GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Night Scented Stock in propagator has started to shoot

Sandy · 06-06-2008, 10:03 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

Sacha wrote:
On 5/6/08 17:59, in article net,
"Tom" wrote:

K wrote:

Try Nicotiana - the white forms, or Nicotiana silvestris. Powerful
scent, and much bigger plants than night scented stock. Different scent,
so nice to grow both.

Hey brilliant, THANKS a lot for all the advice.

Out of interest, what is the reason for gradually using larger and
larger pots, rather than just putting them in large pots straight away.

I know using larger and larger ones is the correct way to do it - I just
don't know why :-)

Very basically, if you put them in huge pots to begin with, they drown - too
much water to too little root system=rot=death of the plant. It's a bit
like people watering houseplants and letting them stand in water in the pot
container. They get to a point where they can't take up more water but the
compost is still wet so they just rot off and die.

Ahhhh that explains why I lost some of my seedlings (hollyhocks, rocket,
geraniums) recently, having sprinkled them over the surface of a
largeish 12" pot. They got to about 2cm tall then just fell over and died!

I've just sown pak choi seeds in a similar manner and they've all
germinated ok but are currently at that same "delicate" stage so maybe I
should hold of watering them a while. Surface soil is dry but feels
moist below.