I've got two quite small plants that arrived in 3" pots that will both
eventually grow several feet high and I need to know what potting-up strategy
woud be right. They a

1} Jasminium Polyanthum, currently 15" high and throwing out new shoots and
looking like it will really take off soon, my guess is that it could go
straight into a 10' pot now, maybe bigger still- and

2] A 10" Acer Palmatum Atropurpureum- apparently this thin twiggy little
thing is two years old already. This one is alive, but not doing anything at
present, but has many buds. My guess would be this needs a middling-sized
pot, say 6' or so and should be repotted up into progressively bigger pots
until it is two or three feet high when I could- maybe- put it in its final
pot (or the ground).

Any ideas- am I guessing anywhere near right with these?
--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 15:12:51 +0000, VX wrote
(in message m):

I've got two quite small plants that arrived in 3" pots that will both
eventually grow several feet high and I need to know what potting-up
strategy
woud be right. They a

1} Jasminium Polyanthum, currently 15" high and throwing out new shoots and
looking like it will really take off soon, my guess is that it could go
straight into a 10' pot now, maybe bigger still- and

2] A 10" Acer Palmatum Atropurpureum- apparently this thin twiggy little
thing is two years old already. This one is alive, but not doing anything at
present, but has many buds. My guess would be this needs a middling-sized
pot, say 6' or so and should be repotted up into progressively bigger pots
until it is two or three feet high when I could- maybe- put it in its final
pot (or the ground).

Any ideas- am I guessing anywhere near right with these?


One thing I observed when watching last night's Titchmarsh (The Gardening
Year?) was that he explained some principles, namely how you could tell what
kind of pruning a shrub or climber needed by what time of year it flowered. I
though that was rather neat, it never having occured to me before. If much of
this works in such a way then I could actually Understand Things, rather than
always having to ask someone.

So I wonder if the same sort of thing applies to pot sizes and speed of
growth- it seems logical. If it did then my guesses would be roughly right I
think. So if I don't hear anyone screaming "Stop!" I'm going to go ahead with
that.

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

"VX" wrote in message
s.com...
On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 15:12:51 +0000, VX wrote
(in message m):

I've got two quite small plants that arrived in 3" pots that will both
eventually grow several feet high and I need to know what potting-up
strategy
woud be right. They a

1} Jasminium Polyanthum, currently 15" high and throwing out new shoots
and
looking like it will really take off soon, my guess is that it could go
straight into a 10' pot now, maybe bigger still- and

2] A 10" Acer Palmatum Atropurpureum- apparently this thin twiggy little
thing is two years old already. This one is alive, but not doing anything
at
present, but has many buds. My guess would be this needs a middling-sized
pot, say 6' or so and should be repotted up into progressively bigger
pots
until it is two or three feet high when I could- maybe- put it in its
final
pot (or the ground).

Any ideas- am I guessing anywhere near right with these?


One thing I observed when watching last night's Titchmarsh (The Gardening
Year?) was that he explained some principles, namely how you could tell
what
kind of pruning a shrub or climber needed by what time of year it
flowered. I
though that was rather neat, it never having occured to me before. If much
of
this works in such a way then I could actually Understand Things, rather
than
always having to ask someone.

So I wonder if the same sort of thing applies to pot sizes and speed of
growth- it seems logical. If it did then my guesses would be roughly right
I
think. So if I don't hear anyone screaming "Stop!" I'm going to go ahead
with
that.

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)


I am certain that you will get a few more replies to your post in the
fullness of time. So one lesson you can learn is not to be too impatient
particularly when it comes to gardening:-)

That demo by Alan Titchmarsh was fine to illustrate the pruning of clematis
although it would not always be correct if you wished to achieve lots of
flowers at the top of a clematis that you wanted to flower on top of a
garage or shed roof.

Your plants in 3" pots. Your assumptions are correct . If it's going to be
a big plant then it won't really survive that well in a small pot.
Once the thing has an established root system filling the pot then pot on
into a larger pot.
If you pot on into something too large then you run the risk of swamping a
very young plant with either too much nutrient or water, usually the latter.
However, in the case of something in a small 3" pot the chances are that it
is already root bound. Teasing out the roots to their full length will give
you an idea of what pot size you need.

Did that Acer come as a free gift from Thompson and Morgan ?

The message m
from VX contains these words:

I've got two quite small plants that arrived in 3" pots that will both
eventually grow several feet high and I need to know what potting-up
strategy
woud be right. They a

1} Jasminium Polyanthum, currently 15" high and throwing out new shoots and
looking like it will really take off soon, my guess is that it could go
straight into a 10' pot now, maybe bigger still- and

2] A 10" Acer Palmatum Atropurpureum- apparently this thin twiggy little
thing is two years old already. This one is alive, but not doing
anything at
present, but has many buds. My guess would be this needs a middling-sized
pot, say 6' or so and should be repotted up into progressively bigger pots
until it is two or three feet high when I could- maybe- put it in its final
pot (or the ground).

