One reason I've been given for smaller pot increments is, the roots will head out till they hit the wall and then divide, which you can definitely see in root-bound plants. They aren't root-bound all the way through, just closest to the edge. Thus, if you pot the plants up one size at a time, you will get a good strong root stock that permeates more of the soil, rather than just rushing for the edge and then going round and round... in other words, more stable and uniform root growth with the one-size up steps than mini-huge leap. From my own experience in the five years since I learned this, it seems to hold true.
Thanks for sharing your observations. I've heard (anecdotally) from growers and gardeners who prefer one method or the other, and I've seen success with solid root systems either way. I'm used to the up-potting method (although I usually skip a couple of sizes between repotting) so it never troubles me much to see a little circling of the roots at the bottom of the smaller pot, but I know even this can be a problem for healthy root structures if you're not prompt.
I often pot tiny plants in huge pots and they do great BUT I use a coarse bark-based mix with plenty of pumice and no peat or coir AND I'm a lazy waterer. It's ideal for me but not for heavy-handed waterers or for moisture-retentive mixes. I do appreciate the nuance offered in this video, so much gardening advice is of the 'always/never do this' type.
Honestly as a new gardener who doesn't understand why pots dont come with holes I thought it was an industry thing. Thank you for explaining!!! You are a great teacher!!
I grow most of my plants in the smallest pots I can get away with, usually bumping them up once or twice before selling them. It saves space. That's the only reason I do it. I've never really considered the watering aspect of it. thanks for the video!
Thanks. Yes, space is the thing for me too - I know there are larger field producers of hedging cedars locally that subscribe to the large pot method, but I'm always struggling for growing space.
Thanks a lot mate. It was very usefull info. This is what happened to my tomato plants. I put them directly to a large pot from a small one and they stoped growing till they eventually died.
Once again, very interesting! When it comes to space, I like the idea of rearranging pots in staggered rows instead of straight. Mathematically takes less space as a pattern.
Another great topic Jason.👍 I agree.😁 Now that I said that, here are a few reasons why someone might want to go big. I have over 200 plants in pots from quart/1litre to 35 gallon/132.5 litre. I transferred all of my quart size grapes to 15 gallon pots as well as all of my 2 gallon bag citrus, avocado, mango, lychee, cocoa, macadamia, kukui, coffee, pomegranate, bay laurel, tamarind, banana, and several other trees to 15, 25, and 35 gallon pots. The reason for such a drastic jump in size is multi-fold. The number one reason is the rate of root growth, especially the tropicals. The majority of trees have already tripled in size because their roots were able to spread out like they would in a natural in ground setting. This burst of growth will slow down over this next year and stabilize to a more regulated pattern after that. Some like the pomegranate, cocoa, tamarind, and lychee will be slow and steady, but their root systems will mature more fully in the process. Any time you are considering faster growing plants, over potting by a few sizes or even to a giant pot might be a good thing. It must be said that if you do, you need to understand that additional soil and nutrients will be needed over time and sometimes much quicker than you anticipate. Using larger pots requires a different composition of soil components. For example: If you are planning to keep your plant in that particular pot, like entryway or walkway displays you will probably want a permanent aggregate like river rock/rounded stone and multi mix soil combinations appropriate for those plants to provide adequate drainage. Always be mindful of too much moisture in the bottom of the pot. The top soil will dry out with the sunlight and wind blowing, but that lower middle soil will tend to stay more wet. The river or rounded stone will help to provide a more aggressive drainage for those bigger pots. Growing in larger pots has a higher level of difficulty when it comes to learning how much water, nutrients, and added soil will be needed over time. The best way I've found is to follow the same formula you started with and only adjust things as the plants begin to indicate those additional needs. As the soil settles, fluff it up as much as you can without damaging the roots, then add more of the same mixture, as much as needed, mixing them together. Be careful not to change the soil composition or brand of soil without first making sure the ingredients and ratios are the same. One of the biggest mistakes in long term potted plant care is changing soils. Once you find the right mix for that plant, do your best to maintain that same mixture. If you do have to change brands of soil or sources, try to mix it in to the other soil as much as possible to blend it in, this will reduce the amount of change and adjustment the plant will go through. Another reason for going big is potted gardens. If you want to grow potatoes, onions, tomatoes, chili peppers, bell peppers, squash, corn, beets and other tubers, you will need a deeper and wider space. I typically use 25 gallon pots for gardening because they provide a good surface space as well as the depth that many plants need. I know a few people have mentioned planting out in the ground. If you do not properly prepare the soil for what you are planting, those plants will struggle and many times die. The outside space should be tilled and fortified to a depth of at least 24 inches or approximately 2/3rds of a meter. If the soil beneath the plant is not broken up enough the plant will suffocate, also the moisture level will be inconsistent, too dry in the heat and too wet in the cool. Natural ground compaction is much too heavy for young plants, they need a gentle surrounding buffer to help them grow strong enough to survive in their new environment. I hope this was helpful. Happy growing.🤙
Thanks for the input. And I can wholeheartedly agree on "skipping" steps long the way - if the plant is a fast grower and wants to be big, it won't take long to fill the pot with roots, so the watering and soil compaction problems become less of an issue.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Exactly. For small growers or patio gardeners where growing in pots is a necessity for space, understanding your plants is so important. Leaning what each plant needs is the hard part, after that it's just maintenance.
Thanks, I recently had to bring in my plants twice. I took them out of my garage to get them ready for my garden and my daughter tells me of a freezing storm is coming. I had to drag them all back in and then another one coming lol thanks for your help always !!!
Can you read our minds? How do you know what we need Jason hahaha I'm done with pots! I've just finished sum 12 cm high ..1.2.meter Square trays... no drain holes with mostly perlite with A Scattering of pimped compost kelp, Bone M, ewc,etc and VItax low N pellets.... when I need to remove plants I'll just rip them out ... the paradigm shift for me this season was learning how easy it is to create high humidity for large areas of small plants using BUILDERS PLASTIC SHEETS .. you know the stuff £1 or $1 for a pack of 5 it's piss weak, but it's about 6 by 4 m once you have it pegged where you need it and people oh my god ! The speed of growth was incredible... you can adjust humidity by one or two points just by lifting up a corner or Edge, it's incredibly accurate. Young ones will thank you for the extra protection and higher humidity.. it's very slightly opaque so provides protection from direct light and diffuses it instead reduces transplant shock and retains warmth.
The plant's growth rate in spring and summer can also be a reason for choosing the size of the pot. Some types of trees can fill the pot quickly and require increasing the size of the pot each year.
Thank you for this video! As a result of watching your videos, and your recent comments about overpotting, and especially focussing on the soil, I've already started changing my method of potting my roses and camellias.
Interesting video, thanks (once again.) Question though - how is planting a small plant in very large container different than planting a small plant into the ground?
Thanks Nelson. I've definitely seen undersized plants struggle in the landscape too - and I give them extra care early on. In oversized containers, I definitely worry more about the potting soil - whether it will compact over time (and reduce available air porosity), whether it being wet for too long will increase susceptibility to rot, whether there will be a build up of fertilizer salts. In the ground it's more: will a nearby mole disturb it, will it get enough water, will nearby plants muscle it out? Both can be challenging, but not necessarily the exact same concerns.
Can I please answer that too Jason? It's because the water dissipates in the ground more readily. Also, in a pot air pores (which are necessary) are provided by having chunks (bark) in the mix. In the ground macro and micro life in the soil provide that aeration. In a pot the plant roots suck the water up. If it's overpotted (small plant, big pot), there is alot of area where the potting medium stays wet but it dries out where there are roots. This causes fungal problems in the part of the soil medium that stays wet. Though, if it's a fast to root plant like corn or tomato this doesn't happen because the roots take up the space in a large pot quickly. Hope this helps. 😊
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thanks for the feedback. Further question (if I may), I have planted my roses in the largest terracotta planters I could find, about 30" to 32" in Diameter and about 28"H. These are unlined so they breathe as well as Terracotta can. Does this make a difference in your views on small plant, large planters? So far I have put in roses either from the nursery in 1-Gallon pots or in those small, square open bottom containers (slips? sleeves? I can never remember the term for these). And so far, in the first ten case, all have thrived so far. Thanks in advance for your insight, and I am in the SF Bay Area, Zone 10a, so my biggest problem is having to keep them watered on hot summer days. The Double Delight is always the first to dry out with nodding buds, but the rest, (all pre-1945 introductions) don't seem to mind anything so far.
