On 2014-01-07 15:57:02 +0000, Spider said:

On 06/01/2014 19:08, sacha wrote:
Not really - but something I've briefly touched on with another Nursery
on Twitter and it seems to me that the experiences of urglers is
valuable both to each other and to the nurseryman in this. Few
nurseries selling online tell you what size pot your plant is going to
arrive in but we wonder if the average buyer knows the difference
between a 2 litre pot and a 10cm pot? I'm asking this because, frankly,
we have been shocked to see certain plants sold for £20 which, we're
fairly sure, will arrive in a 10cm pot, which means a small plant with a
small root system. We searched the ad and the website of the nursery
involved and see no reference to pot sizes at all. In the past we
ourselves have bought a supposedly 2 year old grape vine from a
reputable nursery but which had to be 'nursed' in a tunnel for 2 years
before planting out into a greenhouse. The same happened to a very
expensive but desirable Magnolia from another (different) well known
nursery. We didn't dare put it in the garden for two years!

How many people ask what size pot the plant will have grown into and how
many even consider the matter, I wonder. Do most just expect a small
plant and pay up happily? I know that, before I met Ray, as an
'ordinary' customer, pot sizes in litres meant nothing to me. I've
decided to measure the tops of ours and put those online because I think
it will make more sense to the average buyer.




I've been following this thread with interest. I have got so that I
mentally recognise pots measured in litres and inches (top
circumference). I can also manage metric pot sizes, but tend to
convert to imperial first.

Each has its ambiguity. I know roughly what a litre of compost looks
like, but that doesn't tell me how much of that volume is filled with
root. GCs often pot up small plants into 1ltr pots so they can charge
more. Nurseries do this less, but some are still guilty. On-line and
postal nurseries tend to keep the pots smaller (or send plants
bare-root) to ease postage.

A top circumference measurement is fine (whether imperial or metric),
but doesn't tell you the *depth* of the pot. 'Pans' are much shallower
than standard pots, which in turn are shallower than 'long tom' pots.

Perhaps, along with pot size, the labelling should say "garden ready"
or "established" (at least in catalogues). The depth of the pot is
harder to define, which is probably why volume in litres was adopted.
One way to get over this would be to label as follows:

Plant H2'x W1'
Pot 6"top x 4"depth.

Even this makes the customer ask whether the given plant measurement is
size at sale or size at maturity.

I think you may have opened a can of worms, Sacha! Squirm squirm :~).

Wow! Thanks, Spider but I think I'll stick with measuring the top of
the pot! We don't really use pans much at all and long toms are mainly
for sweet peas or a few shrubby climbers. You really can't give a
plant height and width at point of sale because they vary. Some will
have grown a few inches more or spread a few inches more, in the same
size pot and with equally good root systems. Sometimes, customers do
ask us how big a plant will be when they receive it so we trot out and
pick a good size and shape and tell them. The tallest might not be the
'fattest', so it's up to us to choose what we think best as they're
not there. On a couple of occasions, we've been asked to send photos
of two or three of the same plant, so the customer can pick the one
they like! I do wonder how large the plants are that some send out
because we quite often get delighted surprise as feedback from
customers who have never been to the Nursery. And of course, some
nurseries or gcs do specialise in small 'starter' plants because it
keeps the p&p costs right down and possibly the labour costs, too, as
they're not potting on into 1s and 2s every few weeks.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon