Pots in the ground

Using Monika's method of the pots with holes in the sides - At the end of the season when the pots are dug up to go into storage is the soil not full of leftover brug roots? Are these thick roots - do they have to be dug out as well?

Liz, I can't speak for Monika's method, but I typically stick them all in the ground after removing the pot. If one uses lots of agrosoke or water absorbing crystals then the root ball will stay very fibrous and very close to the the main stem. Hence, one can simply lift the plant up with ease at the end of the year as long as the ground was well worked/tilled before one planted. If you didn't till though or add in enough agrosoke the lateral roots can go for quite some distance and one will have to use a shovel to get the Brugmansia back up.

I can't use agrosoke up here Brugman, the soil is too wet in the spring and late fall. How about if I used half and half peat?

Peat is most excellent.

Brugmansia..do you have a problem with blow overs on windy days...using the water crystal method?

Eclipse, to date I have not had any problems with blow overs as the root base may remain small, fibrous and dense, but it also remains very heavy as it does not dry out with this method. Hence, one must make sure if one is dealing with a fresh cutting or one that is particularly prone to rot that you don't use this method. I find the majority of the roots are within the first 2 ft. 2ft wide by one and a half feet deep. I certainly would not be surprised if I don't have some blow overs though if we get a good strong storm through this area. I have had some of my trees in rough winds lose green limbs. If I had some strong winds like that I would certainly expect to have some blow overs. A blow over might be prefered to losing limbs though. Hopefully we will get some strong winds this year and we can compare as not all of mine are planted in the above manner. I must confess I stumbled upon the agrosoke method 2 years ago, but I didn't use enough. This past year was the first year I used enough agrosoke to see the kind of results I really like and its a must for me as where I am now as opposed to where I was...well lets just say where I was we might get a freeze every third year or so, but here we get freezes every year. Trees with more than one fork that are buried so as to allow both forks to root will of course have a slightly wider base, but you would be surprised at just how easy it is to pull these trees up. Its not pulling or tugging, but rather simply lifting. The many fibrous root hairs act like the hairs on your head to a certain extent though. Give one hair a pull and its comes right out, give millions of your hairs a pull and they take a piece of scalp with them or in this case a big pile of dirt/peat mixed with agrosoke. Its fairly easy to rinse the excess dirt off with a hose however. You might like to experiment with my method with a single tree however to see if it suits your fancy. It certainly cuts down on the watering though. That and one doesn't break ones back at the end of the year with a shovel. But then again, if the ground is tilled well before one plants its still fairly easy to pull up ones seedlings. Still, I find those plants grown with just tilled ground put out later roots for many feet and these do require a lot more tugging; although not nearly as much tugging as it would require if one were to simply plant directly in a hole without working the soil. There one would most assuredly need a shovel. Not to mention one would love much of the roots with the other methods. I haven't tried planting the Brugs inside of the pots yet so I can't comment on it. I can however say that its easy enough to pull plants out of peat and agrosoke type soil mixes in the ground and place them in a large pot for over wintering in the house....I know I ramble, but if you can't follow the train of thought don't be confused as I can't follow it either. I just tinker and occassionally I find something that works for me after I kill half a dozen plants experimenting.

Just had to add this...the Brugs I planted in plain tilled soil had to be watered 2 times a day. Once in the morning and once in the evenning and they still wilted at mid day. Those I planted with a smaller portion of peat and agrosoke had to be watered a bit less, but they still wilted at mid day. I watered both of those groups during mid day some days as well if they were wilting considerably and this would perk them up noticeably. Those planted with heavy peat mixed in and heavy agrosoke were only watered every other day and I even let them go a full week without watering them during the summer once and they did not wilt at all during mid day during that week.

Sounds like Agrosoak is the ticket. Is it readily available on the market?

Pebble, try http://www.watersorb.com as they ship quickly with no shipping charges and the price is right.

What size granules do all of you purchase and how much do you put in the ground when planting. Also do you put it at the bottom of the plant or all around bottom half of the sides? Something else that I do not understand is the way Agrosoke works. It seems that it would draw moisture from the soil instead of letting the plant get it. But I guess the Agrosoke acts as a reservoir of water. It really is a little confusing to me. Maybe someone could explain. I know that Brugmansia has experimented with it and I certainly take his word for it and its benefits.