Thanks for all your videos Jason. As a home gardener, I don’t mind the disadvantages outlined of putting straight into a large pot (I don’t need to conserve space for more propagations, I can refresh the soil in the large pot regularly, I can rewire my habits to adjust watering), and I like the advantages of the large pot: 1) Less transplant shock, plant grows faster 2) Don’t need successively larger pots, which are often expensive as we’re not using the black grower’s pots at home. Can just buy the large expensive pot once and be done with it. However, I have always had one question which I hope you can address - does successive up-potting encourage denser feeder roots? I have heard the wisdom that plant roots grow to seek the edge of the pot first, and then they grow fine feeder roots based on the size of the pot they “sense”. So if you place them in incrementally larger pots, they will grow more roots vs. placing them in a large pot immediately, as you are “tricking” them into thinking that they must grow all their feeder roots densely, before up-potting them. If so, then that is the only reason I see for me to do incremental up-potting as a home gardener.
Thanks - I'm glad to see you apply this sensibly to your own growing situation. The science is clear that a larger pot allows for more photosynthesis and growth right away - the plant quickly "measures" the size of the pot, and regulates it's growth to some degree accordingly. But then I've heard this other concern before: people saying that without the "tight pot" treatment, the plant won't form a root ball or a dense network of feeder roots. I haven't yet seen the studies to support this view. In practice, I've seen excellent and dense root development even when smaller plants have established in oversized pots. I have to say, the bigger concern might be with the other (up-potting) method, and the chance that the tree or shrub could develop encircled roots or become root bound at one stage or another.
Wow I love learning something new especially when it's proven true. Here's a tip for exchange When it comes to trees, up-potted stock's root systems are suspect at best. And why best practice presently is Bare root transplanting by removing soil which most likely otherwise can hide circling and stem girdling roots needing to be removed by pruning. Really it's is simple nature, by promoting roots to extend radially outbound.
Thanks! I'm mounting a planter on a wall and I don't want to change the fittings each time it grows, so I'm thinking I might start with a somewhat bigger pot and fill in some space with polystyrene blocks or similar, which I can later remove.
Thanks a lot, this is exactly what I was looking for. On a side node, you could save some more space by ordering the pots in a hexagonal pattern instead of a square one. Anyway, I'll stick with smaller pots for now, thanks
Now this is completely different from planting seeds in their permanent containers right? Specifically plants that don’t do well with transplanting. Correct?
I'm not sure I'd say "completely different": you should consider the pros and cons of the pot size either way. As an example, I grow some butterfly weed (asclepisa). It's a risky perennial to transplant because damage to the tap root may kill the plant. Nevertheless, I'm reluctant to put a small seedling (or direct seed) into a deep 5 gallon because that would make the watering tricky, and may increase the risk of rot. I'll likely go to a 1 gallon first for a while, then maybe step up to a 3 gallon. On the other hand, it might be wholly appropriate to sow a fast-growing veggie (like squash or melons) into its final pot size. The roots will take over the pot quickly enough that you won't have to worry much about the watering or soil settling. I think with careful watering and the right soil mix, you can make it work for a lot of different plants - but I'm still more comfortable with up-potting personally.
Brilliant video. Love all the tips and tricks you pack in to your videos. Hope you don't mind if I add one more? I have back problems and in the past have struggled to move my large containers of hybrid teas. But I now used WHEELED plasic pots pots that come in a range of sizes. Means I can move my large container-grown HT roses around according to when I need to enjoy them in bloom from my patio doors to following your advice and placing them in a sheltered area of the garden in winter to protect them from frost and gales. Downside is I they're too heavy to place the pots inside a more decorative container, but hey, you can't have everything!
Great video. Agree with a the points you made. That last item is probably one of the biggest reasons for me, esp indoors, water does not evaporate quick enough either, and the poor plant needs to sit in moist soil for an extended period, which I think reduces oxygen to the roots, most plants don't like wet feet all the time. It encourages things like algae to grow on the surface, which further reduces the soil's ability to take in oxygen. Yep I always match plant size to containers. Thanks for a great video!
It's an interesting topic. I pot my chilli plants straight from seed cells into their forever home (typically ten gallon grow bags). They grow into trees here essentially and I usually have them for five or six years. They are in coco coir hydro system so soil degradation doesn't really matter in such a short time. As far as in a nursery context, well you are rarely selling fully mature plants so why would you waste all that soil and a larger, more expensive pot than is required for that small plant? I'm pretty sure your customers wouldn't want to lug home a 10 gallon pot for a small rose plant either.
Thanks Brad. Yeah, this is more a general topic video. With my roses and perennials (most of what I grow) I don't go any larger than a 2 gallon, and that's not such a big step from a well-rooted liner.
I disagree with this. Roses don't take any more care than most other perennials. You water them the same; fertilize them the same; and prune them the same (as any other perennial that you prune). Roses can be more susceptible to some diseases than other perennials, but you treat them just like you would other plants with a treatment appropriate for the condition. If your roses get aphids, you treat them the same you would as tomatoes get aphids. If you get powdery mildew, you treat them just like cucumbers that get powdery mildew. There are some diseases that are more common to roses than other plants like blackspot and leaf rust, but you just treat for these conditions. It isn't any more specialized and perpetuating these myths of requiring specialized care or being difficult to grow is nonsensical, elitist, and discourages people from growing roses. As long as you aren't neglecting them, checking the soil before watering, using an appropriate fertilizer, manage pests and disease just like anything else you grow, and grow varieties appropriate for your microclimate, you will have success. The only caveat that I would add is white roses tend to not do well in very hot, long day climates because they flowers tend to burn around the edges.
Hmmm I was told not to pot up unless getting rootbound and growing indoors, if not go straight to the big pot once the plant is established to plant outdoors in the pot
I heard some guy said that if you make sure the soil that you're putting the roots in for the transplant is wet then you should not have transplant shock as much anyway do you believe this?
Thanks Dave. It's one of the factors in transplant shock - and a dry soil definitely wouldn't make the transition easier. Good availability of moisture (and even a little extra warmth/humidity or shelter from harsh sun/wind) would reduce the stress for sure.
Excellent video, something I've started looking into. From what I have seen, in terms of plant health there is no difference (re; the stronger roots in smaller container, studies have shown no difference). I think for hobby home growers planting in final giant pots is probably fine. But in a commercial operation it makes so much more sense for space and watering. You would want each plant to take up as little space (and water) as possible in the interest of the economy of scale - more plants to sell! And then with well coordinated timing of successive germination/cuttings, vegetative growth, and then up potting and sales it could be very economical despite the labour. And always, it would depend on the specific plants, seasons and demand.
Thanks for your thoughts on this! I'm inclined to agree with you on the root ball issue (and all the anecdotal talk that plants in larger pots make for poor root structure) - I think you can grow a great root system either way! I do intend to keep going with up-potting because I need to manage my space through the season.
