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Pots and containers for how long?
jonn_07
Posts: 7
Good afternoon. A really amateur question but how long can you keep plants/trees/shrubs in pots? Does it depend on how big their root system etc is? For example is it easily done with summer bedding compared to something like a camellia? If the roots run out of room does the plant stop growing or does it die? Surely there’s only so many times you can repot something.
Thank you!
Thank you!
0
Posts
The best thing to do is to choose a plant that is unlikely to eventually outgrow the size of pot you can manage.
Plants that are pot bound will stop growing and show signs of distress. You can hold this off for a while by top dressing, but if it's ultimate size is beyond the size your pot can accommodate, it will eventually have to go in the ground.
I am still learning a lot and when I search for the answer I find at least three different answers/thoughts on what should or should not be done.
If you think Bonzai, you'll find some plants with quite massive trunks, but small foliage/canopy and a very small container, all things considered.
From what I've heard and what I've read, some of the bonzai techniques can and do apply to keeping plants (shrubs/trees) in containers. However, bonzai tends to lean more to the extreme, and that can be far too much effort and too time consuming for my choice.
We did buy some rather large plastic containers to pot up a few of our conifers, like blue spruces and such. With more thought, it'd be impractical for us to actually put these plants in these containers, as we simply couldn't move the things. So, they've had to go in the ground and be done with it. Bear in mind, that these ones I am talking about grow around 10 ft tall in 10 years, so quite a handful in a container.
I've read that when most shrubs/trees become pot bound, so long as it's the right time of the year (Feb-March / end of Winter, before Spring growing, mostly), the spiralling roots can be trimmed right off, and the existing root ball can be sliced/slashed into before repotting to a larger container.
Generally, for trimming conifer roots, one wants to avoid cutting off any of the roots with white tips. We have actually cut back a couple of root balls and the conifer has survived, or even thrived. Clearly the nurseries just dumped the semi-pot bound plant into a larger pot, and did it a couple of times, without trimming or picking a big enough pot! Well, what we did looked brutal and the work of someone who wanted the plant to die - it did not. This particular anecdotal example being a blue Chamaecyparis Lawsonia, so quite quick and hardy.
We've gone to a similar extreme root trimming with a Chamaecyparis Pisifera. Took around 4 inches off all the way around! Hopefully we'll be rewarded with a more manageable plant, though it's not a big expense to dump it if it dies on us. Learn by experience
I read also that pruning conifers shouldn't be done in the same season as repotting. I suppose this is a bit hit/miss as some gentle pruning has been fine, and it does depend on the type. Taxus took a hefty cleaving to remove one of a twin stem, and they have done really well. No ill effects.
Pine candle snapping/pulling seems to happen even if they have been repotted that same season, so there's that.
I suppose it all depends on if the plant is actually healthy - not much one can do to a sick plant, except nurse it back to health first, before 'working' on it. Though sometimes drastic measures are just what is needed to promote a healthy recovery.
Bedding plants that get dumped/composted and replaced every year are easy. So long as you can replenish the nutrients in the compost or replace the compost. Bigger pots will need filling with something else, or you'll use a lot of compost needlessly. Personal choice, I suppose, and what your budget is.
The bottom line is that if you leave a plant in a pot, you can go so far with resupplying nutrients and whatever, but at some point, without physical intervention (where applicable) the roots will fill that container and the plant will die. Plants don't, so much stop growing, I suppose they slow down and some can be somewhat stunted, but they reach a point where they will just die.
I think a great many people would love a plant that they could keep in a container and depending on container size set the maximum size the plant will grow and have it stop, but continue to live, fixed at that size. That'd be fab!
There is a lot to learn. Any specific plants you are thinking of?
With specific types you'll be able to search and find more detailed information online and be able to ask more specific questions here. Answers would be better tailored to your (or your plant's) needs then.