On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 10:56:28 -0000, "David W.E. Roberts"
wrote:

All this is fascinating :-)

However - how big a pot should I use?

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 10:56:28 -0000, "David W.E. Roberts"
wrote:

All this is fascinating :-)

However - how big a pot should I use?

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 10:56:28 -0000, "David W.E. Roberts"
wrote:

All this is fascinating :-)

However - how big a pot should I use?

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 10:56:28 -0000, "David W.E. Roberts"
wrote:

All this is fascinating :-)

However - how big a pot should I use?

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

I wimped out and potted it into a smallish pot - when the roots fill the pot
(if ever) I will pot it on.
Probably best in the short term as I nearly ruptured myself bringing in the
Olive tree which I have just potted up in a large pot.

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...
snip

Just about to pot up my lemon.

Ideally I would like it to grow in a patio tub, about 40cm diameter and
40cm
deep.

Is it O.K. to bang it directly into a large pot, or should I pot it on in
progressively larger pots?

ISTR that flowering plants do better if potted on only when pot bound.

However if the lemon was planted in a border then it would be in umpteen
squillion megalitres of soil (how big is the earth anyway?) and would grow
O.K.

Don't want to slow the growth by leaving it all lonely in a great big huge
pot :-)

TIA

Dave R

The message
from am contains these words:

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

Terracotta pots are way dearer than that. The £5-ish was for a plastic
terracotta look-alike. Really, considering the amount of material, and
the cost of tooling, it's not a bad price at all.

(And it's more difficult to break.)

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

One hears and reads that so often, and yet, I notice that my plants both
grow and flower better when I regularly give them fertilisers.

I suspect that one just has to be careful of false generalisations.

Just try giving pampas grass lots of fertiliser........

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

I wimped out and potted it into a smallish pot - when the roots fill the pot
(if ever) I will pot it on.
Probably best in the short term as I nearly ruptured myself bringing in the
Olive tree which I have just potted up in a large pot.

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...
snip

Just about to pot up my lemon.

Ideally I would like it to grow in a patio tub, about 40cm diameter and
40cm
deep.

Is it O.K. to bang it directly into a large pot, or should I pot it on in
progressively larger pots?

ISTR that flowering plants do better if potted on only when pot bound.

However if the lemon was planted in a border then it would be in umpteen
squillion megalitres of soil (how big is the earth anyway?) and would grow
O.K.

Don't want to slow the growth by leaving it all lonely in a great big huge
pot :-)

TIA

Dave R

In article , Franz Heymann
writes

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...

There is another effect, which is that plants have two methods or
increasing themselves - vegetatively (by growing large, or by throwing
out plantlets) or sexually, by producing flowers. Flowers are more
effort, so the tendency for many perennial plants is to emphasise
vegetative growth when there's plenty of space and food, and emphasise
flower growth when space and food is running out, and there may be a
need to cast seeds to colonise a new site. Therefore, many plants will
flower better if they are pot bound and not over-fed.

One hears and reads that so often, and yet, I notice that my plants both
grow and flower better when I regularly give them fertilisers.

I suspect that one just has to be careful of false generalisations.

Well, I did say 'many perennial plants' I doubt whether it would hold
true for annuals, whose main propagation is by seed. Whereas nasturtiums
are happy to grow masses of lush dark green leaves if well fed! - and
before you say 'but they are annuals' - no, they're not, it's just that
our winter kills them off.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , Franz Heymann
writes

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...

There is another effect, which is that plants have two methods or
increasing themselves - vegetatively (by growing large, or by throwing
out plantlets) or sexually, by producing flowers. Flowers are more
effort, so the tendency for many perennial plants is to emphasise
vegetative growth when there's plenty of space and food, and emphasise
flower growth when space and food is running out, and there may be a
need to cast seeds to colonise a new site. Therefore, many plants will
flower better if they are pot bound and not over-fed.

One hears and reads that so often, and yet, I notice that my plants both
grow and flower better when I regularly give them fertilisers.

I suspect that one just has to be careful of false generalisations.

