures to eradicate the insects organically could still harm those beneficial insects. Some people will just let those pest stay on the tree because they dont want to harm them. Its a difficlt choice to make for some and you need to understand that some bad infestations that might get out of hand and could cause your trees to become weak and allow other diseses to slowly kill your tree. i always try and let Mother Nature work on the right balance of the pest verses the beneficial insets to keep everything in check. But sometimes i will have to step in and use more than organic to combact the problem. its up to you to decide what is best for your tree. Laura Even those that eat leaves ___ Katydids 🌺