NO!!

stake the top left one upward

its a redwood... it will never look like an pyramidal xmas tree ...

at PBucket.. find the HTML code.. paste it where you type.. on preview.. if you see it.. we will ...

it looks like you have perennial type high peat media in that pot.. it holds much to much water for most conifers ... either get some better media... but at a min.. do NOT water it like a flowering plant ...

ken

Here:

Here is a link that might be useful:

I have several in varying stages of development from 18" to 10', and like Ken said, they don't want to look like a perfect little pyramid at all. Maybe there's a cultivar out there that does, but you'd know if you had that because you would have paid dearly for it. In my climate, at least, they kind of have a formless, gawky quality until they are established for a few years, then they start to rocket skywards. My biggest has grown almost 3' this year, even with the winter damage it sustained.

I suppose a really skilled pruner could coerce one into that shape, but it isn't going be easy. And it's going to be constant work to keep it that way. If want something that's like a mini potted Christmas tree, there are much better choices. I've heard of them being used for so-called hedges in their native range, but other than perhaps Filioli with a staff of 10 gardeners and a lift truck in their arsenal I've never seen those look very good.

Btw even as fast as they grow, it would still be a couple years before you'd be making any cuts on one that small.

Thank you, friends. I will stake it and let it grow. What soil should I use, and can I switch it now, or should wait till winter?

Is the Al's grit mix a good choice for this tree?

yes... but .... and there always seems to be a but around ....

the only problem with that.. is that most recipes.. you will end up with 10 yards extra ... lol ...

i would get a bag of cactus mix... and mix it about 50/50 with what you have already ...

we are increasing drainage to the max .... which trees prefer ...

as to staking ... get some old panty hose... cut straight across... to make loops .... insert a stake as close to the trunk as possible ... and bind that sucker onto it ... it will eventually rot away.. and that is good ... none of this kite string with a stake a foot away nonsense we see all too often ...

due to the media being somewhat loose after repotting.. you may need to drive the stake thru the drain hole in the bottom of the pot.. and into mother earth ....

in fact ... you are using the stake as a splint of sorts... and if is thin enough ... it might be irrelevant if its even in the ground ... it has to be stout enough not to bend.. but i am not talking about an 8 foot one inch bamboo here ...

hope that makes some sense ...

ken

"hope that makes some sense".

Ken, when have you ever made sense? LOL.

I am one up on you now.

Dave

i agree... one up for dave ...

but you agree with what i said... yes???? .. as i see you didnt contradict my effort ...

ken

Ken,

Agreed totally.

Dave

Too small to do anything about it. Looks pretty similar to what I'm growing at the moment - Montezuma cypress. They all look like that and they don't often start looking good till they are in their 3rd growing season at least.

Ken... Ten yards? Nah. I've got it nailed down... Cheap landscaper mix from Lowe's for around 3ish bucks... Expanded shale/zeolite/turface that can be had for cheap if you know where to look for it... cheap peat moss...

Enough for 15g sadly.

thank you for all the advice! Can't wait to get it potted correctly and see how it responds! Now off to the wife's drawer for some panty hose...