Thank Jason! Basically you mentioned all the possible reasons to not use oversize pot (medium) and I agree with you! Here are some additional reasons from my experience and hope people can find it helpful too. 1) for people who don’t own garden but only a balcony, like me, with certain size of an area, bigger pot will occupy more space, thus to decrease the number of pots (and the plants in them), which means, the rate of death per area is higher. With smaller pots, when some plants die, I can easily replace it when sacrifice less. Because you can’t guarantee each plant will survive. Speaking of making the best use of a small area. 2) if you HAVE TO use a big container for a small plant to ‘save the labour’ or hassle. Maybe try this: fill the bottom half of the container with something ‘useless’ for the roots, with some hydrophobic materials, like polystyrene chunks. This is only to occupy the space, not to create the infamous ‘drainage layer’. And the hydrophobic material will not cause soggy soil for the small root system. So when you need to uppot the plant, pull out the plant, remove some of the polystyrene, and add more soil. So you don’t have to change the pot, but only to increase the volume of the potting medium.
Thanks for your insights. After I posted this, my wife Lisa also mentioned something similar to your points: there's always a % of losses in a crop, and when you choose a larger pot, you're gambling with more space and more soil.
Though if growing a large annual in a pot, like a tomato or a sunflower, that space is not wasted, it's invaluable for extra root space, root stability, and holding water through the day.
Though if growing a large annual in a pot, like a tomato or a sunflower, that space is not wasted, it's invaluable for extra root space, root stability, and holding water through the day.
@@FireflyOnTheMoon yes, agree, because tomatoes grow really fast. That’s the factor need to be considered accordingly. And also for annuals, when it dies, it dies, you can’t replace it at any time of the year to ‘fill the blank’, you’ll have to wait for another cycle of the year for a second batch. So your target for annuals is aiming for a whole year already. so you can plan your spaces for the whole year’s usage. For example, if I want to plant 10 tomatoes, I’m aiming 10 big containers already and they will be full in the end of the growing cycle. If one dies, then it dies, I can’t plant another one. And there is no reason for me to uppot for the next year because it’s annual. But for perennials, like roses here, even though there is better time and worse time to repot and uppot, the replacing could be done through the year. I hope I have explained my ‘logic’ here clearly. 😁
What do you think of this idea: Take a pipe with a diameter of a small pot and fill it with perlite and some water. Freeze and then remove the pipe from the solid cylinder of perlite and ice. Take the cylinder and place it in the middle of a big pot. Start filling the big pot with soil and make sure you have a layer of perlite mixed with a little bit of fertilizer every 2-3 inches. Cover the top so that the soil doesn't dry out leaving only the cylinder, place some soil there for germination. I don't know but in my head I think this would make it so that you can water the seedling and have the excess water run out the bottom. As the plant grows it fill find the nutrient perlite layers/pockets and reach out its roots (layering will prevent the packing you mentioned). Slowly you can start watering further out in the soil as the plant grows bigger. Thoughts on this? Transplanting is the most annoying part of gardening if you ask me so I'm looking for a solution.
Question when u do outdoor plant in much larger pot seems great but lack of flowers is it because plant is focused on growing roots n size vs the flower?? It's a hydrangea seems very good healthy alot of new growth but lack of flowers jus started a week ago adding bloom booster thanks for any info
Makes a lotta 'cents'. Perhaps in your larger 5/7 gallon pot area you could use the "in between space" for suitable plants. Stack them on top even. It would shade some of your tender cuttings and smaller plants. Specifically small 4" -6" size plants on top tier (while plants are still small inside the larger pots on bottom.)
Thank you, very interesting. Question, if the soil sinks, can't you just top it off with more potting mix? Also, can you initially mix with materials that keep the soil loose? Maybe throw in some worms... For the home gardener it seems to make more sense then continually repotting. Since I don't have a brain that equates size of plant/pot/watering, I wouldn't have to retrain to know when to water. I would just have to train. I think growing in a large pot is like placing a small plug plant into the ground - it's a large space, keep it watered but not too much, add nutrients, and leave it at that. But I can understand that growers have different requirements.
It's not so much a problem that the soil has shrunk to a lower level, but rather that the air spaces that used to make up that volume are no longer there, making for a denser and less well drained mix. Adding soil to the top will restore the height, but not the air spaces. If your mix is made from longer-lasting materials (this is one area where coir really shines - so does pumice) it's less of a concern. It's also a benefit if your plant grows quickly and stabilizes the volume with its roots. I'm not really advocating one approach or the other - they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. I just try to get viewers to consider their options.
As a home gardener, we have to buy these sizes of pots, and eventually we make these pots collect dust. Why can we simulate the ground planting using huge pots?
What if we were to plant something directly in the garden, not a pot? Would I still follow the same way before I finally transplant it in the garden? Like fruit trees for example.
I like to get my perennials up into about 1 gallon before I feel comfortable getting them into the ground. For a shrub or tree, I might even try to get them up to a 3 or 5 gallon.
Hi Donna. Not without crowding the space and blocking the light from the plants below. If I were trying to pack more in, I could tighten up the spacing on the floor by offsetting the rows a little to waste less space between them.
I ordered a lot of bare root roses to come this spring, so I love the idea of starting out smaller and up pot. Everywhere else online suggests 20”+ large pots. It is so confusion for a new grower! What size pot do you recommend I use to begin? Say a two year old bareroot?
I've tried it for short durations (like when I'm between locations in transplanting roses) but for longer growing I hear mixed results. Some have told me that the large grow bags will dry out quite quickly compared to plastic or ceramic pots. I guess so long as you take that into account with watering, it might still be okay.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you! Yes for my case , it will be temporary until i finished the bed for bareroot that i just recieve. Hope it will be ok.
If I over pot I simply let the plant think its in the soil and not in a pot meaning I let the rain water my plants as I plan to have those I over pot in the soil one day and to make sure its aerated I add lots of perlite.
I am a fan of (aka biased toward) giving a plant "lots of room to grow", but have found it doesn't work out. Much as you say, and I will add-- I end up having to handle the pots routinely anyway. And hassles of handling jump right up to the heavy and bulky category. And with watering, swimming isn't the only issue, big pot and little root system means that most of the pot isn't a reservoir waiting to be drawn toward the root system but is instead a fancy puddle waiting to evaporate in the heat. All the time and water simply lost to evaporation rankles me. That said, my happy medium is to try to give the plant room for two seasons of growth before it can possibly become root bound. I have good luck going from a 2 to a 5. Thank you.
Thanks - and that's where I've gone with this too, choosing the next reasonable size up I think I can manage over a season. I don't hesitate to go from a plug or small liner straight to a 2 gallon pot, and I'd be happy to go from a 2 to a 5 or 7gallon as well.
Interesting question and a thorough explanation thank you. Here in Great Britain we are advised to put some cuttings (especially Pelegoniums and Geraniums close to the edge of a container I think this is something to do with the roots liking it. Do you have an opinion or explanation of why that might be? Thank you for your time and expertise.
Thanks Maddie. TBH I'd never heard that advice before, and to the degree that I've ever seen a grower sticking geraniums close to the edge of a pot (in a hanging basket, for instance) I always assumed it was because they look really good when they spill over the edge!
Hello Jason, I have seen plenty of your informational videos regarding gardening. I really appreciate the way you explain things in detail. I have a question regarding my hardy hibiscus plant. I planted my 3 foot hibiscus plant in 2021 summer and had a beautiful bloom too. I hard pruned it in early fall after all the bloom faded. Its early spring here in zone 7. My hibiscus is not showing any signs of budding while other plants are showing signs of coming back to life. Will my hardy hibiscus survive? Or was it a bad idea to hard prune a small hibiscus plant?? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
Nothing I can vouch for. I get my plug trays from a local horticultural distributor, and chose them pretty sturdy, but I can't say about what's been sold on Amazon or other online retailers.
If I have a small plant in a big pot I just water it like its in a smaller pot. Just a ring of water around where the plants roots are instead of watering the whole pot until the plat gets larger. I find if I water the whole pot the plant wont use all the water and you can start to get mold and stuff growing where the roots are not taking the water away.
Good call. You definitely have to watch your watering volume (or expect to have a soggy soil most of the time). One downside to lowering the watering volume is that you can't easily flush out excess nutrient salt buildup (either from the liquid feed or from fertilizer in the pot) so every once in a while, it's probably a good idea to flush with plain water or let the rain do it!
