See that small pot? That's all that remains. It never had any real feeder roots in the first place and quickly and substantially deteriorated within a few days. I started trimming the dead bits to relieve stress on it, and what would you know--the stalk that was doing the worst and that I had trimmed nearly to the ground started to put out new growth.

Just got the two big ones. They have nice feeder roots so we'll see how they do--they've been out of the ground for just a couple days. They're about 8', which is half their original height.

well, good luck

I'd like to get some real potting soil--nothing but clay here. Of course, if I do that, I can't claim to have spent $0 on this little endeavor so I'm seeing how long I can hold out on that.

Couldn't you just, I don't know, find a place with good soil and grab some? I can't imagine anyone* getting mad over a few bucketfuls of dirt unless they're using it.

* I can totally imagine someone getting mad about taking unused dirt, but not anyone that's reasonable most of the time

If you need free dirt, I've got a ripe compost heap in my backyard that you could pilfer... you just need to make the beautiful drive over to Bahama/Rougemont area