What's your opinion.

if plastic, then white or spray-painted lighter colored....
terra cotta colored plastic seems to be fine.
terra cotta is heavy.

I just got 2 young trees in Treepots, but im not sure what to put them in when they outgrow cause their roots will be all awesome and long....?

All my trees are in the black nursery liners and get full sun until about 2pm. They are then shaded by the house for the rest of the day. I do not like the terra cotta pots for anything other than cactus as they dry way too fast and the roots and other debris stick to the sides of the pot. They need to be cooked for a while to sterilize if needed.

I think the absolute worst possible container a person can grow citrus in, or any long term woody plant for that matter, is the common round plastic container. The next worst is the common round terra-cotta container. A redwood crate type of container is OK but only adequate. I have totally changed my entire outlook on the proper way to grow "containerized" citrus, or a containerized any type of a tree. A container grown citrus tree's root system when reaching the bottom of the container should never begin just growing around and around circling the bottom, building up a mass of roots at the containers bottom, no matter how long the tree remains in the container. In fact you should never see a mass of roots at a containers bottom. A properly grown containerized citrus tree should also NEVER have roots that begin to circle around and around between the root ball and the container's side walls when the roots grow to meet the containers edge. Lastly, a properly grown tree should have the majority of it root system growing in a horizontally direction (or in all directions) from the center to the container to the sides of the container, WITHOUT then being forced to grow down to the bottom, or just to begin circling. These types of root behavior is exactly what the common round containers do. I am just finishing reading the BEST boot I have ever read on the growing of container trees. It is titled "Plant Production in Containers-II" by Carl E. Whitecomb, Ph.D. A truly amazing book. I thought I knew something about citrus growing in containers, but Dr. Whitcomb's book really opened by eyes -- both of them. If you want to know how to grow in containers his book is a MUST READ. It is 1,129 pages of knowledge. However, for trees already trapped in the round growth pattern it is to late to convert. So I have already started to root cutting of all 72 of my citrus trees in Root Maker propagation containers then moving them up through the Root Builder System of growing. If your interest how you can accomplish this, get the book. - Millet

Has anyone tried using root control bags when growing citrus in containers?

The idea is that root control bags will prune off the roots as it tries to grow bigger than root hair size when growing past beyond the root control bags edges.

So if you can find a container that is 1" to 2" larger than the root control bag, the pruning effect of root control bags should take effect. This will force the trees to have more roots in between the trunk and the surface of root control bag and not form a root ball around the edges.

To know more, about root control bags:

http://www.growit.com/treebag/bagsystem.htm
http://www.growit.com/treebag/12reasons.htm
http://www.treebag.com/quotations.htm
http://www.treebag.com/spigindex.htm


I have some extra root control bags if anyone is interested to try. They are about 13" diameter by 12" deep. So the size is not suited for really big citrus trees, but I have seen soil ball from root control bag that small support a tremendously large tree, like 10 ft tall by 10 ft wide canopy.

Millet i remember you mentioning something about long containers and how they allow the roots to grow out and down and not circling so are these long containers good to use. Also i have a new navel tree and it roots have almist reached the bottom of the pot so should i transplant it to a new and longer container?

Always one to buck conformity, I use the largest terra cotta pots I can afford.
A number 46 pot is good for a long while. Then they graduate to a whiskey barrel. Heavy? Oh yeah! Especially with the medium I use. Sand, potting soil, perlite, pine bark.

I am working on a secret project. I am attempting to recreate those old versaille planters of the old days. Hinged sides for pruning roots. Durable wooden sides. there is a certain guilt factor here that I am trying to deal with.

A good Italian terracotta pot is 20.00$

A Jack Danials barrel is 17.00$

I figure the clay will absorb the salts and look like crap in three years
I figure that a barrel will last four.
A versaille planter made from masuranduba or ipe will last 50 years
In 50 years there might not be any tropical hardwood forests left to plunder.

Hey Scott I'm with you, but a barrel of jack is anywhere from $8,400 to $9,600. But hey... If your going to do it you might as well do it right...