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Good point about salt buildup if your using synthetic salt based nutrients. I'm a dry organic amendment guy so I don't use any liquid fertilizers other than fish emulation, kelp and seaweed extract. Salt buildup doesn't seem to be an issue for me with organic amendments.
Repotting to an oversized container also discourages root growth and in turn heavily affects vigour, in my experience. Probably because "lazy roots" are developed when there is stagnant water in the pot, while adequately sized pots allow for fast cycles of thoroughly watered to dried out. Maybe Air-Pots could be the exception, though fabric pots hold on to moisture for too long as well to make big jumps (i.e rooted cutting from 1gal to a 7-10 gal as final pot for sale). There's no shortcuts when working with nature :)
Thanks - I've heard a lot of anecdotal info (valuable in its own way) about how roots behave in a larger pot, and to add to the anecdotes: I've see beautiful root development and terrible root development both in smaller pots and in larger pots, more depending on soil media, watering and overall conditions. The studies on the matter don't address the structure per se (so far as I could find) but do definitely favor a larger pot for overall vigor: www.researchgate.net/publication/236645802_Pot_size_matters_A_meta-analysis_of_the_effects_of_rooting_volume_on_plant_growth
Plants do best with some air and some water in the soil. To wet or to dry, no go. So there is this time frame where that happens, that time frame happens a lot in a smaller pot. Plant gets to be happy a few times a week. In a large pot it takes so long to dry it out the plant may be happy once a week, if that. How many times can you cross that happy zone line between too wet and too dry? Lot more often in a small pot (small relative to the plants size). This is the magic of some types of hydroponics. You can stay in that zone almost all the time.
It sounds like, for a small grower like me with a small garden, as long as the growing medium is managing to stay aerated, it would be fine to put, say, small annuals like a tomato or a petunia into a big pot to start off with. They will grow to adult size in a few months, so soil compaction should not be a problem. We could be mindful of not overwatering, although if they are outside they would get rained on here in England through the spring / summer anyway if outside. Might you agree....?
I think you've got it exactly right. A fast growing veggie seedling will fill up a 1 or 2 gallon pot quickly enough that soil compaction shouldn't be an issue.
Where do you get your nursery pots? I’ve recently started several fig cuttings and am having trouble finding 1 gal pots like the one you showed. Most aren’t straight sided, or are actually smaller and have a very thin plastic that won’t last several seasons. Yours look a lot like my 3 and 5gal pots and I love those but can’t find them in 1gal. Great video!
@@FireflyOnTheMoon potting medium does contain nutrients, plus compost is often mixed in. Only germination mixes don’t include nutrients. That’s my understanding.
Honestly, I don't mind the process of repotting to a slightly larger pot to better the plants overall health it just gives me more time in the garden lol I'm not sure who benefits more me or the plants. 😄
Hi Rhonda - I'm not totally sure what you mean. As mentioned, you can grow well in a smaller pot or a larger pot if you manage the watering - so it's not a right or wrong answer, just two different approaches. If you've found over a length of time that a smaller plant in a larger pot has failed to thrive (like if the soil was just holding its moisture too long between waterings, and the roots aren't filling in) you could either adjust your approach to watering or repot into a fresh mix in a size you're happier with.
Hello from South Korea, If you don't mind, may I ask something about horticulture? Could you recommend any good resource to learn horticulture for a person from non-English speaking country? I applied for a course called horticultural technician in Ontario(Canada) and then I am waiting for the result of my application. While waiting the result, I am trying to prepare the program because English is my second language. So, I am looking for some information related to horticulture, especially much easier to understand and then I found your channel! :) Thank you so much for posting lots of information! (Honestly, I need lots of time to fully understand, but I keep trying to figure out!)
Thanks Bonnie. I'm happy to see you pick up so much from online resources. I see that there are good resources within Korea as well - so I'm curious to know why you're looking elsewhere?
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm You're right! There are some information regarding horticulture in my country, and I ,of course, visited some book stores (including online shops) to find some books. However, I felt those books are too professional to comprehend for me like a beginner("for now"). :( I would like to learn a basic one, especially English one. That's because I think that I need to lots of time to fully understand from various basic words related to horticulture when I start to study the program that I applied for. I found a school called Niagara Parks School of Horticulture in Ontario, but I think this school doesn't accept international's application("for now"). So, I decided to apply for one of other colleges in Ontario to learn this field. I heard that Canada is one of famous countries in horticultural industry like well-trained instructors, well-organized programs! Even though I am still waiting the result of my application, I want to know this field! Thank you so much for your reply and have a nice day! :)
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Oh, I knew the university, especially in Surrey! That's because I was in Vancouver and Moncton. So, originally I research some college in Vancouver at first. However, due to some reasons, I decided to choose other colleges in a different province. :( Thank you so much for letting me know about it and have a nice day, as well! :)
another theory on progressing through pot sizes is giving the roots some restriction as you go so you form a fuller root ball over time. I haven't seen evidence of this myself, have you?
I've heard that too - and it's true that I've seen some dense fine roots form in smaller containers, but I've also seen it (eventually) in plants grown straight into larger containers. I'm not convinced the root system is any better with the step-by-step method, and in fact at each stage there's some risk of root encirclement (poor structure) or of the plant becoming rootbound.
Here in Puerto Rico roses are hard to find. I read from a woman in my Garden group on Facebook that she had 5 rose plants that were stolen! She said they were dug out from the ground. She said hers were thornless. Can you do a video about thornless roses.
I'm guilty of both re-potting into oversized pots and then overwatering, so yeah, this is information I need to hear.
I'm the same way
Up potting never made sense to me but now I understand.
Thank you for this information.
Well done, Jason. You answered the questions I've had for years on this subject.
One reason I've been given for smaller pot increments is, the roots will head out till they hit the wall and then divide, which you can definitely see in root-bound plants. They aren't root-bound all the way through, just closest to the edge. Thus, if you pot the plants up one size at a time, you will get a good strong root stock that permeates more of the soil, rather than just rushing for the edge and then going round and round... in other words, more stable and uniform root growth with the one-size up steps than mini-huge leap. From my own experience in the five years since I learned this, it seems to hold true.
Thanks for sharing your observations. I've heard (anecdotally) from growers and gardeners who prefer one method or the other, and I've seen success with solid root systems either way. I'm used to the up-potting method (although I usually skip a couple of sizes between repotting) so it never troubles me much to see a little circling of the roots at the bottom of the smaller pot, but I know even this can be a problem for healthy root structures if you're not prompt.
I often pot tiny plants in huge pots and they do great BUT I use a coarse bark-based mix with plenty of pumice and no peat or coir AND I'm a lazy waterer. It's ideal for me but not for heavy-handed waterers or for moisture-retentive mixes. I do appreciate the nuance offered in this video, so much gardening advice is of the 'always/never do this' type.
Thanks for sharing your method. Like you said, it's good for people to know there's not just a single way to succeed.
Honestly as a new gardener who doesn't understand why pots dont come with holes I thought it was an industry thing. Thank you for explaining!!! You are a great teacher!!
Oh I missed that part!!
I feel enlightened,
never made sense before, especially when you compare planting in the ground.
ty Jason
Thanks for answering my question, Jason. xx
I grow most of my plants in the smallest pots I can get away with, usually bumping them up once or twice before selling them. It saves space. That's the only reason I do it. I've never really considered the watering aspect of it. thanks for the video!
Thanks. Yes, space is the thing for me too - I know there are larger field producers of hedging cedars locally that subscribe to the large pot method, but I'm always struggling for growing space.
Thanks FVRF. I hope you have a record spring!
Thanks a lot mate. It was very usefull info. This is what happened to my tomato plants. I put them directly to a large pot from a small one and they stoped growing till they eventually died.
Ugh - not fun!
Once again, very interesting! When it comes to space, I like the idea of rearranging pots in staggered rows instead of straight. Mathematically takes less space as a pattern.
Thanks!
I thought of this also, however, I wonder if you loose the gained space at the alternating end of the rows. Michael
Another great topic Jason.👍
I agree.😁
Now that I said that, here are a few reasons why someone might want to go big.
I have over 200 plants in pots from quart/1litre to 35 gallon/132.5 litre.
I transferred all of my quart size grapes to 15 gallon pots as well as all of my 2 gallon bag citrus, avocado, mango, lychee, cocoa, macadamia, kukui, coffee, pomegranate, bay laurel, tamarind, banana, and several other trees to 15, 25, and 35 gallon pots.
The reason for such a drastic jump in size is multi-fold.
The number one reason is the rate of root growth, especially the tropicals.
The majority of trees have already tripled in size because their roots were able to spread out like they would in a natural in ground setting. This burst of growth will slow down over this next year and stabilize to a more regulated pattern after that. Some like the pomegranate, cocoa, tamarind, and lychee will be slow and steady, but their root systems will mature more fully in the process.
Any time you are considering faster growing plants, over potting by a few sizes or even to a giant pot might be a good thing.
It must be said that if you do, you need to understand that additional soil and nutrients will be needed over time and sometimes much quicker than you anticipate.
Using larger pots requires a different composition of soil components.
For example:
If you are planning to keep your plant in that particular pot, like entryway or walkway displays you will probably want a permanent aggregate like river rock/rounded stone and multi mix soil combinations appropriate for those plants to provide adequate drainage.
Always be mindful of too much moisture in the bottom of the pot. The top soil will dry out with the sunlight and wind blowing, but that lower middle soil will tend to stay more wet. The river or rounded stone will help to provide a more aggressive drainage for those bigger pots.
Growing in larger pots has a higher level of difficulty when it comes to learning how much water, nutrients, and added soil will be needed over time.
The best way I've found is to follow the same formula you started with and only adjust things as the plants begin to indicate those additional needs. As the soil settles, fluff it up as much as you can without damaging the roots, then add more of the same mixture, as much as needed, mixing them together. Be careful not to change the soil composition or brand of soil without first making sure the ingredients and ratios are the same.
One of the biggest mistakes in long term potted plant care is changing soils. Once you find the right mix for that plant, do your best to maintain that same mixture.
If you do have to change brands of soil or sources, try to mix it in to the other soil as much as possible to blend it in, this will reduce the amount of change and adjustment the plant will go through.
Another reason for going big is potted gardens.
If you want to grow potatoes, onions, tomatoes, chili peppers, bell peppers, squash, corn, beets and other tubers, you will need a deeper and wider space.
I typically use 25 gallon pots for gardening because they provide a good surface space as well as the depth that many plants need.
I know a few people have mentioned planting out in the ground.
If you do not properly prepare the soil for what you are planting, those plants will struggle and many times die. The outside space should be tilled and fortified to a depth of at least 24 inches or approximately 2/3rds of a meter.
If the soil beneath the plant is not broken up enough the plant will suffocate, also the moisture level will be inconsistent, too dry in the heat and too wet in the cool.
Natural ground compaction is much too heavy for young plants, they need a gentle surrounding buffer to help them grow strong enough to survive in their new environment.
I hope this was helpful.
Happy growing.🤙
Thanks for the input. And I can wholeheartedly agree on "skipping" steps long the way - if the plant is a fast grower and wants to be big, it won't take long to fill the pot with roots, so the watering and soil compaction problems become less of an issue.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Exactly.
For small growers or patio gardeners where growing in pots is a necessity for space, understanding your plants is so important.
Leaning what each plant needs is the hard part, after that it's just maintenance.
Thanks, I recently had to bring in my plants twice. I took them out of my garage to get them ready for my garden and my daughter tells me of a freezing storm is coming. I had to drag them all back in and then another one coming lol thanks for your help always !!!
Can you read our minds? How do you know what we need Jason hahaha I'm done with pots! I've just finished sum 12 cm high ..1.2.meter Square trays... no drain holes with mostly perlite with A Scattering of pimped compost kelp, Bone M, ewc,etc and VItax low N pellets.... when I need to remove plants I'll just rip them out ... the paradigm shift for me this season was learning how easy it is to create high humidity for large areas of small plants using BUILDERS PLASTIC SHEETS .. you know the stuff £1 or $1 for a pack of 5 it's piss weak, but it's about 6 by 4 m once you have it pegged where you need it and people oh my god ! The speed of growth was incredible... you can adjust humidity by one or two points just by lifting up a corner or Edge, it's incredibly accurate. Young ones will thank you for the extra protection and higher humidity.. it's very slightly opaque so provides protection from direct light and diffuses it instead reduces transplant shock and retains warmth.
Yes the painters stuff
The plant's growth rate in spring and summer can also be a reason for choosing the size of the pot. Some types of trees can fill the pot quickly and require increasing the size of the pot each year.
Thank you for this video! As a result of watching your videos, and your recent comments about overpotting, and especially focussing on the soil, I've already started changing my method of potting my roses and camellias.
Interesting video, thanks (once again.) Question though - how is planting a small plant in very large container different than planting a small plant into the ground?
Thanks Nelson. I've definitely seen undersized plants struggle in the landscape too - and I give them extra care early on. In oversized containers, I definitely worry more about the potting soil - whether it will compact over time (and reduce available air porosity), whether it being wet for too long will increase susceptibility to rot, whether there will be a build up of fertilizer salts. In the ground it's more: will a nearby mole disturb it, will it get enough water, will nearby plants muscle it out? Both can be challenging, but not necessarily the exact same concerns.
Can I please answer that too Jason? It's because the water dissipates in the ground more readily. Also, in a pot air pores (which are necessary) are provided by having chunks (bark) in the mix. In the ground macro and micro life in the soil provide that aeration.
In a pot the plant roots suck the water up. If it's overpotted (small plant, big pot), there is alot of area where the potting medium stays wet but it dries out where there are roots. This causes fungal problems in the part of the soil medium that stays wet.
Though, if it's a fast to root plant like corn or tomato this doesn't happen because the roots take up the space in a large pot quickly. Hope this helps. 😊
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thanks for the feedback. Further question (if I may), I have planted my roses in the largest terracotta planters I could find, about 30" to 32" in Diameter and about 28"H. These are unlined so they breathe as well as Terracotta can. Does this make a difference in your views on small plant, large planters? So far I have put in roses either from the nursery in 1-Gallon pots or in those small, square open bottom containers (slips? sleeves? I can never remember the term for these). And so far, in the first ten case, all have thrived so far. Thanks in advance for your insight, and I am in the SF Bay Area, Zone 10a, so my biggest problem is having to keep them watered on hot summer days. The Double Delight is always the first to dry out with nodding buds, but the rest, (all pre-1945 introductions) don't seem to mind anything so far.
For sure, the same thinking. Big pots vs ground planting
The underrated issue explained very well. Love from India 🇮🇳 ❤️
Great video. I pot up my roses too. Originally it was to save money and space, but it has worked well for me.
And they look so cozy packed in your car! My kind of travel companions...
Appreciate your excellent researched and personally tried information that you pass on to us. THANK YOU!
My pleasure!
Thanks for all your videos Jason. As a home gardener, I don’t mind the disadvantages outlined of putting straight into a large pot (I don’t need to conserve space for more propagations, I can refresh the soil in the large pot regularly, I can rewire my habits to adjust watering), and I like the advantages of the large pot: 1) Less transplant shock, plant grows faster 2) Don’t need successively larger pots, which are often expensive as we’re not using the black grower’s pots at home. Can just buy the large expensive pot once and be done with it. However, I have always had one question which I hope you can address - does successive up-potting encourage denser feeder roots? I have heard the wisdom that plant roots grow to seek the edge of the pot first, and then they grow fine feeder roots based on the size of the pot they “sense”. So if you place them in incrementally larger pots, they will grow more roots vs. placing them in a large pot immediately, as you are “tricking” them into thinking that they must grow all their feeder roots densely, before up-potting them. If so, then that is the only reason I see for me to do incremental up-potting as a home gardener.
Thanks - I'm glad to see you apply this sensibly to your own growing situation. The science is clear that a larger pot allows for more photosynthesis and growth right away - the plant quickly "measures" the size of the pot, and regulates it's growth to some degree accordingly. But then I've heard this other concern before: people saying that without the "tight pot" treatment, the plant won't form a root ball or a dense network of feeder roots. I haven't yet seen the studies to support this view. In practice, I've seen excellent and dense root development even when smaller plants have established in oversized pots. I have to say, the bigger concern might be with the other (up-potting) method, and the chance that the tree or shrub could develop encircled roots or become root bound at one stage or another.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm thanks so much for replying to me! I love your channel and the way you rely on evidence. You communicate it so logically too!
Wow I love learning something new especially when it's proven true. Here's a tip for exchange
When it comes to trees, up-potted stock's root systems are suspect at best. And why best practice presently is Bare root transplanting by removing soil which most likely otherwise can hide circling and stem girdling roots needing to be removed by pruning. Really it's is simple nature, by promoting roots to extend radially outbound.
Thanks!
I'm mounting a planter on a wall and I don't want to change the fittings each time it grows, so I'm thinking I might start with a somewhat bigger pot and fill in some space with polystyrene blocks or similar, which I can later remove.
Thanks a lot, this is exactly what I was looking for. On a side node, you could save some more space by ordering the pots in a hexagonal pattern instead of a square one. Anyway, I'll stick with smaller pots for now, thanks
Thank you so much Jason
Now this is completely different from planting seeds in their permanent containers right? Specifically plants that don’t do well with transplanting. Correct?
I'm not sure I'd say "completely different": you should consider the pros and cons of the pot size either way. As an example, I grow some butterfly weed (asclepisa). It's a risky perennial to transplant because damage to the tap root may kill the plant. Nevertheless, I'm reluctant to put a small seedling (or direct seed) into a deep 5 gallon because that would make the watering tricky, and may increase the risk of rot. I'll likely go to a 1 gallon first for a while, then maybe step up to a 3 gallon. On the other hand, it might be wholly appropriate to sow a fast-growing veggie (like squash or melons) into its final pot size. The roots will take over the pot quickly enough that you won't have to worry much about the watering or soil settling. I think with careful watering and the right soil mix, you can make it work for a lot of different plants - but I'm still more comfortable with up-potting personally.
Great lesson on potting. Thank You Jason
Brilliant video. Love all the tips and tricks you pack in to your videos. Hope you don't mind if I add one more? I have back problems and in the past have struggled to move my large containers of hybrid teas. But I now used WHEELED plasic pots pots that come in a range of sizes. Means I can move my large container-grown HT roses around according to when I need to enjoy them in bloom from my patio doors to following your advice and placing them in a sheltered area of the garden in winter to protect them from frost and gales. Downside is I they're too heavy to place the pots inside a more decorative container, but hey, you can't have everything!
Thanks for sharing your recommendation. I'm 100% sure others struggle with the same issue.
Well done, very kind and truth information Jason👍
Great video. Agree with a the points you made. That last item is probably one of the biggest reasons for me, esp indoors, water does not evaporate quick enough either, and the poor plant needs to sit in moist soil for an extended period, which I think reduces oxygen to the roots, most plants don't like wet feet all the time. It encourages things like algae to grow on the surface, which further reduces the soil's ability to take in oxygen. Yep I always match plant size to containers. Thanks for a great video!
It's an interesting topic. I pot my chilli plants straight from seed cells into their forever home (typically ten gallon grow bags). They grow into trees here essentially and I usually have them for five or six years. They are in coco coir hydro system so soil degradation doesn't really matter in such a short time. As far as in a nursery context, well you are rarely selling fully mature plants so why would you waste all that soil and a larger, more expensive pot than is required for that small plant? I'm pretty sure your customers wouldn't want to lug home a 10 gallon pot for a small rose plant either.
Thanks Brad. Yeah, this is more a general topic video. With my roses and perennials (most of what I grow) I don't go any larger than a 2 gallon, and that's not such a big step from a well-rooted liner.
Jason, thank you for this good advice. Roses are so beautiful, but do require specialized care in order to flourish. Love your channel.
I disagree with this. Roses don't take any more care than most other perennials. You water them the same; fertilize them the same; and prune them the same (as any other perennial that you prune). Roses can be more susceptible to some diseases than other perennials, but you treat them just like you would other plants with a treatment appropriate for the condition. If your roses get aphids, you treat them the same you would as tomatoes get aphids. If you get powdery mildew, you treat them just like cucumbers that get powdery mildew. There are some diseases that are more common to roses than other plants like blackspot and leaf rust, but you just treat for these conditions. It isn't any more specialized and perpetuating these myths of requiring specialized care or being difficult to grow is nonsensical, elitist, and discourages people from growing roses. As long as you aren't neglecting them, checking the soil before watering, using an appropriate fertilizer, manage pests and disease just like anything else you grow, and grow varieties appropriate for your microclimate, you will have success. The only caveat that I would add is white roses tend to not do well in very hot, long day climates because they flowers tend to burn around the edges.
Thank you! You made a lot of good points.
Hmmm I was told not to pot up unless getting rootbound and growing indoors, if not go straight to the big pot once the plant is established to plant outdoors in the pot
great info Jason !
Thank you so much!!🎉
I heard some guy said that if you make sure the soil that you're putting the roots in for the transplant is wet then you should not have transplant shock as much anyway do you believe this?
Thanks Dave. It's one of the factors in transplant shock - and a dry soil definitely wouldn't make the transition easier. Good availability of moisture (and even a little extra warmth/humidity or shelter from harsh sun/wind) would reduce the stress for sure.
thanks so much for this - very informative
what are your thoughts on tertacota spikes for small or medium roses?
I just repotted my cactus, but it’s about 13 inches long, and the pot I used is huge. I’m new at this, hopefully it doesn’t die, this is expensive af.
Excellent video, something I've started looking into. From what I have seen, in terms of plant health there is no difference (re; the stronger roots in smaller container, studies have shown no difference). I think for hobby home growers planting in final giant pots is probably fine. But in a commercial operation it makes so much more sense for space and watering. You would want each plant to take up as little space (and water) as possible in the interest of the economy of scale - more plants to sell! And then with well coordinated timing of successive germination/cuttings, vegetative growth, and then up potting and sales it could be very economical despite the labour. And always, it would depend on the specific plants, seasons and demand.
Thanks for your thoughts on this! I'm inclined to agree with you on the root ball issue (and all the anecdotal talk that plants in larger pots make for poor root structure) - I think you can grow a great root system either way! I do intend to keep going with up-potting because I need to manage my space through the season.
a small plant in a big pot will get dug up by a squirrel here usually.
Pesky. Here the crows will do something similar with perennial plugs - like it's a game!
Thank Jason! Basically you mentioned all the possible reasons to not use oversize pot (medium) and I agree with you!
Here are some additional reasons from my experience and hope people can find it helpful too.
1) for people who don’t own garden but only a balcony, like me, with certain size of an area, bigger pot will occupy more space, thus to decrease the number of pots (and the plants in them), which means, the rate of death per area is higher. With smaller pots, when some plants die, I can easily replace it when sacrifice less. Because you can’t guarantee each plant will survive. Speaking of making the best use of a small area.
2) if you HAVE TO use a big container for a small plant to ‘save the labour’ or hassle. Maybe try this: fill the bottom half of the container with something ‘useless’ for the roots, with some hydrophobic materials, like polystyrene chunks. This is only to occupy the space, not to create the infamous ‘drainage layer’. And the hydrophobic material will not cause soggy soil for the small root system. So when you need to uppot the plant, pull out the plant, remove some of the polystyrene, and add more soil. So you don’t have to change the pot, but only to increase the volume of the potting medium.
