skip to main content

African Violets

Why must the pot be 1/3 of the plant's diameter?

18 years ago

Korina, I read in other forum that you said the right pot for an AV should be 1/3 of its diameter. Why is it so?

It seems I have potted all my baby AVs in pots bigger than the size you recommended. Will that be any harm? Should I repot them right away? They're still small though.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

Ron_in_BC
18 years ago
In my opinion, just some rule sombody made a long time ago. Like everything else -- rules. :-)
Ron
korina
18 years ago
Haxuan, supposedly the plants like to be a little rootbound and will bloom more for it. It also keeps the pot from having too much soil, which could encourage root rot, or sour soil, from being constantly wet.

Ron, it's more of a guideline. It works for me.

Korina
Related Discussions
Why do People Plant Roses in the Ground While They are in Pots?
Q
Comments (7)
There are a number of reasons why people plant the pots. 1. It's a good way to winter a potted rose. The ground does provide good insulation. 2. It's a protection against voles or moles or whatever from eating the root ball. 3, You can temporarily plant the pot to see if the rose will grow in that spot, i.e. enough sun. There are probably other reasons as well but you get the idea. However, I don't think it would aid in drainage for you. Even though the potting soil will drain better where will the water drain to? It will stay in that heavy clay soil against the pot and not drain away freely as it needs to. Eventually the pot will fill up and be too wet for the rose anyway. I have lake bed clay soil as well and it is a problem but I just dig big, deep holes and hope for the best. I usually know right away if it's not working and there's too much water by the rose's behavior. Then I dig it out and try again. I did do some deep roto-tilling on the new bed we made and that seemed to help a lot with breaking up that layer of clay. The soil beneath it wasn't nearly as dense and with the clay broken it drains pretty well now.
...See More
1: IT'S A TREE!, 2:Plant Illiteracy, 3: Foxy Foxglove
Q
Comments (4)
I want to join the BGA to stamp out plant illiteracy. A screaming example. My florist's cyclamen refused to go dormant and bloomed virtually all year. Sure, the leaves got a little floppy over winter, but still... The books all insisted that they go dormant, so I figured a rest would do her good. Not. The bulb rotted away. Fortunately she'd actually set seed shortly before and I had saved them and planted them. Terrific germination, really easy, and I've got several babies in pots. Then I read that germinating cyclamen seeds is tricky. Definitely, that plant couldn't read and neither can its offspring. Then there's the amaryllis. I separated two offshoots before waking them all up and potted them separately. The mother bulb, which usually produces a flower stalk and leaves simultaneously and then another flower stalk (although last year she did both stalks at the same time) this year followed the agenda, although no sign of the second stalk yet. Daughter number one is apparently literate, because she is doing what the books say, and is blooming her little heart out with no leaves in sight. Daughter number two produced leaves and then two or three weeks later said, "Why not?" and has started on her own flowers, well behind the others. Mother and daughter number one a few days ago. They're in their full glory now.
...See More
Calamondin with 3 trunks. 1 plant or 3?
Q
Comments (29)
If you don't mind the expense of perlite go that way. I do all my citrus in a manor that is close to free. Sand from the street gutter, broken brick crushed for soil aggregate 55 gallon drums cut in half for pots, Construction material 5 gallon buckets make nice pots with their own carrying handle, restaurant drink cups for starting seeds, old ceiling light boxes and fixture for bucket lights, electric cords from broken devices to provide electric to the bucket lights., and 10 to 15 cubic feet of used potting soil I get when I clean up my customers potted plants come fall. My wife and I lost our means to earn a living wage 4 years after the 2008 crash. I turned to growing nutritionally dense food that we could not afford and buying the cheap caloric foods we needed for energy. My research took me to figs, Meiwa kumquats, greens and veggies. It has worked well. The standard material suggested on this forum will alway be better than the types of free stuff I suggest. that is why the Perlite is the better choice for you and your tree. I have a feel for all my plants and their needs. I understand the effects of wind sunlight and temperature and how it affects each species of my plants. I can feel internally when individual plants need water and which one should be fine. I have no watering Schedule . I water when needed. If and when you become one with trees they will be free of most problems. If money is not a problem go with the standard accepted material used on this forum. You will do fine either way. 6b Steve
...See More
5-1-3 or 3-1-3 for mature bearing ground planted citrus?
Q
Comments (9)
Nikthe greek - This is quite a complicated subject and I can't claim to understand it fully, but here are a couple of points to consider. 1. You can look at this difference in two ways. It could be that a given amount of 3-1-3 feed provides less Nitrogen; or that if you provide the same amount of Nitrogen then with 3-1-3 you will be providing more P & K. 2. These ratios are not necessarily the same between Greece and US. Even within the EU they can be quoted in two ways - either the element ratios of NPK or the compound ratios that contain these elements. Here is a quote from the EU regulations: Where the option is chosen to prescribe that the phosphorus and potassium contents be expressed in the form of elements, all references in the Annexes to the oxide form shall be read as being in elemental form and the numerical values shall be converted using the following factors: (a) phosphorus (P) = phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) × 0,436; (b) potassium (K) = potassium oxide (K2O) × 0,830. You can read more at this link. It will make your brain hurt EU fertiser regulations
...See More
alenamaria
18 years ago
1/3 is rule which you have to keep for show violets. If you are just affectionate grower you want to keep your plants happy, healthy and blooming. It means also you want to keep them in apropriate pot size. AV do not like to be overpotted, their roots like to be "in control" in pot. If root system is not entirely developped one actually can kill plant in bigger than necessary pot by watering more than roots are able to handle. Of course if you water slightly less, just for roots need, it should be OK. Still they will bloom happily only in pot according to their roots size. At the end 1/3 is a good rule even if you do not grow for show.
Alena
irina_co
18 years ago
I agree with Ron - in 90% of the cases this 1:3 ratio is for balanced look and show judging.

