...figuratively and literally! I am hoping that the recent ice storms in Atlanta are over, so it is time to shelve my knitting and get back to figging. I moved most of my trees inside my unheated basement, but the climate has stayed mild enough down there that most started to break dormancy about a month ago. At this point, some have shot up well over a foot!

 
 
 


Not that I've been staying too idle over the winter... I had to convert our guest bedroom into a nursery for all the cuttings I have started since the temperature dropped last year.

 
 
 



Now I just need to decide what to do with all of these! I really want to put more in the ground, but my husband and I are planning on moving to Colorado in the next 3 years, and in about two weeks I'll find out if that will be happening as early as this summer. It's a long shot, so we'll see what happens. I've spent some of today layering a few trees in the basement to align them more with the recommended tree shaping guide posted on the forum. 

A few questions, and I apologize if these were recently discussed but I didn't see any topics devoted to them yet...

When would be a good time to start feeding the plants that have broken dormancy? Should I wait until temperatures are consistently higher and they can be moved outside, or is sooner better? When do you generally up-pot plants in self-watering containers? Do you wait until it looks like it's showing stress of being root bound? What about younger plants in the cloth root pouches? Also, I have noticed that for many of my trees that have broken dormancy, the new growth is significantly thicker than the lignified wood it is sprouting from. Is this normal, good, or a concern?

Hope everyone here is doing well, it feels good to back in the fig of it!

Take care,
Tamar

Those trees in the garage have a great head-start!  Lots of planning for you this year.

Just my opinion, so wait for other to chime in:

• I would wait until the trees stay outside before fertilizing.  Probably around late spring so they're growing at a consistent rate.
• I've read that those who use self-watering containers can go every 2 years on average before needing a bigger pot or before needing root & top pruning.  Answers will vary.
• I'm interested in hearing the answer on thicker new growth as well.

Tamar, you are in trouble,this happens when they start taking over your living space. LOL
You have started something you can't finish, I see this happen over and over with fellow forum growers.
Come to California, to the sunny side.

Hi Tamarness,
My 2 cents:
The growth on your trees looks leggy - to me- they need more light - You should add a grow light to help them.

Here my trees are starting to move but still no bud break - The breba-buds come out first, and I can see those buds popping out of the bark, and getting bigger - and some drying because nights here are still under 0°C .
I fed my trees last week so that the fertilizer has time to penetrate deep in the ground . Here I'm feeding end of February and then each end of month till July.
For your trees, I would wait until night temp are above 10°C because those new leaves are soft .
The new growth being thicker is a normal behavior - the trunk will catch up if the tree is properly fed .

For your trees, I would use plastic pots of 20/30 cm diameter (or 40/50 cm) , make some 3/4 fingers size sized holes at the bottom and bury that in the ground . Whenever you want to take them, you'll just hit them with the shovel and here you move .
That's handy because the trees would benefit from the humidity from the ground .

Good luck with our trees ,