Any ideas- am I guessing anywhere near right with these?
--


My understanding is that it is better to pot on in smaller stages. I
don't totally understand the principle but the drainage is better if the
roots occupy a fair proportion of the compost.
The jump between sizes can, however, depend upon the vigour of the plant
as if a plant is indestructible and developing very rapidly you can risk
a bigger jump so that you're not having to repot every month or so. But
at this time of year roots are unlikely to be developing very quickly
and the risks of rotting from poor drainage are greater in the cold and
wet. So I wouldn't rush to pot on into much bigger pots, particularly
with the Acer.

Janet G

On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 23:23:02 +0000, Rupert wrote
(in message ):

I am certain that you will get a few more replies to your post in the
fullness of time. So one lesson you can learn is not to be too impatient
particularly when it comes to gardening:-)

And I was trying SO hard not to appear impatient!

That demo by Alan Titchmarsh was fine to illustrate the pruning of clematis
although it would not always be correct if you wished to achieve lots of
flowers at the top of a clematis that you wanted to flower on top of a
garage or shed roof.

Your plants in 3" pots. Your assumptions are correct . If it's going to be
a big plant then it won't really survive that well in a small pot.
Once the thing has an established root system filling the pot then pot on
into a larger pot.
If you pot on into something too large then you run the risk of swamping a
very young plant with either too much nutrient or water, usually the latter.
However, in the case of something in a small 3" pot the chances are that it
is already root bound. Teasing out the roots to their full length will give
you an idea of what pot size you need.

Thanks for that.

I did see some gardening or makeover programme where a nursery propietor was
explaining about container planting and he said that in many cases he'd
advise to just plant things in the final size pot/container- not as ideal as
increasing pot sizes gradually but it worked well enough.

Looking at my Jasminium Polyanthum it seems that this is something that can
grow several feet in one season. If this is the case it seems more logical to
put it in quite a large pot now.

The Acer seems to be something that grows slowly and so I'd assume is more
prone to the negative effects of too large a pot.

Did that Acer come as a free gift from Thompson and Morgan ?

It was a free gift from J Parker when I bought a number of geraniums and
primulas. I hope the its growth is not going to remain at 4-5" per year!

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

"VX" wrote in message
s.com...
On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 23:23:02 +0000, Rupert wrote
(in message ):

I am certain that you will get a few more replies to your post in the
fullness of time. So one lesson you can learn is not to be too impatient
particularly when it comes to gardening:-)

And I was trying SO hard not to appear impatient!

That demo by Alan Titchmarsh was fine to illustrate the pruning of
clematis
although it would not always be correct if you wished to achieve lots of
flowers at the top of a clematis that you wanted to flower on top of a
garage or shed roof.

Your plants in 3" pots. Your assumptions are correct . If it's going to
be
a big plant then it won't really survive that well in a small pot.
Once the thing has an established root system filling the pot then pot on
into a larger pot.
If you pot on into something too large then you run the risk of swamping
a
very young plant with either too much nutrient or water, usually the
latter.
However, in the case of something in a small 3" pot the chances are that
it
is already root bound. Teasing out the roots to their full length will
give
you an idea of what pot size you need.

Thanks for that.

I did see some gardening or makeover programme where a nursery propietor
was
explaining about container planting and he said that in many cases he'd
advise to just plant things in the final size pot/container- not as ideal
as
increasing pot sizes gradually but it worked well enough.

Looking at my Jasminium Polyanthum it seems that this is something that
can
grow several feet in one season. If this is the case it seems more logical
to
put it in quite a large pot now.

The Acer seems to be something that grows slowly and so I'd assume is more
prone to the negative effects of too large a pot.

Did that Acer come as a free gift from Thompson and Morgan ?

It was a free gift from J Parker when I bought a number of geraniums and
primulas. I hope the its growth is not going to remain at 4-5" per year!

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)


Yes you are right about using a large pot for something that is going like
the clappers.
Most plants bought from garden centres will need potting on immediately if
they are not planted in the open ground. They use the smallest pots possible
to save on space and cost which results in root bound plants. We can't have
it all ways because IMHO the cost of most plants is very good value.

The twig you got from Parkers (just like mine) will take a long time to make
anything worthwhile but it was a freebie. That magnificent picture of a
large Acer was a bit misleading.

In article m, VX
writes
I've got two quite small plants that arrived in 3" pots that will both
eventually grow several feet high and I need to know what potting-up strategy
woud be right. They a

1} Jasminium Polyanthum, currently 15" high and throwing out new shoots and
looking like it will really take off soon, my guess is that it could go
straight into a 10' pot now, maybe bigger still- and

2] A 10" Acer Palmatum Atropurpureum- apparently this thin twiggy little
thing is two years old already. This one is alive, but not doing anything at
present, but has many buds. My guess would be this needs a middling-sized
pot, say 6' or so and should be repotted up into progressively bigger pots
until it is two or three feet high when I could- maybe- put it in its final
pot (or the ground).

Any ideas- am I guessing anywhere near right with these?

Well, unless I've misunderstood, I've not seen any 6 or 10 foot pots, I
must admit...)

--
regards andyw