general jam making questions..somewhat rambling..:)
ardnek710
15 years ago
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Linda_Lou
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agowhynotmi
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
How to Choose Correct Container Size for Different Plants
Comments (13)Ellen & Jenn - A copy/paste job from a reply I wrote on another thread: How large a container can or should be, depends on the relationship between the mass of the plant material you are working with and your choice of soil. We often concern ourselves with "over-potting" (using a container that is too large), but "over-potting" is a term that arises from a lack of a basic understanding about the relationship we will look at, which logically determines appropriate container size. It's often parroted that you should only move up one container size when "potting-up". The reasoning is, that when potting up to a container more than one size larger, the soil will remain wet too long and cause root rot issues, but it is the size/mass of the plant material you are working with, and the physical properties of the soil you choose that determines both the upper & lower limits of appropriate container size - not a formulaic upward progression of container sizes. In many cases, after root pruning a plant, it may even be appropriate to step down a container size or two, but as you will see, that also depends on the physical properties of the soil you choose. Plants grown in slow (slow-draining/water-retentive) soils need to be grown in containers with smaller soil volumes so that the plant can use water quickly, allowing air to return to the soil before root issues beyond impaired root function/metabolism become a limiting factor. We know that the anaerobic (airless) conditions that accompany soggy soils quickly kill fine roots and impair root function/metabolism. We also know smaller soil volumes and the root constriction that accompany them cause plants to both extend branches and gain o/a mass much more slowly - a bane if rapid growth is the goal - a boon if growth restriction and a compact plant are what you have your sights set on. Conversely, rampant growth can be had by growing in very large containers and in very fast soils where frequent watering and fertilizing is required - so it's not that plants rebel at being potted into very large containers per se, but rather, they rebel at being potted into very large containers with a soil that is too slow and water-retentive. This is a key point. We know that there is an inverse relationship between soil particle size and the height of the perched water table (PWT) in containers. As particle size increases, the height of the PWT decreases, until at about a particle size of just under 1/8 inch, soils will no longer hold perched water. If there is no perched water, the soil is ALWAYS well aerated, even when the soil is at container capacity (fully saturated). So, if you aim for a soil (like the gritty mix) composed primarily of particles larger than 1/16", there is no upper limit to container size, other than what you can practically manage. The lower size limit will be determined by the soil volume's ability to allow room for roots to 'run' and to furnish water enough to sustain the plant between irrigations. Bearing heavily on this ability is the ratio of fine roots to coarse roots. It takes a minimum amount of fine rootage to support the canopy under high water demand. If the container is full of large roots, there may not be room for a sufficient volume of the fine roots that do all the water/nutrient delivery work and the coarse roots, too. You can grow a very large plant in a very small container if the roots have been well managed and the lion's share of the rootage is fine. You can also grow very small plants, even seedlings, in very large containers if the soil is fast (free-draining and well-aerated) enough that the soil holds no, or very little perched water. I have just offered clear illustration that the oft repeated advice to 'only pot up one size at a time', only applies when using heavy, water-retentive soils. Those using well-aerated soils are not bound by the same restrictions. AL...See MoreWheel Horse Ramblings
Comments (85)Toro bought Wheel Horse in 1986, but the Toro name didn't appear on the products until 1990. The old Wheel Horse plant in South Bend, IN was sold early on, I don't know the exact year but in the late 80's I believe. I think the story on the Classic is simply that Toro has been hugely successful with ZTR's (which Wheel Horse actually had in the 80's, by the way) while their traditional lawn and garden tractor sales have been slipping. They are also losing traditional consumer oriented dealers, as many of the ZTR sales seem to be from commercial oriented dealers who may have never even heard of a Wheel Horse tractor. So I guess the bottom line is they have made a business decision to just about kill off all their traditional lawn and garden tractors. While I can't agree with the decision, it's not mine to make, and I have to say a big "Thanks!" to Toro for keeping the traditional Wheel Horse alive for as long as they have. I will add that Toro has a long tradition of making all sorts of turf care related products, and they seem to have always adjusted and altered their product mix to the demands in the market they sought to serve. Perhaps because their specialty early on was in the commercial side, many people do not realize this company goes back to before 1920. Turf care has always been their business, not agriculture, and I think Toro was a bit uncomfortable with even touching into agriculture with their garden tractors. Why else would they have designed the otherwise very capable 5xi series with no provisions for a rear pto, no added hydraulics, and no 3-point hitch? Various ag type attachments that WH had offered were also dropped. There's no question that modern design l&g tractors have more engineering in them