Jim:

Looking at the pots on the page below:

http://homeharvest.com/containergardenpotsplastic.htm

I'm thinking of taking their 20 quart pot - 12" diameter x 11.25" deep - and
cutting it down halfway leaving it about 5-6" deep. Is this too shallow for
trunk development?

20 quarts=5 gallon. Where can I buy the 10-15-20 gallon pots you mentioned
below?

Thanks, John-NJ

From: Jim Lewis

I don't know how to answer that, concisely.

Size of the training container depends on the size of the tree;
to some small extent on the species, I suppose; and perhaps also
on the materials you have on hand. It also depends on what you
need to DO to the tree at any given moment.

If you are trying to make a fat trunk, you need a container with
a lot of (shallow) root room in comparison to the size of the
tree. If you are working on ramification, you still need a bit
of root room, but perhaps not as much.

For fattening the trunk, open ground is best, of course. If
that's not possible, use the largest container you can find. _I_
think it's best to keep the container quite shallow, to promote
spreading roots, rather than deep ones, so maybe a pot that is
3:1, width to depth would be about right. (A "normal" nursery
pot is about 1:2.)

Wooden boxes usually are necessary for large material.
Otherwise, I just cut down 10- 15- or 20-gallon plastic pots.

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