Fruit trees in black pots (forum)

Cheola starts with ...
Hi guys, I am growing Feijoas (grafted) and lemon (grafted) and ruby red grapefruit (grafted) as well as a bunnings seedling feijoa in black pots on my front deck (tiles).

My question is that now that the weather is warming up, the pots and the soil in them is becoming warm. I have read online about insulating pots or using terracotta pots or something similar -- my issue is that I need to be able to move them easily and I can probably not afford to buy 7 new terracotta pots of an appropriate size for these trees.

Is there a simple, cost effective way to insulate my roots or am I better off moving the trees out of the direct sun, down the side of the house where they will get 1-2hrs of sun / day but will not be in the direct sunlight where they will get warm roots?

Interested in any experiences, but what is the lesser of two evils? Hot roots and soil or less sun / day??

Thanks for any advice!!

Time: 16th September 2017 11:49am

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About the Author Cheola
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Waterfall says...
I used to wrap my pots in shade cloth to help keep them cool.

Time: 18th September 2017 10:37am

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About the Author Waterfall
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Cheola says...
Thank you!! I might have to try and rig up some shade material for them as the weather heats up!

Time: 18th September 2017 6:17pm

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Markmelb says...
Black pots have dual issues - A warm pot can help root growth of a sub trop tree such as a mango on a coolish day in an area such as me in Melbourne in spring but can kill the roots on a 40c+ day mid summer.
Im lazy and just lay a 400x400 sandstone tile against pots in full sun past 11am and there aren't many anyway. Roots will tend to head for safety to the cooler side as long as you keep the water up to them.

Time: 18th September 2017 8:23pm

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About the Author Markmelb
MOUNT WAVERLEY,3149,VIC
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Cheola says...
Thanks Mark, appreciate the insight -- I have made a decision that I will move the pots into the shaded area behind a hedge that shelters my deck, whilst leaving the remainder of the plant (stem, leaves etc) in the full sun -- this will prevent the direct sun from heating up the root ball too much and hopefully prevent anything untoward happening. Do you think this sounds like a sensible approach?



Time: 19th September 2017 10:29am

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About the Author Cheola
Camden
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