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.

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.

"Ron" wrote in message
...
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.


Cant see a problem with it at all
I believe your friend does not know what he is talking about

nambucca wrote:
"Ron" wrote in message
...
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.


Cant see a problem with it at all
I believe your friend does not know what he is talking about

A bold statement. Time to give yourself a refresher in the basic
principles, perhaps?

--
Mike.

"Ron" wrote in message
...
: 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.
:
That is nonsense. I think what your friend is alluding to is that any plant
should not be in too big a pot as the compost on the outer edges will
stagnate or rot but in the case of a conifer, that shouldn't harm the plant

On 5/8/05 23:28, in article
, "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.


I'll try to, if I may. ;-) The advice from Mike Lyle is the best offered
and the best explanation. He is absolutely correct.
As you're a newbie gardener, I hope you will find urg the excellent source
of information it is to both newbies and the highly experienced. But you
will need to 'filter' the answers for a while to see who really knows what
they're talking about and who doesn't! Over-potting (e.g. Too large a pot)
can indeed kill plants off. It's not inevitable but it is a danger.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Sacha
writes
On 5/8/05 23:28, in article
, "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.


I'll try to, if I may. ;-) The advice from Mike Lyle is the best offered
and the best explanation. He is absolutely correct.
As you're a newbie gardener, I hope you will find urg the excellent source
of information it is to both newbies and the highly experienced. But you
will need to 'filter' the answers for a while to see who really knows what
they're talking about and who doesn't! Over-potting (e.g. Too large a pot)
can indeed kill plants off. It's not inevitable but it is a danger.

If you are really committed to the large pot, then you can put other
plants in with the conifer, nothing too overwhelming, and remove them as
the conifer grows.

Obviously everything in there will be competing with the conifer for
nutrient, and you'll need to either fertilise regularly or renew the
soil every now and again (some people will do both).

But I don't think leaving the conifer on its own would make the
nutrients last particularly longer as you'll have rain and water form
watering washing through the soil.

One advantage of the larger pot is that you won't need to water so often
as it won't dry out as quickly, and conifers tend to be sensitive to
drought. But a large area of unused soil in a pot is not a good idea.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

I'll try to, if I may. ;-) The advice from Mike Lyle is the best offered
and the best explanation. He is absolutely correct.
As you're a newbie gardener, I hope you will find urg the excellent source
of information it is to both newbies and the highly experienced. But you
will need to 'filter' the answers for a while to see who really knows what
they're talking about and who doesn't! Over-potting (e.g. Too large a pot)
can indeed kill plants off. It's not inevitable but it is a danger.

I gave a small bay tree the freedom of a small planter and it sulked. A
couple of years later I wanted the planter for something else and
repotted the bay in a seven inch pot, (since it wasn't playing fair...)
and it soon perked up, and in a year has doubled its size.

The two lemons I overpotted are enjoying the experience though.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/