Thanks for your insights. After I posted this, my wife Lisa also mentioned something similar to your points: there's always a % of losses in a crop, and when you choose a larger pot, you're gambling with more space and more soil.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm yes, exactly what I mean! 😜
Though if growing a large annual in a pot, like a tomato or a sunflower, that space is not wasted, it's invaluable for extra root space, root stability, and holding water through the day.
Though if growing a large annual in a pot, like a tomato or a sunflower, that space is not wasted, it's invaluable for extra root space, root stability, and holding water through the day.
@@FireflyOnTheMoon yes, agree, because tomatoes grow really fast. That’s the factor need to be considered accordingly. And also for annuals, when it dies, it dies, you can’t replace it at any time of the year to ‘fill the blank’, you’ll have to wait for another cycle of the year for a second batch. So your target for annuals is aiming for a whole year already. so you can plan your spaces for the whole year’s usage. For example, if I want to plant 10 tomatoes, I’m aiming 10 big containers already and they will be full in the end of the growing cycle. If one dies, then it dies, I can’t plant another one. And there is no reason for me to uppot for the next year because it’s annual.
But for perennials, like roses here, even though there is better time and worse time to repot and uppot, the replacing could be done through the year.
I hope I have explained my ‘logic’ here clearly. 😁
Hello ate new here,Very good to plant the plant in the pot
What do you think of this idea:
Take a pipe with a diameter of a small pot and fill it with perlite and some water.
Freeze and then remove the pipe from the solid cylinder of perlite and ice.
Take the cylinder and place it in the middle of a big pot.
Start filling the big pot with soil and make sure you have a layer of perlite mixed with a little bit of fertilizer every 2-3 inches.
Cover the top so that the soil doesn't dry out leaving only the cylinder, place some soil there for germination.
I don't know but in my head I think this would make it so that you can water the seedling and have the excess water run out the bottom.
As the plant grows it fill find the nutrient perlite layers/pockets and reach out its roots (layering will prevent the packing you mentioned).
Slowly you can start watering further out in the soil as the plant grows bigger.
Thoughts on this?
Transplanting is the most annoying part of gardening if you ask me so I'm looking for a solution.
It might be worth some experimentation. I'd be concerned about how water would infiltrate through the layers, but no way to know except to try.
Question when u do outdoor plant in much larger pot seems great but lack of flowers is it because plant is focused on growing roots n size vs the flower?? It's a hydrangea seems very good healthy alot of new growth but lack of flowers jus started a week ago adding bloom booster thanks for any info
Makes sense. A plant will often dedicate it growth to roots until it fills the pot size.
Thank you.
Makes a lotta 'cents'. Perhaps in your larger 5/7 gallon pot area you could use the "in between space" for suitable plants. Stack them on top even. It would shade some of your tender cuttings and smaller plants. Specifically small 4" -6" size plants on top tier (while plants are still small inside the larger pots on bottom.)
What if we put some worms inside the pot? Does it give more oxygen pockets in the soil? Maybe then we can give a larger pot in that case?
Thank you, very interesting. Question, if the soil sinks, can't you just top it off with more potting mix? Also, can you initially mix with materials that keep the soil loose? Maybe throw in some worms... For the home gardener it seems to make more sense then continually repotting. Since I don't have a brain that equates size of plant/pot/watering, I wouldn't have to retrain to know when to water. I would just have to train.
I think growing in a large pot is like placing a small plug plant into the ground - it's a large space, keep it watered but not too much, add nutrients, and leave it at that. But I can understand that growers have different requirements.
It's not so much a problem that the soil has shrunk to a lower level, but rather that the air spaces that used to make up that volume are no longer there, making for a denser and less well drained mix. Adding soil to the top will restore the height, but not the air spaces. If your mix is made from longer-lasting materials (this is one area where coir really shines - so does pumice) it's less of a concern. It's also a benefit if your plant grows quickly and stabilizes the volume with its roots. I'm not really advocating one approach or the other - they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. I just try to get viewers to consider their options.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you, I enjoyed your video.
As a home gardener, we have to buy these sizes of pots, and eventually we make these pots collect dust. Why can we simulate the ground planting using huge pots?
What if we were to plant something directly in the garden, not a pot? Would I still follow the same way before I finally transplant it in the garden? Like fruit trees for example.
I like to get my perennials up into about 1 gallon before I feel comfortable getting them into the ground. For a shrub or tree, I might even try to get them up to a 3 or 5 gallon.
In your greenhouse, could you try putting a pot on top of the middle of 4 pots, and make a second row?
Hi Donna. Not without crowding the space and blocking the light from the plants below. If I were trying to pack more in, I could tighten up the spacing on the floor by offsetting the rows a little to waste less space between them.
I ordered a lot of bare root roses to come this spring, so I love the idea of starting out smaller and up pot. Everywhere else online suggests 20”+ large pots. It is so confusion for a new grower! What size pot do you recommend I use to begin? Say a two year old bareroot?
If you don't want to go with a very large pot to start, you could begin with a deep 3 or 5 gallon pot.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you!! About how often will it need to be up potted?
Thank you for the video! It makes sense. Just curious about what is your thought on using a fabric grow pot for rose?
I've tried it for short durations (like when I'm between locations in transplanting roses) but for longer growing I hear mixed results. Some have told me that the large grow bags will dry out quite quickly compared to plastic or ceramic pots. I guess so long as you take that into account with watering, it might still be okay.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank you! Yes for my case , it will be temporary until i finished the bed for bareroot that i just recieve. Hope it will be ok.
Hi, what is your preferred method of sterilizing the soil before reusing it? Thanks.
I generally add it to the compost and use it in my garden beds.
Great video
Thanks Gene!
If I over pot I simply let the plant think its in the soil and not in a pot meaning I let the rain water my plants as I plan to have those I over pot in the soil one day and to make sure its aerated I add lots of perlite.
I am a fan of (aka biased toward) giving a plant "lots of room to grow", but have found it doesn't work out.
Much as you say, and I will add-- I end up having to handle the pots routinely anyway. And hassles of handling jump right up to the heavy and bulky category. And with watering, swimming isn't the only issue, big pot and little root system means that most of the pot isn't a reservoir waiting to be drawn toward the root system but is instead a fancy puddle waiting to evaporate in the heat. All the time and water simply lost to evaporation rankles me.
That said, my happy medium is to try to give the plant room for two seasons of growth before it can possibly become root bound. I have good luck going from a 2 to a 5.
Thank you.
Thanks - and that's where I've gone with this too, choosing the next reasonable size up I think I can manage over a season. I don't hesitate to go from a plug or small liner straight to a 2 gallon pot, and I'd be happy to go from a 2 to a 5 or 7gallon as well.
Interesting question and a thorough explanation thank you. Here in Great Britain we are advised to put some cuttings (especially Pelegoniums and Geraniums close to the edge of a container I think this is something to do with the roots liking it. Do you have an opinion or explanation of why that might be? Thank you for your time and expertise.
I always thought that was more to do with offering the cuttings more support from the pot wall, so they can stay upright.
Good question I want to hear Jason's answer also
Thanks Maddie. TBH I'd never heard that advice before, and to the degree that I've ever seen a grower sticking geraniums close to the edge of a pot (in a hanging basket, for instance) I always assumed it was because they look really good when they spill over the edge!
Hello Jason, I have seen plenty of your informational videos regarding gardening. I really appreciate the way you explain things in detail.
I have a question regarding my hardy hibiscus plant. I planted my 3 foot hibiscus plant in 2021 summer and had a beautiful bloom too. I hard pruned it in early fall after all the bloom faded. Its early spring here in zone 7. My hibiscus is not showing any signs of budding while other plants are showing signs of coming back to life. Will my hardy hibiscus survive? Or was it a bad idea to hard prune a small hibiscus plant?? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
Wait. Hardy hibiscus is notoriously late to break bud. I might have timed the pruning for spring, but it still could be just fine.
