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My young plants that are at a stand still (pic)

Here is some of my fig plants that are at a stand still (no growing)
Any suggestions, Fert, no fert? Repot or what?
In-put welcome.

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Water well, let stand 1 hour, fertilize with 1/2 strength Mirsacle Gro every week, or two.

Thanks Jon,
I have been watering until water runs out of the drain holes in the bottom, Am I doing that right? I do not want to drown the little guys

Will do.

Water running out the bottom doesn't mean the roots are getting water or nutrients (soil compaction / root-bound). You could pot-up or water with a slow drip (or maybe a little at a time, wait 5-10 min, then a little more, etc). Same problem I have with some of my bigger trees. We've had soaking rains almost daily all spring but I still need to water nearly every day (part of the reason I pot-up early as I do not want to do any root work until the fall or spring).

If there is any question about under watering, you could stand them in a bucket of water for a couple of hours, and then remove them and let them drain out.

Cecil,
before i water i usually lift container to get a feel of how heavy it is , then i water slowly no rush it, i lift again to get a feel of it ,once it feels right then i stop. With the large containers 25g ones i grab the trunk and push it to get a feel for how heavy and easy it is to tip and water until it gets heavy.
Also i water slowly and around and around and around the whole top of container.
Sometimes depending how heavy or light the soil is water can run right thru it and out the bottom holes and root system is still not wet enough.
Even with miracle grow potting soil, shultz and upm i use all 3 i can tell by how light they were before watering then i have a feel by lifting pot how much the soil is wet. After a while you see what i mean if you do this each time, in heat of summer i just use the tree root feeder and water this way it also works good but only for large containers .

Thanks Steve

I don't think the potting soil is compacted because if I pour the water in, it goes to the drain holes pretty quick, I will water a little at a time over about an hour like Jon said!

and if that don't get the job done then I will do the bucket thing

Thanks to both of you, Steve & Jon

Dan,
I have them in the shade of the south facing front porch!

I will stop worrying so much about over watering the plants.

Thanks

Good pointers from Martin. Just stating the obvious here ... water running from the drain holes quickly after watering usually means to me that the water is running around the rootball, down the sides of the pots and out the holes - never really soaking into the soil. That's why a soak or a slow watering is best. I think pulling it from the pot to inspect the condition of the rootball and soil is a good idea. I know when I do this, I'm often surprised at what I find.

Thanks everyone

Some of the things recommended is bound to work.......even for me;-)

I have only two years experience with rooted cuttings and both years I made the same observation. When I bring out the plants after the risk of frost is surely gone, I repot them in 1-gallon pots and keep them in dappled sun/shade for a while and then introduce them to the full sun. I do not see any real growth until the middle of June or a bit later. The plants remain stagnant, keep the leaves that were developed inside (unless the winds take away some when outside). However, after the middle of June I start seeing new leaves and the stem start growing up and then I am sure the stagnation is over and that the plants got really established and will respond well to fertilize, water and sun for fast growth (and they do).
 This is just my observation in Zone 5a.
So I hope that Cecil plants will soon come out of stagnation when they are ready, just with regular watering, sun (& some fertilization).

Thanks Ottawan

My plants grew real good up to about 3 weeks ago, then they started resting up I guess.

I plan on giving them about 2 full hours of sunlight in the early AM Then they will be in the shade for the rest of the Day

Again Thanks

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