Bare with me: I have an apple tree that gave me 50 buhells for a few good years one year I got 45 bushells a couple years later I got 30. ( See where I'm going here)
I think your Epic is showing it's age only becuse
More food more tending more what ever it took didnt help me get more apples from the apple tree but a few sucker rootings did .

You have a very nice plant and you have done well with it to date. I think you know what you need to do even though you might not want to do the deed . I only ask you do whats best for the plant.

Thanks for sharing

Repot into a larger pot, Mara. I'd bare with you too but we're married.

NOT A BIGGER POT!!!. I have to lift it onto this place come winter and it is a bear usually followed by a trip to the Chiropractor. I had it in a bigger pot and it got to be 8' wide and barely made in the double doors. No way could I get it up into this spot. It is the only spot that is large enough for it inside. The picture was of it sevral years ago. I had DOWN potted it so to get it up here.

I could start a small cutting as insurance.

Second picture shows it that night during a 12 degree coldfront and it got to 28 inside the unheated shop. I bagged it and pot a pot of boiling water in thee bag. What we do for our plants.

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Look at that space!

Cut the plant up into sections, Mara (a pruning saw used to cut the root ball would work dandily), and then repot into smaller pots.

What I have heard is that there roots don't like to be disturbed. I am thinking maybe my soil is too heavy.

Do you water with acidified water or just regular tap water?

I water with rainwater, so I guess it is acidified.

Hmm, your water's probably fine...although it can't hurt to check the pH just in case.

The only other things I can think of are:

- Soil might be compacted, in which case you could do a partial soil change (not disturbing the roots too much) and repot it in the same pot.

- Might need a bit more food or micronutrients, especially with all that plant mass to support.

I might have let it get too dry last winter. My husband fell off a ladder and I worked his jobs and mine so my mind was not on the plants. The soil drains fast but it is very compacted to touch it. Maybe I should repot it . I would think that spring would be a good time but maybe that would interfere with the blooms cycle. I do have a long fall growth period so I could do it now.What micro nutrients would you recommend. I could add some bone meal and lava sand to the mix with some charcoal to the pine bark and a bit of grit and perlite and soil.

I've seen this baby before. Aye, chihuahua!

When you say that it got too dry last winter, that makes me think that maybe the soil became hydrophobic. Does water seem to penetrate the soil or is it maybe running through too fast? If so, maybe you could manage to set it in a big tray and bottom-water, let it wick up. I don't know, just a thought.

Another thought: Suspend it from wires and prop it on stilts like a Dali painting.

No, the water soaks into it. Does not run down sides. No peat moss in soil. IF I ever get my house built there is a special wintertime spot for it designed into the living room.