had to go over 50 posts to go through.. before I sleep... Congrats @ Mr. Vine Eye New info regarding the pots availability in UK and about the Biochar... Wondering if they have bigger sizes as 20L seems to be a bit smaller for roses, don't you think @Marlorena
@cooldoc .. I have roses in 20L pots. It depends how you manage them. They do come in 35L size but I look at pots these days thinking, can I manage this? and I feel I can manage those. A younger more energetic person might think differently of course, and might find them plastic-y looking.. I could quite happily get rid of all my pots, and replace with those, but I'm not likely to go down that route now. They seem easy to put together and I just love the look and manageability factor of them.  As for Biochar, I understand it's really alkaline, ph above 8.0. I think my soil is alkaline enough, so I'll probably pass on that too, but maybe potted roses might benefit, that's what I had in mind..Â
..nice to see 'Canary Bird' opening @Tack there is a huge one near me, it should be blooming now then, so I'll take a look tomorrow. I think it's all of 8 x 8 feet.
@owd potter .. your roses are doing really well.  So pleased to see The Generous Gardener still looking good after my trepidation earlier.  Looking at 'Toyah' I don't know what that is, it doesn't look like Paul's Scarlet in that picture, as that rose blooms in clusters..
As for your wall by a patio. I've seen ramblers grown in half barrels, and I know some people grow them in large pots for some years, but for the expanse of your wall, I couldn't begin to imagine. So I think I'm with DA on that.  Somehow or other, I would have to remove a part of the paving and plant in the ground, but perhaps you're the right man to try these things... ?..Â
@Mr. Vine Eye ... some welcome apple blossom, all looking good. I think your Kew Gardens is more vigorous than mine now.  After some 10 years or so, I think mine has lost some vigour, which I sometimes find with Austins. It's not looking quite the rose it was.  It seemed to reach a peak around year 5 or 6.. but I did cut it right down to almost ground level one year to paint the trellis it was on, and it's never been quite the same since and struggles to get back to its original size, but I won't be replacing it, so it'll just have to age gracefully, like some of us do..Â
..nice to see 'Canary Bird' opening @Tack there is a huge one near me, it should be blooming now then, so I'll take a look tomorrow. I think it's all of 8 x 8 feet.
@owd potter .. your roses are doing really well.  So pleased to see The Generous Gardener still looking good after my trepidation earlier.  Looking at 'Toyah' I don't know what that is, it doesn't look like Paul's Scarlet in that picture, as that rose blooms in clusters..
As for your wall by a patio. I've seen ramblers grown in half barrels, and I know some people grow them in large pots for some years, but for the expanse of your wall, I couldn't begin to imagine. So I think I'm with DA on that.  Somehow or other, I would have to remove a part of the paving and plant in the ground, but perhaps you're the right man to try these things... ?..Â
@Marlorena I think maybe you are meaning Toyah rather than GG, who was subjected to my over enthusiastic attentions to remove a sucker a few weeks ago? She didn't even flinch as far as I can see. I'll see if I can get some clearer, close up pics this year to maybe give more clues toward an I.D. but she's Toyah to me now anyway. As for my courtyard scheme, I never say never, so breaking out an area of paving to create a planting pocket for a rose isn't an impossibility, but it would be a big job that I really don't fancy. I'm also considering other planting possibilities for the space, clematis maybe, together with annual plantings for fragrance etc. The search goes on. Many thanks for your thoughts. Â
@Marlorena, the Organic Gardening Catalogue (now owned by Dobbies, I think) has sold biochar for many years, but I never tried it as it seemed expensive and the long list of miraculous claims for it made it sound too good to be true! Maybe for pots something like this ‘precharged’ biochar might be worth a try?
It seems you need to precharge pure biochar with organic matter, worm casts etc. for a few weeks first, for it to release the low levels nutrients locked in by the heating process, otherwise it has the opposite effect and initially attracts nutrients in the soil like a magnet, thus denying them to the plants. But since it doesn’t actually contain much in the way of nutrients in the first place it seems to more act as a retainer for existing nutrients. Is that your understanding? I must admit to being somewhat confused!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
This is Bruce's take on biochar and why it could be useful. It's not really used for its inherent nutrients, but how much added nutrients and water the char can hold - acting like a 'reef'. It can be useful for locking in carbon also - adding scrap wood back into the earth in a way that it doesn't easily degrade.
@owd potter ..oh ok, wrong rose, glad it's doing alright though anyway... well I hope you sort something out there with your patio area, we look forward to seeing how you develop that..
Posts
Congrats @ Mr. Vine Eye
New info regarding the pots availability in UK and about the Biochar...
Wondering if they have bigger sizes as 20L seems to be a bit smaller for roses, don't you think @Marlorena
.. I have roses in 20L pots. It depends how you manage them. They do come in 35L size but I look at pots these days thinking, can I manage this? and I feel I can manage those. A younger more energetic person might think differently of course, and might find them plastic-y looking.. I could quite happily get rid of all my pots, and replace with those, but I'm not likely to go down that route now.
They seem easy to put together and I just love the look and manageability factor of them. Â
As for Biochar, I understand it's really alkaline, ph above 8.0. I think my soil is alkaline enough, so I'll probably pass on that too, but maybe potted roses might benefit, that's what I had in mind..Â
@owd potter
.. your roses are doing really well.  So pleased to see The Generous Gardener still looking good after my trepidation earlier.  Looking at 'Toyah' I don't know what that is, it doesn't look like Paul's Scarlet in that picture, as that rose blooms in clusters..
As for your wall by a patio. I've seen ramblers grown in half barrels, and I know some people grow them in large pots for some years, but for the expanse of your wall, I couldn't begin to imagine. So I think I'm with DA on that.  Somehow or other, I would have to remove a part of the paving and plant in the ground, but perhaps you're the right man to try these things... ?..Â
... some welcome apple blossom, all looking good. I think your Kew Gardens is more vigorous than mine now.  After some 10 years or so, I think mine has lost some vigour, which I sometimes find with Austins. It's not looking quite the rose it was.  It seemed to reach a peak around year 5 or 6.. but I did cut it right down to almost ground level one year to paint the trellis it was on, and it's never been quite the same since and struggles to get back to its original size, but I won't be replacing it, so it'll just have to age gracefully, like some of us do..Â
Thanks for that...at least they're easier to spot than the other type.
I think maybe you are meaning Toyah rather than GG, who was subjected to my over enthusiastic attentions to remove a sucker a few weeks ago?
She didn't even flinch as far as I can see.
I'll see if I can get some clearer, close up pics this year to maybe give more clues toward an I.D. but she's Toyah to me now anyway.
As for my courtyard scheme, I never say never, so breaking out an area of paving to create a planting pocket for a rose isn't an impossibility, but it would be a big job that I really don't fancy.
I'm also considering other planting possibilities for the space, clematis maybe, together with annual plantings for fragrance etc.
The search goes on.
Many thanks for your thoughts. Â
https://www.organiccatalogue.com/equipment/feeds-compost/feeds-fertilisers/grochar-fertiliser_mh6225
It seems you need to precharge pure biochar with organic matter, worm casts etc. for a few weeks first, for it to release the low levels nutrients locked in by the heating process, otherwise it has the opposite effect and initially attracts nutrients in the soil like a magnet, thus denying them to the plants. But since it doesn’t actually contain much in the way of nutrients in the first place it seems to more act as a retainer for existing nutrients. Is that your understanding? I must admit to being somewhat confused!
..oh ok, wrong rose, glad it's doing alright though anyway... well I hope you sort something out there with your patio area, we look forward to seeing how you develop that..