Container gardening

How to Grow in Container, Soil mixes, Fertilizers Etc

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Muhammad Arif Khan
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Container gardening

Post by Muhammad Arif Khan »

The forum has a large spectrum, from kitchen gardeners to Horticulture degree holders going on to their PHD.
Many like me are searching for simple answers.
1, Why it is better to plant say a bush seedling in 4 inch pot and then gradually change to, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 inch and so on, why not straight away plant it in a 24 inch pot?
2, How is it that when you open a pot, the root mesh is on the periphery (sides and bottom) and no feeding roots in the centre.

Make me wiser
Farhan Ahmed
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Re: Container gardening

Post by Farhan Ahmed »

Space and resources/Economy of effort
Soo many 24 inch pots required :-) (which most of us don't have)
Large amount of good medium required
Space to place them
Water needs would be multiplied
Care/Hoe/Weeding/fertilization requirement would be much more

And its not guaranteed that the above mentioned effort will succeed. So as you seedling shows positive growth you invest more and more :-)
secondly it would be a waste and against the economy of effort to give the little seedling which is more than its needs. It does not need that bigger space/media/water etc

For the second i think its for two reason......
The media and the water are limited in the pot so plant sends roots to search for more.......and then it finds walls of the pot :-)
and secondly those at the periphery are more prominent due to their visibility than those in the middle.
UMARKHANMARDAN
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Re: Container gardening

Post by UMARKHANMARDAN »

Aoa Brig sb i do not like containers but what i understant to gradually increase the size of the container is that after some time the plant becomes root bound so to give a good chance of spread to the roots it done.why not directly to plant the small plant into a big container is to slow down its root spread.so u have the chance to increase the soil around it after some years.if u plant it in big container it will sooner become root bound & the plant will not grow properly.so have not more chance but to shift the plant into open ground.
the second why we do not fertilize direct with trunk.its not only for containers but also for open ground.he have good experience of mango trees.i think a fruit grower should at least not ask this question.but any how its because the strong roots with the trunk supports the trunk.the roots away from the trunk have fine fiber roots which absorbs the ingridients from fertilizer which are required by the plant.i think it may be also applicable in the case of containers.also some link to the gradually increase in size of container every year .
these is my personal opinion i may be wrong,because i do not grow many plants in containers.container gardening is really a challenge Brig sb.
Muhammad Arif Khan
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Re: Container gardening

Post by Muhammad Arif Khan »

Both posts are personal opinions based on assumptions and not scientific facts, let’s look for scientific answers.
Farhan Ahmed
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Re: Container gardening

Post by Farhan Ahmed »

UMARKHANMARDAN
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Re: Container gardening

Post by UMARKHANMARDAN »

yes brig sb mine are not scientific,its my personal opinion.they work for me so i do not need to go into scientific reasons.
Muhammad Arif Khan
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Re: Container gardening

Post by Muhammad Arif Khan »

farhan137 wrote:Effect of plant Pot sizes

http://www.ehow.com/about_5491659_effec ... sizes.html

Different pots affect plant growth

http://www.ehow.com/info_8452824_differ ... rowth.html
Farhan you have hit the nail on its head. The extract of the articles you have quoted has the answer as follows.
o “A pot that is too large for a plant can hold too much water in the soil, which can lead to mold growth, rot and root diseases. Too large of a plant pot also can make it difficult to keep the soil firmly packed around the plant's roots.”
The unused soil becomes stagnant and unfit.
“A plant's growth may be stunted, if it is kept in a pot that is too small. The nutrients in the soil will be absorbed quickly, and will not be sufficient to allow proper growth. The spreading roots will eventually take up all the soil space, and deplete the nutrients needed to sustain survival.”

These are the reasons why we keep changing to bigger pots according to the requirement of the plant and not plant straightaway in the bigger pot.

The reason why we find root mesh along the pot wall and bottom is the air porosity. Our container medium has not enough air porosity so the roots move out to their most favourable environment.
UMARKHANMARDAN
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Re: Container gardening

Post by UMARKHANMARDAN »

Very useful article.i love it.its really very useful brig sb.thanks for such a nice thread.
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