Robe, generally, it's not a good idea to place plants-of any kind-in pots much too large for them. All the medium in the pot acts as a reservoir for water, and if there's too much medium, there can be a tendency for things to stay too wet too long, resulting in root rot. So do start smallish, and pot (increase pot size) only one size at a time, as the plants grow. Of course, this will also mean that careful attention to watering will be required so that the opposite doesn't happen and the plants dry out too much.

I'm no expert on container growth of bald cypress, but your mix sounds like something that should work. Be aware (if you're not already), such mixes have almost no nutrients, so some delivery system of fertilizer will be in order. Just be careful-fertilizers are oftentimes salts. An over-application all at one time can do great damage. "

"Spoon feeding" is an approach that works well for a great many horticultural crops-supplying a very dilute solution at every, or nearly every watering.

The biggest issue with container growing is root anomalies as the roots meet the sidewalls of the container. At its worst, this can result in severely malformed root systems, requiring major surgery to come up with a viable, long-term plant in the landscape. "RootMaker" and other systems have been devised to help correct this. Might be well worth your time to investigate. Otherwise, the plant top portions will look great but the roots will be an unholy mess, full of structural problems which will manifest a bit later.

Good luck!

+oM

Thank you Tom. That clears things up for me, as I was wondering whether it just made more financial sense to use the bigger pots from the beginning since I'd eventually have to buy them anyway once they grew a little bit more.

These will be in a pretty protected location, which I hope will help them survive and thrive in the first year I have them. The spot gets some morning sun, but is shady and cool for most of the day. The picture shows what the shade looks like in the afternoon/evening.

The wife doesn't want to turn our backyard into a tree farm, so if I'm confined to an unused flower bed surrounding the outside perimeter of our little courtyard, I can fit 100 one-gallon pots, 45 two-gallon pots, and 20 five-gallon pots into this space. I'm hoping that is enough room to continue purchasing around 100 tree seedlings each year, after selling some in each of the various size pots, and saving some to continue growing.

you are talking about next seasons growing conditions.. sun ... but not talking about wintering them over ...

i presume they are in the mail now???

no black pots in any sun in winter ... .. that will heat said pot ... if they break dormancy in the middle of winter... in some freak warm spell.. then your problems begin ...

do you have anywhere... they can be healed in for winter... i dont understand why you have a courtyard... if you have a yard???

what is native soil ... that famous gray clay???

what if any vermin are in your area.....

does your ground freeze???

where are you?? .. OH is quite diverse.. north to south ... zone wise ....

nothing like jumping in head first.. eh ... lol ... go for it ....

ken

I assume bald cypress is going to be as tolerant of over watering as anything so MAYBE the large pots will not flood them.

Did you find the $6 large pots from the big boxes and Walmart? I have a couple metasequoia in some. If you drill in extra drainage holes use sharp bits. They can be a bit brittle. I also keep my trees fairly in the shade. Hot roots and metasequoia do not seem to mix for me.

For your medium:

Use the Pine Bark. You can buy pine fines in bulk in Ohio. This will solve your drainage issues in the pots. The flip side is that during the summer months without irrigation your pots will dry our in a heartbeat.

Yes, in the landscape, BC is quite tolerant indeed to wet soils! I don't think that necessarily translates to what Robe's doing. I've been at this a long time and I've never-and I do mean never-seen little starter plants in great big pots, for any species, including straight-up aquatics. I'd start small.

Ken's black pot comments are right on. Make some preparation to not have them baking in the sun, ie. your shade. But finally, realize, most nursery plant propagation is in the ground, out in a wide-open field somewhere. Not to say your plan won't work, just that it's quite different from how most of our landscape plants get their start.

BTW, in my first post, the term I'd meant to type is "pot up", not just pot. Potting up is moving plants to a larger sized pot, but the way I skipped the word, it might not have been clear.

+oM

And you will want to give them as much sun as you can on the foliage (not the pots) when growth starts in May (or so). I'd strongly encourage adapting them to the sun from the start (myself) versus trying to shift them from a shady place and burning them.

The soil where I'm located is silt loam. I don't see too many animals, but we do have a good number of squirrels (white ones!) and rabbits. As to whether the ground freezes, I'm not sure. We live near Springfield, Ohio, which is in the southwestern part of the state. Zone 6a.

I appreciate the tip on the black pots. I would have screwed that up for sure. Yes, these are coming in the mail, but I have not received them yet.

Any other tips on overwintering them? I thought about blanketing the tops of the pots with a layer of mulch. I know this is an added expense, but if it keeps the roots from freezing, I'm sure it would be worth it.

or maybe I could just cover them with all the dropped leaves I'm trying to figure out what to do with anyway.

That would be an excellent covering if it doesn't attract families of mice and voles to eat your seedlings, or mat down wet and rot them all winter, both of which are possibilities.