today. Engineers are good at figuring out the least material that will perform the intended function, and safety factors today are obviously not the round 2 or 3 times like they used to be. So today's l&g transaxle, for instance, is built to a relatively tight tolerance for HP and torque, and is expected to handle the loads for "X" number of cycles. It's kind of like "battery science" - if a Sears battery claims a "4 year" life, by golly that's usually pretty close to what you'll get out of it. On the other hand, the Wheel Horse uni-drive was designed in the days when iron was cheap, things weren't supposed to break, and owners of garden tractors expected them to not only mow grass, but to really be more of a small tractor and not just a lawn mower they could ride on. The first tractors to use the modern style, 2-piece cast housing WH uni-drive transaxle were the 5.5HP 551 and the 7HP 701 in 1961. While the design had changes and revisions over the years, most major dimensions did not change, and the fact that some of the later 6-speed transaxles are handling 50+ HP in competitive pullers is a sure sign that they were built to last a lifetime in the intended application. Todays thin-wall close-fit aluminum castings and powdered metal gears may be very cost efficient and are probably well suited for most of today's purchasers, but they are nothing like the old cast iron gearboxes that Wheel Horse, Cub Cadet, Bolens, Peerless, and others used to make. I can't do much about today's realities in terms of lawn tractor purchasers, economies of scale (the box store "make 'em cheap and sell millions" syndrome), and manufacturing economics, but I'll sure do what I can to preserve the remaining thousands and thousands of Wheel Horses that are out there! Ed...See Moretreachery and perfidy (and long and waffly)
Comments (18)It looks as though species roses are true woodland edge plants - they laugh at shade, blooming perfectly well in 3-4 hours of dappled light. Even moyesii will do OK in a shady place. Singles seem to be less demanding than doubles - nutkana is much happier than nutkana semi-plena and the single white alba performs brilliantly as an understorey rose while alba maxima is sparse with its blooms (and gets really, really tall and gangly). New to me this year is r.wilmottiae and I am debating whether to get r.webbiana (might be better for you, Melissa) and dithering over Penzance briars (Amy Robsart, Meg Merrilees et al.....which are great woodland roses. Multiflora is also a great woodlander here but Nastarana, my nearest musk rose, is a bit of a sulker. I am hoping for a woodsii (happy for colonisers and spreaders) and a couple of palustris for the damper corner with (at last!) primulas. Hybrid musks are always mentioned as shade tolerant but I find in my garden that the Pemberton hybrid musks invariably stretch to the skies in search of light (must be the Trier/Aglaia Lambertiana parentage) but Len's HM's are much more floriferous (which I have always attributed to Ballerina in their lineage....which will bloom in less than 3 hours of sun). Darlows Enigma is relaxed about light, as is Sally Holmes (although blackspots horribly for me) and the old gallica, Tuscany is far better in shade than sunlight. For larger roses, helenae is a favourite - the semi-double pale yellow Lykkefund is a delight. I grow the huge Scharlachglut as a freestanding shrub and best of all, rosa glauca - lovely at all stages.....ho yes, Mermaid, which will grow well on (large) shady bank. It is 8 years or so since I successfully grew raspberries (every virus and pest congregates on a public allotment and sick raspberries go on forever - result - futiiity) so I am hugely excited at growing them at the woods - there are already wild r.idaeus growing (tiny and not very sweet) but I will be getting some good Scottish cultivars. Marianne - bad girl! This is already the most expensive time of year and there you are - tempting me. One day I plan a raid on Pirjo Rautio's catalogue........ Comtessedelacouche (great name) isn't Mousehold a pearl? My daughter lives in Norwich and our woods are only 4 miles away in Postwick - we should meet up. Cats - plants for free have an especial piquancy hey? (or is it just me being a tightwad?) Those hybrid berries! - we do have Hildaberries though. Will try to get party pics (obvs I was too insanely crazed to take any myself)....See MoreSoapstone DIY finally complete!
Comments (39)Thanks ricklish. We're still loving it. I've only done two full oilings so far, about 2 weeks apart. The 2nd one is 2 weeks old now too, come to think of it. It has settled in to a nice balance of dark and light. When freshly oiled a lot of the stone's interesting details get lost. A week or more later it looks better. It'll probably be another week before I do it again, more out of convenience than because it's gone too light. I found bee's oil too difficult to be worth the effort and just use a light butcher's block mineral oil from Williams-Sonoma. The heavy drug store stuff was kinda tough to spread around too but may have more holding power. So far we have no problems with scratches and have pretty much stopped worrying about it. No suprises or regrets! I hope your install went well, we were away on vacation so I'm just now getting back to GW. - D...See Moremarymd7
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoreadinglady
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15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoardnek710
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoreadinglady
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15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoreadinglady
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15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoardnek710
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoksrogers
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoThierry Marique
2 years ago
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