In your zone and mine I would take the chance with the 8-12ft plants in ground year round. With the exception of the new green growth; these should have some pretty woody trunks and branches. Frost blankets, small fans, and incandescent Christmas Lights can help for short frosts. You could also start adding Pro-tekt to those plants starting in September to help harden them.

I am sure someone else would be willing and able to help you with the gritty mix questions soon. Best of luck.

I too would stick them in the ground. If you are too freaked out come winter then just dig and bareroot store them. I`m 9b and about 90% of mine are in the ground with more going in all the time. I never dig them.

I, and my plants, like dirt. No weird mixes that need daily watering and heavy fertilizing for me. I prefer a more relaxed organic path in life. Plus dirt just smells good and it`s fun to play in.
Tally HO!

I'm contemplating leaving the big ones in the ground and using frost blankets and covering the tips and take my chances.

beachplant where are you located approximately? All except my huge trees are now in the Tampa Bay area. It would not be unusual to see temps down in the 20's here with a hard freeze. If it only lasted for a short time they would most likely be ok but I remember one day years ago where it never reached above freezing for over 24 hours. Icicles lasted all day and into the next day. I'm not sure if they could take that since they are out in the open and not sheltered by trees or the house. Add north winds to temps in the low 30's or 20's and that is some serious wind chill.

kms,how low of temps have you left them in with no damage?

Emerson in Texas bareroots his each year and moves them out in the spring. Some of them are HUGE but I would have to give up my entire garage and I like to park my car in there.

Anyway, the Gritty has advantages and disadvantages.

Disadvantages:

1. HEAVY, really heavy when you get up to 10, 15, 20 gallon pots. Too heavy. My husband put his foot down. 7 gallon with Gritty and that's it. He went and bought a yard of good potting mix, the same that a local Plumeria grower uses with great success so he's serious about his dislike of the Gritty.

2. Expensive and takes many trips to keep stocking up.

3. All the sifting very time consuming and messy.

4. It gets hot and dries out very fast.

5. If you don't put some time release on top you will feed non stop to keep the leaves dark green

6. I can't do it alone. The bags of Turface, grit are too heavy for me to manage.

Advantages:

1.No rotting, if it rains for a week you don't have to worry

2. The roots are beautiful and healthy. I have yet to see ant dead roots in a pot with Gritty and that's not the case with soil.

3. It's not dirty and no danger of fungus etc.

4. No dirt under my fingernails or on my clothes when I re-pot them.

I just potted up Thumbelina from a way to small 5 gallon pot to a 10 gallon. I left it in the gritty mix. I had just re-potted this in the spring and pruned the roots. There were so many beautiful white roots. I just broke the ring where they were circling the pot and filled in around it.

There was no sludge or any sign of the mix degrading. However, most of the roots were around the inside of the pot which is not unusual. I didn't break into the center to see how many roots were there but from I could see, a sufficient amount, just not as many.

I have about 25 in 1 gallon pots of gritty that need repotting. I can't get them wet enough, it just runs through. I'm debating on whether to leave them and do it next spring or do it now so they have time to fill out the pot with new roots before winter. I just do NOT want a repeat of last winter. I haven't lost a single since the winter fiasco and I wan to keep it that way.

powderpuff, I'm in St. Pete and funny you mention Thumbalina- I've got a one year old plant that I have to repot as well. Currently it needs watering once a day if not twice. It appears to be a strong grower.

Mine has grown like crazy- it is in gritty mix now but I'm going to put it in 5-1-1. I simply can't manufacturer enough gritty mix for the big containers. I will probably get rid of as much of the gritty mix as I can when I repot it, but I won't be so aggressive as to start removing large clumps of healthy roots just to get rid of it all. I am probably doing mine this weekend, I can post some photos.

Powder,
With old fitted sheets and a small fan some of my larger ones survived nights in the high 20s with little to no damage.

Every soil mix has its strengths and weaknesses. Climate conditions can exacerbate those weaknesses. Best of luck with them.

Hi Powder...

I hear what you are saying going to larger containers... My small trees are in the Gritty Mix as well as the DR's. They all love this fast draining mix, but when they do get large and you have to move them in and out, I would consider 5-1-1 or what you feel is the best fast draining mix.

If I could plant in the ground, I would and then use protection on those cold nights.

To answer your questions about root loss and or damage of the rootball, you shouldn't have any issues with taking the plant from the container. I would lay it on its side and take a saw or something and go around the perimeter of the container to make sure the roots are not sticking to the sides. Then I would be so gentle.. If you choose to change mixes, then you could easily loosen the gritty from the rootball. This is another plus for the Gritty Mix. It is easy to work with. Take the rootball out and place it inside a square container. Or something that you can work with... Take the hose and gently spray off the mix. Let the water fill the tub and swoosh it around. You will get rid of most of the mix this way.. It isn't going to be to much of a problem if you don't get every piece off of the rootball.

You all know I really like the Gritty Mix and it works well for me. Everyone has their own way of mixing and as long as it is fast draining and you are happy then all is good. I still like it and I will continue to use it...but,, when the container gets to big.. Like the Kapalua , I had to adjust my mix.

Hope you are doing well and I'm glad to hear of all of the new root growth!!!
;-)
Thanks to the gritty.. ;-)

Take care,

Laura

Here is my thumbelina that I repotted today, moving from gritty to 5-1-1. It used to be a two tipper until last year when tropical depression Debbie... well, suffice it to say there was a small accident.

Anyway, once once I made some vertical cuts to the root ball with a utility knife, the gritty mix poured right out and I was able to shake the rest away. I ran the gritty mix though my screen to get rid of the root remnants, and will recycle it. I considered repotted this in gritty mix but the jury is still out on whether this plant is a keeper, the growth habit seems lanky?

Irun - if your plant is lankey, how about pinching the new growth to create branching?

Peace & happy growing,
Jason

Hi Jason, this one has an inflo now so we will see if it branches.

If not, you are right, I could cut it back and it would possibly make new tips. However, the new branches tend to grow parallel to one another which can sometimes look funny.

Irun - if you pinch the tip INSTEAD of cutting it, it will make a y. I have done this a number of times.

Hopefully it branches on its own!

Jason

Hi Brian!!

Great pics!!!

Thank you for posting .. It will help others !!!

I just want to let others know that repotting and or potting up from gritty to 5-1-1 isn't difficult. You are right about the mix falling off.. When rooting in bottles, I cup the whole rootball just to be safe..

Your tree looks like one of mine with a " dog leg right". Lol. My Makaha Sun has a terrible bend in mine, I tried staking and it is just really a problem. I'll deal with the bend.

I would keep it and stake it and see what happens.. It still looks beautiful to me!!! ;-). But, they all do...

Never have tried the pinching method...

Take care,

Laura

I remember when you bought your "Thumbelina" Brian. Maybe it grew leggy cause it had the roots for 2 branches and then lost the one. All the strength went into that one. I got mine the same time down there and no inflo in sight. "Congrats"
Peg