The soil where I'm located is silt loam. I don't see too many animals, but we do have a good number of squirrels (white ones!) and rabbits. As to whether the ground freezes, I'm not sure. We live near Springfield, Ohio, which is in the southwestern part of the state. Zone 6a.

I appreciate the tip on the black pots. I would have screwed that up for sure. Yes, these are coming in the mail, but I have not received them yet.

Any other tips on overwintering them? I thought about blanketing the tops of the pots with a layer of mulch. I know this is an added expense, but if it keeps the roots from freezing, I'm sure it would be worth it.

they are fully zone appropriate for me in adrian mi ... just north of toledo.. and south of ann arbor ..

freezeing roots is NOT an issue ... do NOT treat them like babies ... they are hardy trees ...

its freezing roots into an ice cube with no air that is an issue.. and that is addressed with the media ...

i asked about the soil type.. and if you could heal them into the ground ... i would NOT do them ALL the same way ... if you screw up ... they all die ...

i might suggest potting 50 ... and healing in 50 .... you would just dig a hole... and stick them all in it... firming up the soil .. and watering them in ... probably not a good idea if you had bad clay.. hence the reason i asked ... [literally.. all 50 in one hole ]

these trees... are PROBABLY freshly dug.... had you not bought them.. they would probably have gone into a wholesale cooler... and been refrigerated until spring sale ... at a temp to hold dormancy.. with assurance as to humidity so they dont freeze dry ... use that info.. to delineate... how and what you are doing with yours ...

frankly.. all you are doing.. is holding them over.. until spring growth .... and in holding them.. you want to achieve dormancy.. and maintain dormancy ... hence the black pot in sun ... hence the media issue ...

they do not need to be fed.. they do not need a blanket.. they do not need nurturing .. schooling.. etc ...

simplify your variables to the extreme ... and perfect those.. and you will win ... [and do understand.. when dealing with 100.. winning is 80% success .... or you arent living in realsville .....]

your biggest issue right now.. is who is going to have the potting soil and bark chips you need... many places.. especially bigboxstores.. have been clearing shelves for xmas ... not holding bulk items for your late project...

look for bales of promix ... and some type of mini chunks ... and those two.. mixed at 50/50 .... will give you a decent potting media... i will yell...INSURE THERE IS NO FERT IN THE PROMIX .... some derivation of that at the link .... we can discuss fert when they start growing next year.. not in dormancy ... when you find the media .... then i will tell you how to store it ... and use it ....

if any of your local soil stores... still have mulch... some nice well chipped woodchips.. a yard of them.. would be great ... it can also be used to nestling.. and bury the pots.. as well as being incorporated into the promix ...

BTW.. i am using promix generically .... there are all kinds of like products .... and they might send a yard or two your way.. a lot cheaper than buying it by the bag ..... but do stay away from miracle grow media ... its not for trees ....

squirrels can be a very big problem with pots.... dam rats with puffy tails .... some peeps build a chickenwire enclosure for their potted trees .... if john doe reads this.. maybe he can show you his ...

time to go do something else ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Not sure what Ken is talking about fertilizer. I've grown hundreds of trees and never saw any issues with long lasting fertilizers in the pots.

I've grown a lot of Montezuma cypress which is like a sister to Bald Cypress from the south (mainly south of Texas border) and one thing I've noticed is that they have aggressive root system in very well draining container media (see Al's 5-1-1 mix in Container forum). Not sure what I'd do with your location... I prefer to collect seeds locally from best looking MC or BC and grow them in starter tray then into 3-5g size. 1g is a waste of time... I have some that are nearing 3ft from seeds this year despite the fact that I started a month late than usual...

What I do is collect seeds in Oct/Nov then place seeds on moist paper towel in a sandwich container and leave it in the fridge for several months till frost season is almost over. It needs around 70s *F to start to germinate. When you see a tap root pop out, it's time to plant it right away. Just barely underneath the media mix level.

I use Rootmaker products. They sure produce excellent root system. Just have to remember that these trees need to be moved up fast enough to keep up with fast growth otherwise they just stop growing after a while and do nothing rest of the growing season.

robedalex - I see you live near Springfield - my home area as well although I now live south of Dayton. I'm usually in the Springfield area once a week to see my parents. If you'd like a personal one-on one about all this send me an email - in my member's page - and we'll work something out.
Marshall

This post was edited by mrgpag on Wed, Oct 15, 14 at 21:41

robedalex, BC can grow in pots full of clay top soil. That is what I use. I put 6-12" seedlings in individual 5 gal pots of clay topsoil in the fall. By end of the next summer they are usually 2' or taller and ready to be planted out. Sometimes I put the pots in standing water if I am going to be gone for a week or two. You literally cannot overwater them. They appear to be able to live in almost anything as long as it is moist or wet. In winter (Z8)I cover my pots over with mulch and leave outside. In summer I either mulch the sides or otherwise keep the pots out of direct sunlight. Good luck.