I pulled the pot off the BL today, and it was solid! Not as solid as the lime tree, which I had to cut off, but a photo shows the roots growing up, into the hydroton; I was surprised it hadn't grown through the fabric. I trimmed it down to about the same size as the lime tree, but only to about an 8 gal fabric pots. I "sifted" a bunch of the soil out of these roots, and used about 50/50 with the new. While doing this, and mixing the two together, I did something REALLY STUPID, and sliced the tip of my R index finger. Very quickly, I put my thumb over it (along with whatever dirt was there!), and the wheels started turning, wondering what on earth could have done this? Then it dawned on me - that knife, which was razor sharp, had slipped into the tub with the dirt! I blurted out something I can't print here, like "You dumb s#*®!" I went inside, rinsed the dirt off as much as possible, then took my thumb off the cut and rinsed it out, then poured some peroxide on it, rinsed, and more peroxide...eventually, the pain went down, and I dried it, put criss-cross Nexcare bandages on it (most waterproof, in my experience), and went out and got into the dirt again!
The bay laurel is finished, and after I got it back up on the deck, I made a solution of Bt israelensis (to prevent fungus gnats), using some saved rain water (chlorine might kill the bacteria), and poured over 2 gal of the solution into the pot, before it was just starting to leak. I soaked the surface of other pots, too, but I'll do it again, before bringing them in.
A photo of the bay laurel, showing the roots growing up, into the mulch, after I pulled the pot off. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Trimmed root ball of bay laurel, showing the old boning knife I use to trim them. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Re-potted bay laurel, ready to come inside, once it gets cooler. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Trimmed bay leaves, getting plant ready to re-pot. 10-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Trimmed Bay Laurel, 10-10, ready for re-potting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr