Grow roses in containers, and need advice for soil
forfunlife
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
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edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoforfunlife thanked edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28Related Discussions
Good garden soil makes poor soil for roses in containers?
Comments (42)The reason you can't trust the volume of nursery pots, Jim, is that those black nursery containers are all "nominal" sizes. That means the volume of the pots is vaguely related to the stated gallon size. A "5 galllon" nursery can is 10.5 in. diameter and 12 in. tall. My online calculator says that is only 3.75 gallons if you pot 2 inches from the top of the pot. That isn't large enough for any rose past the first year or so if it puts on vigorous growth. The foot stomping is an old landscaper practice. It's just a cheap way of determining settlement without taking the time to water a plant in. I wouldn't do it. Water your plant in to settle the soil. I've seen people planting roses into dry potting soil. I wouldn't do it. Many potting soils have peat moss which sheds water once dry. Those of you in climates with steady rain year round may not have this problem, but in the desert West, once peat dries out, it takes a concerted effort to dampen it. I open the bag of soil, stick the hose in, fill it up and mix. Then I pot with dripping wet potting soil and also water it in. It's mud pies for grownups. It assures that the soil comes to the optimal height in the pot (about 2 inches down) and fills major air pockets. I unpot roses all the time and have never found an air pocket. I don't drop pots on purpose. Our summers are too hot to grow a lot of roses in pots well. We can't keep the roots cool enough through June and July. I overpot extensively. A 3 x 3 rose goes in an ornamental pot that is 22-24 inches high. I use various decorative pots from the big box store and always buy the biggest size. Why? They bring to rose up to height and look more in scale with a landscape. It's funny how a pot looks big in a store and miniature in the garden. Also, with those big pots I'm approaching the 15 gallon actual size I find any healthy rose needs. I do a seat of the pants volume-of-cone calculation to guesstimate the volume of the pot, taking into consideration the potting soil is probably 3 inches from the top of the container. Here's a nice online volumetric calculator. http://www.online-calculators.co.uk/volumetric/conevolume.php...See MoreNeed advice for roses for clay based soil
Comments (25)Go to STarbucks, Krystal, Waffle House, Cracker Barrel and ask them to save you coffee grounds and put a ton of coffee grounds in that soil after amending it with a top layer. The worms will come to the coffee grounds. There are basically three types of worms needed to irrigate the soil. If you do lots of coffee grounds after applying a top layer of soil and gypsum annually, you will see a definite improvement. I also used corn meal on mine which helped. Someone told me to use it for blackspot which is not worth the time it takes to put it out for blackspot but it did help with the coffee grounds and gypsum. We had to add a French drain on one side of the garden but subsequently we got the soil draining pretty good. The French drain is probably a breeding place for snakes or voles now. :)...See MoreNeed advice on Growing Fig trees in containers
Comments (6)Having grown numerous varieties in pots/tubs in recent years, my take is that the most important factor for harvesting figs is the variety. Soil, fertilizer etc. are considerably less important. "Petite Negra" has been the only consistent bearer of the bunch (after a few years, it is no longer so petite), but "Chicago Hardy" has also been producing figs the past two years. If you have a sheltered spot that doesn't get more than a couple degrees below freezing in winter, it should be fine for overwintering dormant figs. My garage works out well. The potted figs go back out in spring once frosts are unlikely. Of course, if you are primarily interested in foliage, they'll typically overwinter in the ground in zone 6 (above ground wood will be killed without very careful siting/protection). I haven't succeeded in harvesting figs from these overwintered specimens....See Moresoil and containers for english roses
Comments (27)Thanks again everyone! Update: I attempted to order my roses in early April directly from David Austin but since they said it was outside of the recommended planting time I would have to waive the guarantee. Around the same time Burpee was having a sale and offered a 1-year warranty so I bought the 4 varieties that they had which I was interested in from them: Charlotte, Molineaux, Desdemona, and Munstead Wood. I'll have to wait until next year for the rest :( The bare root plants took 2.5 weeks total to come in from ordering to delivery (including a whopping SIX days in the mail). When they arrived, the roots were packed in pine shavings with a plastic bag wrapped around them and they were just barely still damp. As far as size, they were about what I expected from reading others' experiences with Burpee roses. The canes and roots were somewhat on the punier side compared to those that come directly from DA. left to right in pic above and below: Munstead Wood, Charlotte, Desdemona, Molineaux I planted all 4 of them in 21'' wide x 18'' deep resin pots on 4/22 after a nights soak in water. I used a 5-1-1 mix of pine bark fines, sphagnum peat moss, perlite, and a little dolomitic lime. I pruned back the existing canes maybe 1/3rd of their length. I left them in the garage for a few days and then placed them in a very sunny location in my backyard. Three of the 4 sprouted new growth in about a week. The 4th (Molineaux) took two weeks and is now slowly growing. I think this may have been because It had the smallest amount of roots when planted (there were three main ones but one was damaged and broke off). I pruned probably another half of the length of the canes off while waiting since they turned brown. Charlotte has had the quickest and most growth, followed by Munstead Wood and Desdemona. From the looks of the canes when I received them, I didn't have high hopes for Munstead but it's surprised me. Enjoy the time lapse of Charlotte and pics of the rest :) Charlotte 1 month time lapse 5/9 Furthest back Charlotte, Molineaux, Desdemona, Munstead Wood (bottom) Charlotte 5/22 Desdemona 5/8 5/22 - There's a few little flower buds! Munstead Wood 5/8 5/22 - little flower buds on this one too! Molineaux 5/22 The time lapse takes awhile to make so that's why there's only the one of Charlotte. If/when I have time i'll do the others. I'm excited about the flower buds on Munstead and Desdemona and will be back to share the first flowers when they arrive :) Also, any recommendations for your favorite rose fertilizer or a general one that does well in containers? I've given them Espoma Organic Start! 1-2-2 twice now (2 weeks ago and again yesterday) which is supposed to help with new plants and root growth. I'm looking for something else now....See Morejim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
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