Ron wrote:
As a newbie gardener I have recently planted a young small
Goldcrest
conifer in a large pot. My friend, who is a more experienced
gardener
says that the pot is to big and that the conifer will die. In my
confessed ignorance I am unable to see why this should be the case?
Any comments/ advice on this matter would be greatly
appreciated.

The rules say you should move a plant up ("potting on") only one size
of pot at a time. The reason is that if the roots can't use all the
water you add, then the roots will sit in stagnant unused moisture
without oxygen, encouraging harmful fungi to rot them and kill the
plant. It doesn't always happen like that, though; but it's the best
safety-first rule.

The reason this doesn't happen in the open ground is, put simply,
that there's a natural movement of water and air which you don't get
in containers.

--
Mike.