It is only if you have way too big of a pot, heavy soil and water it too much - it gets detrimental to the plant.

If you have a plant which is more than 3 times a pot - and we all do - eventually roots will take all the space and it will feel better in a bigger pot. Or you do not want to grow a huge one - you are supposed to repot your plant every 6 months or so, remove the lower leaves, cut off the bottom of the root ball and pot it in a fresh pot of the same size.

And again - if you have suckers all around your plant - it is not harmful. Just not very orderly and you loose the symmetry of the plant.

Your plants look very happy and fresh for now - but you would need to take the suckers out and pot them separately - otherwise they would look very unruly together.

Happy Growing

Irina
korina
18 years ago
Then there's the whole thing with wick watering; too much soil would be deadly for my little guys.

Korina (is it spring yet?)
rujoanmi
18 years ago
Hi Haxuan,

I'd have to agree with all that's been said here, so will only mention what hasn't been said.

The 1/3rd rule is a good rule if you want your plants to bloom all of the time. These plants do need to be root bound and pruned to bloom. But the 1/3rd rule is for mature plants. Repotting babies is an entirely different matter.

Here's what I do. When I seperate my babies, I pot them in 1" thumb pots, when the plant diameter is slightly larger than the pot, I repot them to the next size 1 1/2" pot or larger, so that the pot rim is 1/4"-1/2" wider than the baby. And so it goes 1/2" at a time until they are in the pot that I expect them to grow 3 times beyond in diameter. The variety, decides the final pot size. Once the plant is mature, the 1/3rd rule is a good one. Waiting for babies to reach 3 times the size of the pot their in before repotting only slows their growth and maturing process.

For all of the cultural reasons expressed above, you don't want to pot a baby in a 4" pot. On the other hand, if you keep potting up babies, sooner than when they reach three times the width of the pot, they grow faster and mature faster. Not giving the root system the room to develop can also stunt a plants growth which takes just as long to recover from as over potting does.

Russell
haxuan
Original Author
18 years ago
Thank you for all the advice.
For me, I see that I should repot the babies into smaller pots and remove the suckers from my grown-ups.
I'm crazy about AVs but ... poor me... we can only find standards here. I'm trying to get other varieties. Hopefully, my collection will grow.

Related Stories

CONTAINER GARDENS Solve Your Garden Border Dilemmas With Planted Pots

Set your containers free from the patio — placed among plantings in the ground, they fill unsightly gaps, let you experiment and more

GARDENING GUIDES 11 Perfect Plants for a Moonlit Garden — in Pots

Create an alluring after-dark aura on a patio or deck with container plants that glow white under the stars

CONTAINER GARDENS Container Garden Basics: How and When to Water Potted Plants

Confused about soil moisture, the best time to water and what watering device to use? This guide can help

FLOWERS Great Design Plant: Dahlias

By J. Peterson Garden Design

Pick this flamboyant stunner for its amazing array of colors and faces, fast growth and sizes that can fill a pot or a whole garden

GARDENING GUIDES Great Garden Combo: 3 Wonderful Plants for a Deer-Resistant Screen

Protect your privacy and keep deer at bay with a planting trio that turns a problem garden area into a highlight

GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES 3 Ways Native Plants Make Gardening So Much Better

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

You probably know about the lower maintenance. But native plants' other benefits go far beyond a little less watering and weeding

GARDENING GUIDES Solve 3 Common Landscape Problems — With More Plants

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense

LANDSCAPE DESIGN 3 Steps to Choosing the Right Plants for Your Patio

Make every plant count in your small city garden by considering these criteria before you buy

GARDENING GUIDES Grow a Beautiful Fall Garden in a Pot

Welcome autumn with 7 gorgeous plants that thrive in containers and enliven your porch or patio throughout the cooler season

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Staphylea Trifolia Shines in the Shade

By Pollination Press LLC

Plant American bladdernut for 3 seasons of interest: spring flowers and striped brown branches and bladder-like seedpods in fall and winter

Sponsored

More Discussions

violets grow straight up

3

Rooted violet leaves : what now?

4

Little Bugs on my AV

2