Zaphod42, hindsight is 20/20, of course, but if you decide you want to continue potting in wooden planters, you could try using a liner such as a heavy garbage bag of the most similar size. (I used contractor's bags.) I invented this method for an odd circumstance. A client wanted to use very specific porous decorative pots to house plants that would eventually outgrow their homes on an exposed balcony many stories up in Dowtown Portland. I lined the containers with heavy plastic bags both to protect the roots from drying out in the heat (west exposure) and from suffering in the cold winds during the winter. I also wanted to tidily and as easily as possible transfer the plants to other locations when they had overgrown their welcome. I cut adequate drainage holes in the bottoms of the bags and smooshed--is that a word?--the bags flat against the bottoms of the planters. I folded the sides and taped them with duct tape. I folded the tops of the bags so they hit just at soil level or a bit above to allow for mulching. I used a fast draining material such as gravel in the bottoms. (On the windy balcony, the gravel also stabilized pots that contained tall plants.) I filled the bags with soil, pressing gently against the sides a bit to keep the bags folded between the soil and the pots, and planted as usual. When I was ready for plant removal, I pulled the entire bags from the planters with a bit of careful work. I did this by turning the planters partially on their sides, slipping my hands between the planters and tops of the bags, holding the folds of the bags and pulling and wiggling until the entire packages of soil and roots and bags were free. It helps if a partner holds the bottoms of the planters. Then I moved the bags o' plants to their new locations, carefully slit the bags open, removed roots and soil together and slid them into my planting holes. (A utility knife or old kitchen shears work well for cutting.) You may have to pick a little gravel out of the roots. Some gravel was buried with my plants, but in Portland clay, it's all good. Anyway, just food for thought. You may prefer plastic pots, of course. In my own garden, I long ago surrendered the pretty planters in my baby plant nursery and replaced them with plain ol' black plastic nursery pots. Not nearly as attractive as your wooden planters, but straightforward. However, if you're still feeling decorative and you're game for a little experiment.... :-) Carol

Hey, thanks for the replies! Yes, the sucker on the right/front of the tree gets fruit - not the 1/2" purple crabapple fruit like the rest of the tree but a 3" old fashioned/wild apple kinda fruit. The sucker on the left/back of the tree is the same crabapple as the main tree - honestly I'd never thought of it as a sucker before, just part of the tree. To remove the old-timey apple sucker would only remove one tall piece, it doesn't have any branches coming off it.It's like a combo sucker/waterspout (is that the right term?) The other, bigger "sucker" is half the tree and I wouldn't remove it without carefully considering how it would look, or if it might kill the tree. Much to my surprise my reading says the best time to cut out suckers and waterspouts is right after blooming - true? Also, most everything I've read says cutting out one sucker can lead to many more - but I guess they're easier to take care of if I do it as soon a s I see them... Whaas, where did you cut your suckers? I shouldn't go beneath the soil line, right? btw, the tree bark on the main tree looked smooth too until the tree reached a certain age. toronado3800, I'll never move from here, the tree is in a side yard in the middle of my patio. The look of the sucker's bloom, etc actually pleases me and I don't want to remove it unless it is weakening the tree - my reading says suckers do, but I haven't read why yet. Is it simply because they are vigorous and use more nutrients than before the tree? I'll try to take another pic from a different angle when I get home from work tonight if it isn't raining (like it is now!) To show how the three trunks are in relation to each other. Thanks again for helping!

Newgen: I've done dozens of bareroots and had good luck for the most part, with only some losing quite a bit of foliage (none lost *all*). But it seems bad luck has hit me this year as I'm 0 for 3 on gritty mix bareroots (all 3 have lost significant foliage). It's depressing and frustrating. However, the worst loser of the bunch has already re-grown quite a bit of the foliage, which is an excellent sign if yours is already doing so a few weeks afterward. I was *sure* I had done well with that worst loser and thought it wouldn't even notice I had bare-rooted 'er. I was wrong. I decided to build some 511 and just refresh the outer few inches of the additional trees targeted for gritty. I'll just wait until Spring to do them -- now THEY didn't miss a beat when I did not bare root and put into 511. I do the majority of the work underwater and/or late at night and sometimes things still go wrong. After repot I relocate to spots only receiving direct morning light with the container itself always protected from direct light. Here in our climate, even 11am direct sunlight is harsh on a recovering citrus when ambient is already 90F by then. If I don't do used these methods, my experience has shown the tree struggling immediately afterward. But again, I've never totally lost one on a bare-root for gritty mix. I've only lost one when I tried to do root pruning simultaneously and another that had root loss from winter freezing. Just a general note to anyone else who may also have struggling citrus after bare-root into gritty: Be sure not to over-fert and especially excess Nitrogen can force the tree to regrow lots of foliage it cannot support -- it will then drop those same leaves and take some of the limbs, too. Just small amounts until a few weeks have passed and you know it's in the clear (no signs of stress). If there is lots of immediate loss, then again stay with a bit lower than normal N until it stops with the loss and settles or even puts out it's first leaf. I'm thinking closer to a 1-1-1 ratio vs. a 3-1-2 or 5-1-3 for normal healthy conditions. Good luck! Chris

Hi all, Lots of suckers (about 8" inches above soil) have sprouted around my 10 years old crabapple trees. I usually cut away suckers to prevent them from robbing nutrients. But for this summer, I wanted to experiment with them and see if they will grow into some baby crabapples. I was digging one today and as it turned out, it's hard work! The woody part of it extended at least another 6 - 8inches into the soil. There was a mini root system - at least 10 little tiny roots (2cm in length). I dipped it in liquid rooting hormone (Plant-prod 5-15-5, the only thing I can find in my area) and potted it with moist soil. Then wrap the entire pot with a plastic bag with a couple air holes to give it some humidity to grow. full sun for leaves to photo. Here's my questions: 1. Should I even cover suckers with mini root systems with plastic bags? or should I only use plastic bags with suckers without roots? 2. I kept the used diluted rooting hormone solution in a separate container. Realistically, can I re-use the solution for the same type of suckers for a week/month? Takes me forever to dig them up..... won't be digging/potting them all at once.... None of the suckers seem diseased, a few holes on the leaves maybe. 3. What are the cons of soaking the plants in liquid rooting hormone for too long? Mine says to soak plants for 30min, if I soak the suckers for let's say 2hours, would this kill the plants? 4. Full sun or shade? 5. Is this even the right time (mid-summer) to dig up/snip off suckers for potting?! Tks!!