Will need a bigger pot once it starts to root out through the drain holes or it will become anchored. Also roots coming out of drain holes means a plant is overdue for potting on anyway.

You can plant flowers in pots or in ground that are tall enough to hide your tree at a distance that won't block the sun.

Steve

@Embothrium I don't plan to leave this in there long-term, mostly to help it cope with the summer heat.

@poncirusguy6b452xx thank you, right now it's fairly discrete.

I realize that my main question was probably lost/unclear in my really long post. To simplify: right now the whole yard is covered in small red rocks, except my in-ground pot which has bark mulch on top. I'm concerned that the red rocks create more heat than wood mulch and therefore covering the pot with matching red rocks will increase my root temperature. Is it worth maintaining the wood mulch I was using before in order to achieve better cooling for the in-ground pot?

So.... you have two threads going on this same subject. Having it in the ground will help keep the pot cool, but, as mentioned above, the tree will send roots thru the drainage hole pretty quickly. If you wish to maintain this idea you might want to give the pot a good twist every month. I doubt any rock will get hot enough to matter and would help keep the ground cool underneathe... as does yoour bark.

I'm wondering why the double-pot trick didn't work. Did you put something.... like peanuts... inbetween the two pots.? There has to be an insulating layer between the two surfaces.

@CA Kate z9 I put bark mulch in between the two pots because that is what I had on hand. It really did not make much difference. Part of that could have been I needed more space in between (there was maybe 3/4-1" in between walls), and another part could have been that the outer pot was not quite tall enough (it was a few inches shorter than the inner pot). But it was the biggest pot available at my local home center so there was no remedying that.

I used peanuts between my 2 pots and it worked until the squirrels fond it and ate all the peanuts.

Steve

lol, thankfully I don't have a big squirrel population in my neighborhood. Maybe stray cats and birds, but not squirrels :)

That's a really good point Dave, I didn't even think about critters getting in there. We are known to have scorpions in these parts....

Overall, I am just really frustrated that I can't seem to keep this tree happy. It was going so well until the temps raised. I really hoped that burying the pot would keep the roots cool enough, so to see the tree skulking still was really discouraging.

It would be relatively easy to build a much larger outer pot from wood, and I like that tree is mobile above ground. I'm tempted to just stick it in an ice chest.....

I was actually suggesting using styrofoam peanuts betweeen the pots. I guess I wasn't specific enough. I've used styrofoam as insulation or filler in other gardening projects and haven't had a problem with critters making nests. it helps too if the outer pot is either plastic or ceramic instead of terra cotta.

Best is still shading the pot in some way.

Lol, I think Steve was just being silly; but me being the novice container gardener that I am, my mind did go to the legume and I fell right for his pun.

Maybe if I wrapped my terra cotta pot in styrofoam roll and put that inside a larger wood box that provided shade.....

When outside temps go above 100 degrees I don't know if the ground or shade will provide the best cooling power.

Do you have room to bring it inside in the summer?

I have room inside, but I don't have a window that gets all-day sunshine. My understanding is indoor citrus is finicky.

I was kidding about peanuts. I don't get enough heat here to ever need to insulate a pot. Any way real peanuts don't insulate at all.

Steve

lol, I fell right for it!

Keep it in shade for the summer. Or maybe an hour or two of early morning sun.

It's been the in shade all day today, minus an hour or so of morning sun. A little weepy but by far the happiest it's been in the last week. I plan to keep it there until it convinces me it's ready for more.

We have a portable evap cooler that we use in the late afternoon/evenings out on the patio. Maybe the lemon tree would appreciate that cool moist air. Just an idea. HD has a small one for about a hundred bucks.

Portable Evap Cooler - Small

Thanks for the idea! I never even thought of something like that.

I would be afraid that the cool moist air might cause a fungus problem. I only know that citrus seem to like southern California weather, and it's HOT and the air is dry,dry,dry.... except right on the coast. AH, but then there are the Florida citrus groves. Oh well.....

I still think your problem is hot roots.

Kate says: " I still think your problem is hot roots.." Agree, and Kate's idea of the styrofoam peanuts between the layers of a large outside pot to the smaller inside pot that holds the tree is a good one too. Buy some small bottles of water, freeze them overnight, place on top of the peanuts, cover with an insulating blanket like a down jacket or something. But you gotta really want that Meyer Lemon tree. ;-)

I agree the problem is hot roots, I also agree the measures seemingly required to keep the tree happy demand a lot of love. Time will tell. I'm unconvinced I can get an appropriately sized outer container--the one I tried before was not big enough. I can make a bigger one out of wood, but I am behind on another project right now. For the moment, the tree is just hanging out in the shade. The major strain seems slowed, but the summer intensity will only increase. I hope the tree survives, but I cannot change the weather.

Do you think it would help if I sprayed the outside of the container with water? I don't want to overwater the tree by watering directly, and I don't want to interfere with the terra cotta pot's air flow. But hosing off the outside each day might help keep the pot cool, which would in turn help keep the roots cool. What do you all think?

First: "....the one I tried before was not big enough. I can make a bigger one out of wood"

You can buy a tall box from U-Haul that might do the trick. Or you may need four of them that you duct tape together to form a larger, tall box.

When I needed shade for my garden hubby nailed together some 2x2's to make a large frame. We then staple gunned heavy shade cloth to the frame. I'll get a picture as I'm using one now to keep my dog, who managed to break a toe, confined to a side yard. I'll do that in a bit.

Re hosing off the terra cotta pot, it will not last long in this heat, you'd have to keep wetting throughout the day but then maybe these days you ARE home all day. Maybe you could set it in a container, even a kid's wading pool, so it sucks up the water continually, elevating the pot with the tree inside the terra cotta.

I missed your post 8 days ago and only noticed an alert on the toolbar today. Sorry.

The frame is more likely 1x4's not 2x2's. Here's a couple of pics:

HTH Travis. mm

Thanks Mary! Do you leave that up all summer, or only the really hot days?

When I used it, I left it up all summer. I've not gardened much in several years. We bought a small camper trailer and planned to travel most of the summers. I just planted a new bed that gets shade in the afternoons from a mesquite tree. Four chiltepin plants and 4 tomato plants. Watering on a timer, which was the problem with last gardening experience. Not on a timed drip system and watering became a huge chore.

How fun, happy traveling! Summer is the best time to get away here :)

Mary, I love your idea.

Travis, GOOD LUCK those poor trees. You will figure it out. I could use some of that heat. Tonight once again I will break all kinds of cold temps records. In the come again. lol

Thank Mike. I'm so sorry to hear about your weather. It will cooperate eventually. Look on the bright side: you don't have to go to the gym anymore, you can get all your exercise moving your plants inside and out everyday ;)

Travis. lol, so right! You will be the first to know once my temps reach 70. I don't know how you do it, but my hats off to you for even asking for help and the desire to figure things out)

Travis. Finally, I see light at the end of the tunnel!))) Pefect for citrus growing...

That's more like it!

That will be me in October/November. I wonder if my trees will try and grow before winter, or if they can tell temps are falling and will stay dormant.

Ha, the roots will know when it's time to start havng fun)