Quote:
Originally Posted by AL_n
I have always ben sceptical of the theory that one gets the best growth
from potted plants by following the advice of using only a slightly larger
pot than before when potting-on. This doesn't emulate nature, which usually
seems to do things quite efficiently, when left alone, out in the wild-and-
woolly wilds...
If you follow the advice, it seems to me that you end up with an
unnaturally dense root structure, with an unnaturally small amount of soil
between each root from which to extract nourishment.
So is the "next-size-up" advice good advice, and if so, why?
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If you pot up into a much larger pot, it's a while before the roots reach he outer area of soil. Meanwhile, that soil seems to go stale and musty and yukky. In nature, the equivalent outer area of soil would have the roots of other plants in it.
A more practical reason, if you are planting out a lot of plants, is that you may lose one or two at each stage of growth, and if you lose a small plant from a large pot, you've got a lot larger quantity of compost to decide whether to re-use on another plant.
It's difficult to extrapolate from nature - what you see is the few plants that grew successfully - you don't see the much larger number that didn't.
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