Well I’ve learned a lot from this thread ! My brother’ honeysuckle is in a wooden planter about 24 x 12 x 12 inches and facing south west in East Anglia.
This is its 2nd year and its grown very tall and spindly, flowering just on the top few inches (about 7 feet up).
clearly it needs moving - this autumn or spring ? It also needs cutting back - how much can be chopped ?
One of them is in a tall square 1.5L pot, north-ish facing aspect. The soil mix is 1 part top soil, 1 part perlite and 3 parts multipurpose compost.
It is a deciduous multi trunk plant with long straggly branches that were 50cm+ so I platted them together to form a single long trunk and spiralled it up a support to form the image of a weeping willow. To get the weeping branches, I simply chopped the tips of all the platted branches to force branching lower down.
The honeysuckle has been grown in the same pot for six years and has consistently flowered for the past five years. It is now over 1m tall.
The feeding regime is a small handful of fish, bone & blood fertiliser in March, May and July. Watering is done according to visual inspection of the soil and of the leaves.
The other honeysuckles are grown in 0.5L pots, full sun, south facing aspect. They are single trunk and were originally self-layered branches from a massive overgrown honeysuckle that I had to get rid of. I am currently in the process of conditioning them to be more resilient to drought conditions.
To successfully grow honeysuckle in a pot, I would say treat it like a clematis. That is, grow it in a moisture retentive but well drained soil whilst keeping the roots cool.
To be specific:
Create a micro climate around the honeysuckle by placing plants around it which will cast shade over the soil surface of the pot. If the pot is big enough, underplant it with ferns which will serve the same purpose.
Place the honeysuckle in a location with good air flow (gentle breeze) and don't let the foilage grow too dense otherwise the leaves may develop powdery mildew.
Spray with fly spray (active ingredient is pyretherin insecticide) to kill off aphids and their ant farmers. Do this only when the plant is not in flower.
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This is its 2nd year and its grown very tall and spindly, flowering just on the top few inches (about 7 feet up).
clearly it needs moving - this autumn or spring ? It also needs cutting back - how much can be chopped ?
thanks
One of them is in a tall square 1.5L pot, north-ish facing aspect. The soil mix is 1 part top soil, 1 part perlite and 3 parts multipurpose compost.
It is a deciduous multi trunk plant with long straggly branches that were 50cm+ so I platted them together to form a single long trunk and spiralled it up a support to form the image of a weeping willow. To get the weeping branches, I simply chopped the tips of all the platted branches to force branching lower down.
The honeysuckle has been grown in the same pot for six years and has consistently flowered for the past five years. It is now over 1m tall.
The feeding regime is a small handful of fish, bone & blood fertiliser in March, May and July. Watering is done according to visual inspection of the soil and of the leaves.
The other honeysuckles are grown in 0.5L pots, full sun, south facing aspect. They are single trunk and were originally self-layered branches from a massive overgrown honeysuckle that I had to get rid of. I am currently in the process of conditioning them to be more resilient to drought conditions.
To successfully grow honeysuckle in a pot, I would say treat it like a clematis. That is, grow it in a moisture retentive but well drained soil whilst keeping the roots cool.
To be specific:
Create a micro climate around the honeysuckle by placing plants around it which will cast shade over the soil surface of the pot. If the pot is big enough, underplant it with ferns which will serve the same purpose.
Place the honeysuckle in a location with good air flow (gentle breeze) and don't let the foilage grow too dense otherwise the leaves may develop powdery mildew.
Spray with fly spray (active ingredient is pyretherin insecticide) to kill off aphids and their ant farmers. Do this only when the plant is not in flower.