I have repotted the following trees:

Figs
Pomegranate
Peaches

At the end of this season, I will add Blueberries to the list. All of these have survived root pruning. I noticed all of the peach trees sent out a lot of suckers from below the graft line after root pruning. I do not know if this is coincidence, or if root-pruning causes more activity in the native tree.

I have included a link to a post on the subject in the container gardening forum. Enjoy

~james

Here is a link that might be useful: Trees in Containers

James - Generally, suckering is most profuse when you prune the canopy hard w/o pruning roots - especially before the summer solstice. It's generally not a problem after root pruning except in plants (in this case, the root stock) that are genetically predisposed to vigorous basal growth. You can STOP the suckering by spritzing the basal flare & upper portion of the roots with (RTU Sucker-Stopper). Others might take note of this synthetic growth regulator, too. If you have a plant in which you cannot control the basal shooting/suckering, simply prune the suckers flush to the mother root, basal flare, or lower bole, and apply the RTU Sucker-Stopper.

It ain't cheap, but it DOES work. I use it often on trees in the landscape that are prone to basal shoots/suckering.

Al

I've never heard of rootstopper. Where do you get it? Also,Al, could you comment on whether you think the root pruning would be OK on citrus? Thanks!

S-U-C-K-E-R * S-T-O-P-P-E-R ;o)

Wrong forum, GM, but citrus roots are usually extremely fine. A dearest friend with dozens & dozens of citrus prefers a method we call "Stab & Stuff". She trims the bottom 1/3 of the root mass off with a saw, then uses a chopstick to remove pockets of soil from the remaining roots, which she stuffs with a well-aerated mix. In years subsequent to the first operation, she concentrates on removing only the older soil - this way, after three consecutive years, all the soil in the original root mass has been replaced with fresh soil.

My only experience with Citrus was a couple Meyer lemons I tried as bonsai, but abandoned the attempt because of their unruly growth habits and their tendency to shoot out foot-long, perfectly straight growth in about ...... oh, say 10 minutes. ;o)

Laurel and poms can be treated like figs.

Al

Here is variant of "stab and stuff" I had thought of a few years ago for some rather large containers:

Use copper pipe to remove plugs (similar to a core aerator for the lawn) then add fresh growing mix into the hole and water in. I found that copper works best since it has a thinner wall. It inserts more smoothly and with less compression of material underneath it.

I was successful in this, although I never adopted the method since it wasn't really necessary with figs or pomegranates. The diameter of the pipe can vary depending on the size of the container (how much material you want to remove), plus you can remove a few plugs through out the growing season.

Here is what I calculated:

Container Size 10D*12H= 942 cu in volume
Pipe Size 1DX12H= 9.4 cu in volume (1% of the container)
Pipe Size 2DX12H= 37.7 cu in volume (4% of the container)
Pipe Size 3DX12H= 84.8 cu in volume (9% of the container)

Container Size 16D*16H= 3,215 cu in volume
Pipe Size 2DX12H= 50 cu in volume (1.6% of the container)
Pipe Size 3DX12H= 113 cu in volume (3.5% of the container)
Pipe Size 4DX12H= 201 cu in volume (6.2% of the container)

The height is really not relevant, since the plug removed should be about the same height as the container.

~james

I neglected to mention... when I originally was planning to do this, my thought was to work around the perimeter of the container during the growing season, then work closer to the trunk during the quiet time. This way, fewer number of roots would be disturbed while the tree is growing (less effect on the top).

~james

You guys are awesome! Can you point me to the fertilizer thread? Thanks!

In the container forum, there are several threads regarding fertilizers. There are also a few in this forum.

Of particular note, there is a series (five I think) of threads on water movement in containers by Al. There is a lot of good information regarding growing mix composition, watering, and feeding.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg031557203792.html

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0321395926870.html

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0201290112896.html

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0918361520140.html

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0420085231701.html

For fertilizers:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg1020215928898.html

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0404210512739.html

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0312344212461.html

~james