Black plastic pots are easily cut away with tin snips or even heavy duty scissors.

If you don't mind could you post a photo of it. Being a container only grower id love to see it.

Mike

Jeepers. Wait until after you've picked the fruit and before next blossom set. Probably around February for us, Blaze. No matter how gentle you are, there will still be root shock. And with a tree this size, I'd probably try B12 and/or Superthrive as a root zone soak to help lessen the shock. Love to see photos of your tree! What kind of mandarin is it? And, I agree with cearbhaill, cut the pot away on two sides gently with tin snips. I do this frequently when planting bougainvilleas, as they really do not like to have their roots disturbed. Tin snips work the best since the blades are long and sort of skinny, and are super duper sharp. Very handy tool to have around as a gardener, btw, if you don't have a pair, so worth buying. You should be able to get them at any hardware store, and possibly even the big box stores like Lowe's or Home Depot.

Patty S.

Lol. Thanks. Im not even going to tell you where I got the tree, it might start another "debate" on certain stores that rhyme with shmig shmox...

This is a Algerian/Clementine. When I bought it I asked the associate if they possibly had any and he looked at me with a confused look and finally said, "Oh those? We dont have any more". Anyways I knew he didnt know what I was talking about. I looked and found two. Beautiful tall, full trees with lots of closed blooms. On sale for $19.99.

I took some pics but I am on an old comp that is in safe mode and has reverted back to windows Vista from windows seven. No matter what USB port I use I cannot seem to get my comp to recognize my camera. I will try to get my brother to upload them onto his laptop of transfer them to CD. I want you guys to see the POWER of the "shmig shmox" stores:-) Plus I think I have a little bit of black spot on the mandarin. I am 6foot and the tree in its pot stands about 6" taller than I. The caliper is about half the length or more of my thumb. I took some pics for comparison.

Yes Patty I think I will wait until at least this batch of fruit is picked. Maybe this summer? I was hoping to get away with not having to use the shears. Last time I used a small pair of kitchen scissors. Lets say I couldn't close my hand for a day after using them as my forearms were SORE!
Oh also, could I just transplant it to a lager pot? I mean, just because we live in So Cal doesnt mean we have to plant everything in a pot right? I think it would look nice in a big pot. What do you think?

Ooops. I meant, "Just because we live in So Cal doesnt mean we have to plant everything in the GROUND." A full sized mandarin would be OK in a nice big pot in gritty mix?

Hey Patty. I noticed Home Depot (The store I got this Mandarin from), the tag shows they bought is from Clauson Nursery in Vista Ca. Have you heard of them?

Sorry. It was Clausen Nursery.

This Place

http://www.clausennursery.com/

Hello Blazeaglory, I faced a similar problem and solved it with a Dremel tool and a spiral cutter. Looks like a drill bit but is designed to cut on the side, not drill. Took about 30 seconds to cut the bottom from the pot, Lift the plant into the hole and split the sides of the pot so I could slide them out. Good luck, Jim

Ah. I totally forgot about the Dremel! What cant they do?:-)

Yup, know Clausen's very well :-) About 1/2 my citrus collection is from Clausen's, they're about 15 mins. from my house. Great guys. Fantastic wholesale nursery that also sells to the public. They are a second generation grower, first starting out as commercial growers, then, as the commercial citrus industry migrated to the Central Valley due to the hike in water prices here, they switched to growing citrus trees for resale. They still have quite a few of their original orchard trees on the property. They have an Oro Blanco that has to be 50 ft. tall.

Patty S.

Nice! Yes I google earthed their orchard and it looks as if they have some nice land. I can tell by the nature and good quality of this Mandarin of mine that they seem to be a very good source of trees:-) They have good prices too. Their 4-1 trees are only $50 where as Home Depot sells them for $145! One day I plan on making a trip down there! Good stuff!

Finally went to a friends house and uploaded some pics to my new flickr account!! Heres the Mandarin

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Here is the possible Micro Deficiency?
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New growth!!
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Another Chloritic Leaf and some fruit!
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Caliper (I have somewhat big hands for comparison)
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