Frannie

My trees do not withstand strong winds. They get unrooted with or without pots as the tree tops have to much of resistance to wind. This why I use these posts to stabilize them. The branches of the Tree top are within a loop. Strong winds can move the branches but not to the breaking point.Loosing leaves does not hurt so much as maybe a strong branch, carrying part of the tree top. It needs a shovel to get them out of the ground but most of them easy.
The roots can run only out of these holes.

Monika,
Thank you for that additional info. It really helped me envision something I should have figured out on my own. I should mention here that the trees I have moved in were only 1 year in the ground with the agrosoke. The trees further north with the agrosoke do not have nearly as much agrosoke and they also are permanently in the ground. I have lost limbs in hurricanes and I have had a cedar tree fall on my Frosty pink down south. I expect I may find that in the second year the trees grow too big and and the roots may spread out past this barrier. Then of course one would have to trim the roots and one may have to trim the top as well to compensate for the loss of roots. Hence, as Monika is forcing me to think ahead...I do still believe my method is good for first year plants, but it may not be suitable for trying a second year. Of course I am trying for a second year and I also intend to leave most of these in the ground. I will pulll up a few though if the wind does not do it for me. Again, thanks for the added bit of info Monika. Do you have to trim the tops of your Brugmansia when you trim the roots that come out of the sides of the pots Monika or prepare them in any way? I can see how getting a shovel down to the side holes would be fairly easy, but the center hole in the pot might give one some trouble. How do you deal with that and most importantly keep those pots from tearing when you remove them from the ground if you have to tug at them? Thanks, bunches.

<<<<<<<<

Not sure how to take that last comment of yours Eclipse, but thanks to you as well. After all, if you hadn't of kept asking questions none of this would have surfaced. As always I am always too eager to share any findings. Sometimes though, I overlook the obvious.

Good question Eric. I just purchased twenty of the 7 gallon black nursery pots.They look fairly strong but I'm wondering how they will hold up after putting the holes in them.Also, if you plant directly in the ground can you dig a circle around the plant when it is time to bring it in cutting through some of the roots to make a more managable root ball or would that damage the plant?

Using the agrosoke method, Snowhermit, I have not had to dig them up at all. I simply lift them up. But the first time I used enough agrosoke to do that was last year. Some of the fine roots did tear a bit, but the trees did not have to be trimmed back nor did I have to remove any leaves. My seedlings are placed in tilled ground with a bit of peat, cow manure, and or mushroom compost tilled in to the sand. No agrosoke for my seedlings. Those develop very long lateral roots, but as the ground is well tilled they generally lift up without too much trouble. Occassionally one has to bend them over and jump up and down on the main trunk to get them out of the ground though or one can use a shovel. I trimmed Amber Rose and Dr.D's roots up so they would fit in some very small pots as they were field grown seedlings. I must confess I trimmed them to the ground though as I sent their remains to various hybridizers I know. Hopeing they get mated to aurea's or aurea x suaveolens by some of them though.

I am a little afraid to use the agrosoak here as my ground stays quite moist in the summer. Last summer I only had to water my plants a couple of times on the few very hot days that we had(85-90degrees).Would they stay too moist and rot the plant if I used it here?

Brugie, thanks for the link, I think I will order some, as soon as I can figure out how much I am going to need.

I hope we talk about the same pots. People use them for mixing cement. They are quite strong and hold up to 10 years.
I have to trim my trees down to 2.50m. I do this before I dig them out. Last year, I cut the oldest tree, USA Rosa in small pieces. It was 19 years old and the wood had become to heavy.

Liz... you could also do Root pruning you take a edging shovel and once a month or so cut down around the plant the size of the pot your going to put it in at the end of the season. doing this will make the plant form a root ball that size.nurserys do this before they remove trees that are in the ground.
Pete

Monika, the pots I bought I'm afraid are not as strong as yours. They would never hold up to cement. They are the black plastic ones that the commercial greenhouses use to put shrubs and small trees in.

irish, you cannot cut the roots every four weeks or so. Brugmansias as tropical plants need a intact rooting system. Its ok only in the fall, when they get pruned which minimizes the need of water.

The container for nurseries are less strong, SH, they do not hold that long, its made of different plastic material. These cement buckets are much cheaper here as containers. We can get them in 10l, 20l, 30l, 60l and 90l sizes. I use the 20l for the alley trees.

snow, go to your bakeries and ask for the icing buckets or a deli for pickle buckets. Subway, etc.

Good idea tiG. Thanks. :)

monika... good to have a expert here. seen it done with srubs and small trees would think it would work on just about all plants
Pete