On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:30:45 GMT, "D Kat" opined:

Yes, I think what people tend to forget is that the larger the plant the
larger the root loss and the longer for recovery. I had always read that
smaller plants do better but it really never hit home until I experienced
first hand with the 1' tree vs the 5' tree. I still have a hard time
believing that the little thing managed to outgrow almost every one of the
5footers I put in that year.

Cuttings are magic. My problem has been that I tend to get absentminded and
not to baby them as I should that first year and they die off on me. I'm
told that you really need to have a special spot put aside just for your
cuttings where they don't have to compete with anything and then transplant
them. I suppose if you did that for just the first year you would minimize
the root damage of transplanting.....

DKat

In my experience both professionally and personally, planting anything in the
fall can almost completely eliminate any and all problems of transplant shock.
All perennials have some part of their structure growing all winter. Trees
develop roots all year, especially in winter, in the south.

In my case, I have a greenhouse. It's big enough to have a little misting area
set up for cuttings. I'm fortunate to have a wide array of local garden centers
who love native plants and some exotic specimens like brugmansia, so I have a
source to sell them to. I normally trade for the most excellently produced
compost in America. The Natural Gardener in Austin makes their compost the way
Dr. Elaine Ingham prescribes on her website, www.soilfoodweb.com