Quote:

You must be of legal drinking age to complete this form. Your friends at Jack Daniel's remind you to drink responsibly. Each barrel yields approximately 240 bottles and will range in price from $8400 to $9600.

http://www.jdsinglebarrel.com/unique.htm

Root control bags are a step in the right direction. However, I prefer the Root Trapper bags. Both use the same principle. When a root tip is trapped, and cannot grow further, it will die. The dead root tip is then "pruned" and will generated many new root hairs up and down the root according to the 4-inch rule. When roots become curled, bent, crooked or deformed in some manner, they are in that condition for ever, and cannot be corrected. So I think the Root Control bags that Joe Real is talking about or even the Root Trapper bags that I mentioned cannot correct a root system already damaged by a life in a round container. Roots already growing around and around, and roots already growing straight down, will continue to grow down or continue to grow around and around. All in all I much prefer a hard Root Builder or Root Maker container over bags. The bags are meant for growing trees in the bag that is buried in the ground for a season, then pulling the bag and either putting the tree in a container or selling the tree. Valencia, if your really interested, then buy the book. In the meantime you can find some information at this web site. http://www.rootmaker.com/ - Millet

WOW those pots look amazing and from what i have read seem that they would look better. I can only find the book the book on amazon and it will have to wait a little expensive and the pots are also expensive seeing that i would have them shipped all the way up to Canada. Maybe i will try to make own pots be piercing holes into the pots i have now.

Valencia, when I first encountered the Root Builder system, I did exactly as you are thinking of doing. I took common round plastic containers from sizes of one gallon to 10 gallon and drilled holes in the sides and the bottom. I can tell you that doing so does not make them work. The reason is that the inside of the containers are still just smooth round plastic containers, as before, but now with holes in them. The roots that were curling just passed the holes by and kept on curling. If the roots missed exactly hitting the holes drilled into the bottom or side of the container, they were deflected sidewise, and just began circling passing any of holes that I drilled. " A root grows like a bullet goes," in other words, a root will continually grow straight, until it hits something and then it is deflected. When a root is deflected in a container, caused by the side of the container or the bottom of the container, it will turn and then again begin to grow in a straight line, and when it comes near one of your holes it does not "say" Oh here is a hole I can turn into, but just continues to grow in a straight line right pass your hole. The Root builder containers have baffles and guiding channels attached to the inside of the container walls and bottom that direct the roots to the air pruning holes. I can tell you from experience the Root Builder containers work very, very well. - Millet

So is there anything you can do in the mean time while looking for the pots?

Hi Millet,i once read that square containers are better for citrus.Does that
hold true?Cheers

Laidback, I think both are bad for citrus, or any long term woody plant. Actually the round container more or less gently curves the citrus root around and around and around. A square container would put a full 90 degree kink in the root system at every corner. I my thinking a kinked root system would be worse that a curved root system. However, there are better alternatives than either container. - Millet

Lat year I purchased two Owari Satsuma’s in 10-gallon containers, thinking that I would gain a year or two in growth by doing this but the taproot had circled the bottom of the container by two and a half circles.
As directed, I cut the taproot back to where it was straight but the tree did not respond until four months later when it started to sprout new growth. Thinking that I had a jump-start really pushed me back to the point that buying a smaller tree would have done as well. Still it’s taller than the smaller container trees, but it has a lot of root growth ahead of it to be truly healthy.
I have studied the root maker system that Millet suggested but it’s difficult to completely understand the concept without reading the book, which I plan to do.
It seems that each ledge forces the roots to divert from the wall and downward which is an incredible idea, but it looks like these containers would be top heavy and need additional support from toppling over in a swift breeze.
Such a container looks like, it could be constructed by pop riveting larger than smaller containers to achieve the same container style. Start with a twenty gallon and then smaller and smaller. Or use 12’ wide boards ‘ two wide and approximately three feet tall, but I wonder if it’s just a taper pot or do you really need the step down affect?
Anyway it seems that some support system would be required to prevent these containers from falling over.
Millet, What have I overlooked with the above ideas?
Karl