Well, I did say 'many perennial plants' I doubt whether it would hold
true for annuals, whose main propagation is by seed. Whereas nasturtiums
are happy to grow masses of lush dark green leaves if well fed! - and
before you say 'but they are annuals' - no, they're not, it's just that
our winter kills them off.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , Franz Heymann
writes

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...

There is another effect, which is that plants have two methods or
increasing themselves - vegetatively (by growing large, or by throwing
out plantlets) or sexually, by producing flowers. Flowers are more
effort, so the tendency for many perennial plants is to emphasise
vegetative growth when there's plenty of space and food, and emphasise
flower growth when space and food is running out, and there may be a
need to cast seeds to colonise a new site. Therefore, many plants will
flower better if they are pot bound and not over-fed.

One hears and reads that so often, and yet, I notice that my plants both
grow and flower better when I regularly give them fertilisers.

I suspect that one just has to be careful of false generalisations.

Well, I did say 'many perennial plants' I doubt whether it would hold
true for annuals, whose main propagation is by seed. Whereas nasturtiums
are happy to grow masses of lush dark green leaves if well fed! - and
before you say 'but they are annuals' - no, they're not, it's just that
our winter kills them off.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from am contains these words:

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

Terracotta pots are way dearer than that. The £5-ish was for a plastic
terracotta look-alike. Really, considering the amount of material, and
the cost of tooling, it's not a bad price at all.

(And it's more difficult to break.)

And it actually *is* frost proof.
And I can actually carry an 18" plastic pot around.
There really are some excellent plastic imitations of terracotta pots around
nowadays.

Franz

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from am contains these words:

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

Terracotta pots are way dearer than that. The £5-ish was for a plastic
terracotta look-alike. Really, considering the amount of material, and
the cost of tooling, it's not a bad price at all.

(And it's more difficult to break.)

And it actually *is* frost proof.
And I can actually carry an 18" plastic pot around.
There really are some excellent plastic imitations of terracotta pots around
nowadays.

Franz

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from am contains these words:

Based on the explanation offered by Kay, I would think you should use
a pot only slightly larger than the one you use now, and repot into
gradually larger pots over the years, rather than jump straight to a
giant pot. Or is this just a conspiracy to makes us buy more pots? £5
a throw for terracota! Ouch.

Terracotta pots are way dearer than that. The £5-ish was for a plastic
terracotta look-alike. Really, considering the amount of material, and
the cost of tooling, it's not a bad price at all.

(And it's more difficult to break.)

And it actually *is* frost proof.
And I can actually carry an 18" plastic pot around.
There really are some excellent plastic imitations of terracotta pots around
nowadays.

Franz

wrote in message
...
Hello,

I bought a mandarin orange plant and a grapefruit plant in the summer.
Unfortunately when I went away, they were either over watered or under
watered, because when I came back, they dropped their leaves. After a
little dormant period, they have started to shoot again. I looked
closer today and see that they are shooting from the bottom of the
"trunk".

Now I should explain that I am new to all this (if that wasn't obvious
already). Three quarters of the way up the trunk there is a faint
diagonal line, so I am wondering if this is the graft? I have read
some books and they say when repotting citrus, to make sure the graft
is above soil level. Reading that made me think the graft was quite
low, so I'm not sure; these are a foot high. Does the graft rise as
the plant grows?

I know apples for example are grafted. I hadn't realised citrus was.
The thing is, these new shoots are below, what I think may be the
graft. Without waiting months for them to flower and fruit, do you
think that what I am growing is not what I am expecting? What are
citrus grafted onto (and why?).

Is this the best place to ask citrus questions? I saw a couple of UK
gardening groups in Usenet but this seemed the biggest. I thought I
would ask here before posting to the international rec.gardening
group. I visited yahoo groups but that found 120 groups matching
"citrus" though most seemed to have nothing to do with fruit! The ones
that did had only 5-7 members!

Thanks for your help.

I have been in contact with my brother in South Africa, one of whose
friends, Ferdi Esselen, owns what is said to be the largest citrus nursery
in the world, at Mamalene, Mpumalanga.

According to him, the general practice nowadays is not to graft, but to bud
all citrus trees. The stock is cut off flat at about 15 cm above ground
level, and is budded at that level. The bud-level does rise very slowly
over time by a matter of centimetres only.

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?) grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Franz