Do you have a purchase link to the small starting pots. I’m tired of taking gambles buying flimsy throwaway pots. Thanks
Nothing I can vouch for. I get my plug trays from a local horticultural distributor, and chose them pretty sturdy, but I can't say about what's been sold on Amazon or other online retailers.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Yea all from amazon are super thin flimsy. Thanks for the video and reply.
If I have a small plant in a big pot I just water it like its in a smaller pot. Just a ring of water around where the plants roots are instead of watering the whole pot until the plat gets larger. I find if I water the whole pot the plant wont use all the water and you can start to get mold and stuff growing where the roots are not taking the water away.
Good call. You definitely have to watch your watering volume (or expect to have a soggy soil most of the time). One downside to lowering the watering volume is that you can't easily flush out excess nutrient salt buildup (either from the liquid feed or from fertilizer in the pot) so every once in a while, it's probably a good idea to flush with plain water or let the rain do it!
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Good point about salt buildup if your using synthetic salt based nutrients. I'm a dry organic amendment guy so I don't use any liquid fertilizers other than fish emulation, kelp and seaweed extract. Salt buildup doesn't seem to be an issue for me with organic amendments.
Repotting to an oversized container also discourages root growth and in turn heavily affects vigour, in my experience.
Probably because "lazy roots" are developed when there is stagnant water in the pot, while adequately sized pots allow for fast cycles of thoroughly watered to dried out.
Maybe Air-Pots could be the exception, though fabric pots hold on to moisture for too long as well to make big jumps (i.e rooted cutting from 1gal to a 7-10 gal as final pot for sale).
There's no shortcuts when working with nature :)
Thanks - I've heard a lot of anecdotal info (valuable in its own way) about how roots behave in a larger pot, and to add to the anecdotes: I've see beautiful root development and terrible root development both in smaller pots and in larger pots, more depending on soil media, watering and overall conditions. The studies on the matter don't address the structure per se (so far as I could find) but do definitely favor a larger pot for overall vigor: www.researchgate.net/publication/236645802_Pot_size_matters_A_meta-analysis_of_the_effects_of_rooting_volume_on_plant_growth
Plants do best with some air and some water in the soil. To wet or to dry, no go. So there is this time frame where that happens, that time frame happens a lot in a smaller pot. Plant gets to be happy a few times a week. In a large pot it takes so long to dry it out the plant may be happy once a week, if that. How many times can you cross that happy zone line between too wet and too dry? Lot more often in a small pot (small relative to the plants size).
This is the magic of some types of hydroponics. You can stay in that zone almost all the time.
I would like to see blooming roses or ready to harvest roses in the garden
It sounds like, for a small grower like me with a small garden, as long as the growing medium is managing to stay aerated, it would be fine to put, say, small annuals like a tomato or a petunia into a big pot to start off with. They will grow to adult size in a few months, so soil compaction should not be a problem. We could be mindful of not overwatering, although if they are outside they would get rained on here in England through the spring / summer anyway if outside. Might you agree....?
I think you've got it exactly right. A fast growing veggie seedling will fill up a 1 or 2 gallon pot quickly enough that soil compaction shouldn't be an issue.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm 🧡
Where do you get your nursery pots? I’ve recently started several fig cuttings and am having trouble finding 1 gal pots like the one you showed. Most aren’t straight sided, or are actually smaller and have a very thin plastic that won’t last several seasons. Yours look a lot like my 3 and 5gal pots and I love those but can’t find them in 1gal. Great video!
Sorry this might not be to helpful, but we buy our pots used from other growers - especially the blueberry farms after they've planted their fields.
There’s also the issue of nutrients leaching out of that big pot over the years while it’s growing.
...but you the medium mix doesn't contain nutrients of its own. You have to add feed regularly.
@@FireflyOnTheMoon potting medium does contain nutrients, plus compost is often mixed in. Only germination mixes don’t include nutrients. That’s my understanding.
Honestly, I don't mind the process of repotting to a slightly larger pot to better the plants overall health it just gives me more time in the garden lol I'm not sure who benefits more me or the plants. 😄
What if I didn't know my pot was to big and it has been in it for a couple of months?
Hi Rhonda - I'm not totally sure what you mean. As mentioned, you can grow well in a smaller pot or a larger pot if you manage the watering - so it's not a right or wrong answer, just two different approaches. If you've found over a length of time that a smaller plant in a larger pot has failed to thrive (like if the soil was just holding its moisture too long between waterings, and the roots aren't filling in) you could either adjust your approach to watering or repot into a fresh mix in a size you're happier with.
Hello from South Korea,
If you don't mind, may I ask something about horticulture? Could you recommend any good resource to learn horticulture for a person from non-English speaking country?
I applied for a course called horticultural technician in Ontario(Canada) and then I am waiting for the result of my application. While waiting the result, I am trying to prepare the program because English is my second language. So, I am looking for some information related to horticulture, especially much easier to understand and then I found your channel! :)
Thank you so much for posting lots of information! (Honestly, I need lots of time to fully understand, but I keep trying to figure out!)
Thanks Bonnie. I'm happy to see you pick up so much from online resources. I see that there are good resources within Korea as well - so I'm curious to know why you're looking elsewhere?
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm You're right! There are some information regarding horticulture in my country, and I ,of course, visited some book stores (including online shops) to find some books. However, I felt those books are too professional to comprehend for me like a beginner("for now"). :( I would like to learn a basic one, especially English one. That's because I think that I need to lots of time to fully understand from various basic words related to horticulture when I start to study the program that I applied for.
I found a school called Niagara Parks School of Horticulture in Ontario, but I think this school doesn't accept international's application("for now"). So, I decided to apply for one of other colleges in Ontario to learn this field. I heard that Canada is one of famous countries in horticultural industry like well-trained instructors, well-organized programs!
Even though I am still waiting the result of my application, I want to know this field!
Thank you so much for your reply and have a nice day! :)
Thanks - it's nice to hear that you're so interested in the study. The school I attended is Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Oh, I knew the university, especially in Surrey!
That's because I was in Vancouver and Moncton. So, originally I research some college in Vancouver at first. However, due to some reasons, I decided to choose other colleges in a different province. :(
Thank you so much for letting me know about it and have a nice day, as well! :)
another theory on progressing through pot sizes is giving the roots some restriction as you go so you form a fuller root ball over time. I haven't seen evidence of this myself, have you?
I've heard that too - and it's true that I've seen some dense fine roots form in smaller containers, but I've also seen it (eventually) in plants grown straight into larger containers. I'm not convinced the root system is any better with the step-by-step method, and in fact at each stage there's some risk of root encirclement (poor structure) or of the plant becoming rootbound.
Ive found myself that putting a small plant into a larger container gives much larger rootballs.
I wish you would sell and ship to Puerto Rico. I have to buy roses from Heirloom Roses from St Paul, Oregon which is very pricey $120 for 2 plants!
Here in Puerto Rico roses are hard to find. I read from a woman in my Garden group on Facebook that she had 5 rose plants that were stolen! She said they were dug out from the ground. She said hers were thornless. Can you do a video about thornless roses.
Yup that happens to me most of the time a buy plants and move them to a different container and the die🤨
I have found that when I pot small plants into large pots I have more trouble with squirrels/birds/or cats disturbing the dirt and harming the plant.
So true - and it almost seems like a game for my local crows!
ALSO,
Regardless what size the pot-
Everytime you water, you are washing nutrients out the bottom of that pot.
!
Omg i just did the same mistake now...
With careful watering it can still work out just fine in most cases.
Anyone else thought he had giant pots behind them? Haha.
Thank you Jason for the video, very useful. One small tip, if you use a hexagonal packing (google) you can store more round pots in the same space :-)