Frank, try posting your questions on the Professional Gardeners forum:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/profind/

Here is a link that might be useful: GW Professional Gardeners forum

Yes, Solanum wrightii is the more recent, preferred accepted botanical name. It's a synonym for the older name of S. macranthum.

A peat-based or sand-based potting mix with lots of compost added will be best for the potato tree. It'd recommend a sand-based potting mix as it will have less tendency to shrink and compress over the years in a container. This plant must have good drainage.

From March to October, keep the soil evenly moist and use both a slow-release granular formula (such as Dynamite/Nutricote), as well as a liquid fertilizer once a month or once every six- eight weeks as part of a watering event. Nothing too rich in nitrogen, otherwise the tree will become large and cumbersome to relocate indoors again, or flowering may be reduced while leafy growth explodes. From November to February, full sun and slightly drier conditions (with no liquid feeding and no fresh granular applications).

Keep in mind this potato tree will grow quickly, and needs as much full sun as possible -- especially in winter. If light is too dim or limited over the day indoors, it will become much more susceptible to scale, mealybugs, white flies, you name it.

I just received a beautiful, 4 ft tall, single-stem standard, from T-Tropicals. The main stem is clear of any branching for 3 ft. and then large, coarse, leaves start 1 ft. below the terminal bud. I would like to induce some bud-breaks below the top...should I just pinch out the terminal bud, and hope dormant buds break from the older leaf-nodes? I will do this when the tree is once again actively growing, but for now, I want it to recover from the "transportation shock". Will it hurt to over-pot this tree into a 5 gallon container? The original root-ball volume looks like it was grown in a 1 gallon, pot.

Does this plant have a natural tendency to branch out below the terminal, or do I have to induce bud breaks by pinching out the terminal bud? Will it need a more radical stem-chop? I hate to hack away good plant material just for inducing bud breaks. But if I have to, I have to.

Any suggestions on how to treat this plant material? Thanks.

Frank