I’ve read the same thing, Jen. I sometimes plant bands straight into the ground, so I’m not sure what the difference would be, but I’ve always been taught to pot up gradually, something to do with the roots, of that I’m sure. That wasn’t much help, but I’m wondering about the exact reasons myself. I bet it would be fine with a really strong grower, but not so much with a slow grower. Lisa

Lily,

The standard up-potting practice is to do it in steps. All commercial nurseries follow this principle, with exceptions of course. Exceptions are made for plants that resent being repotted, among other exceptions, like an extremely fast grower or a one season plant, like tomato plant. No one would put a tomato start growing in a little jiffy plug in anything less than a 5 gallon pot.

The reasoning is that a plant, given too much of a container soil mass, as in too large of a pot, cannot handle the soil where its roots are not growing fast enough to fill in. The roots can easily develop root rot from the soil retaining too much moisture that the plant cannot "drink up," fast enough.

A gallon size plant going up to a two or three gallon pot is relatively safe....a gallon to a 5 gallon, it is risky. Also, the larger the potted plant to start with, as in a 10 gallon, going into a 20 or 30 gallon, that can be very dangerous, especially for a slow growing plant.

It's all about dealing with avoiding roots rotting from a soil mass that holds too much moisture that the roots are not in balance with. Even excellent, fast draining potting soils can be unfriendly to an overpotted plant.

P.S. How about you posting a recent baby photo for your Roses Forum Family of friends?

Moses

I will start my small roses that I receive (band, 1gal, 2 gal) into 3 to 5 gallon pots. I think you can control conditions better in a pot than in the ground. plus the rose will be growing in all ideal soil. There are also areas of the yard that are too exposed (too sunny or windy) for a small young plant, whereas a larger more established bush would do fine. I tend to use the larger pots because they dry out slower due to larger soil mass, and my sun can be harsh. Once the feeder roots fill the pot the plant is moved to the ground, or a still bigger pot.

I start my bands in one gallons, then move up to 3 gal. only after roots are filling it up and growing into the ground. My pot mix has to be very well draining so I dont get root rot during our summer rainy season. My climate is very different than yours so I am not sure how much help this is lol.

Lily,

WOW!

WHAT A LITTLE CHAMP HE IS!

WHAT A JOY HE IS!

MAY YOUR BLESSINGS CONTINUE IN ABUNDANCE!

Moses

What a sweetheart. Did his big sister pick out that dinosaur onesie?

Oh Moses I could just hug you, he sure is a joy!! Thank you !!

Vapor of course she did !! Anything dinosaur she thinks he needs, and her too. It’s wonderful how companies are now putting out girls clothes with typical boy hobbies on them .

I posted this pic somewhere else but this smile is his signature smile that melts my heart

He really has become such an easy baby and I’m incredibly grateful for that!

I've started some bands in giant pots because I was so busy-I was concerned I wouldn't be able to switch it to a larger pot in time.Nothing bad happened.

He's completely adorable! I love his little hoodie with the ears lol. He looks like his sister.

Lily,

Second batch of photos....what an ENCORE! God is good! Life is good!

Moses

He is a doll! Have fun, they grow up too quickly. Seems just yesterday my 3 grandchildren were tiny like that.

I like to pot up all my roses before I put them in the ground. Just seems to me they grow better. That includes bare roots too. I just got in an order from Burlington roses. They are tiny bands. I am going to leave them in the little pots they came in for awhile - I am putting them in the greenhouse til weather gets warmer and I leave the plastic baggies on them, pull them up all the way and this makes a little bit of a greenhouse effect where they get a bit of condensation when they are watered. Learned long ago this seems to help them get a good start. Vintage Gardens had instructions on how to plant bands in bigger pots - leave them in the pot they came in - set that down in the new pot and fill in soil around that pot - take plant out, it will form an indention the same size as the pot. Very carefully, take plant out of pot, set it in its new pot and fill in soil around it. This minimizes damage to roots.

Moses gave an excellent explanation! I am sure plenty of people plant their bands in the ground and they do fine. I just prefer to baby mine. Am getting ready to pick up my David Austin order next week - 14 roses, and all will be planted in good sized pots to grow until next fall. By doing this to the bigger bareroots, I feel that when I water, I can really soak the plant good and know it receives all the water to the roots - especially important in summer. By fall, it has grown, good roots have formed and its ready in November to be put in the ground.

Jen, your pictures made my morning! What an adorable little face and bluest eyes! He is a lucky boy to have such a wonderful mama and big sister.

Lily,

Was that expression on Elijah's face in the swing seat photo before or after you gave him a push?

Moses

Omg these amazingly cute baby pictures made my day. Wow he is such a cute little boy. I also think he looks like his super adorable sister also =). Wonderful. Many blessings to you. I plant tiny bands straight into the ground here. I am sure being in the correct size pots probably makes it easier to keep watered properly.

OMG! What a beautiful baby! Lily! You make beautiful babies. Looks like his sister. So adorable! What a wonderful thing to wake up and see!

Aww you guys are so sweet! Moses he was just started to be pushed , he actually fell asleep ! Lol

Excuse the dribble it’s an all day thing now :)

I'm sure everyone is correct that it's best to gradually pot up...however I will add that I planted a lot of the little bands from High Country Roses right into huge...like bigger than half barrel size huge, pots and they have grown incredibly fast and filled out a lot of the space in their first season so even though it's not really the best way to treat them they seem to be okay making a big jump too. I'm so impatient LOL!!! If you have the patience you should do it the gradual way :)

Pippa do you have a pic of these huge pots ? I wonder what they look like for my climbers . All these roses will not be in the ground . They have to be potted up .

Anyone have any under planting suggestions for my tree roses ?

Here is one today...this is my favorite size pot because even in the dead of summer I dont have to water every single day. It's about 2 and a half feet tall.

Wow that’s a pretty pot!! Where do you find them ? Thanks for sharing a pic pippa !

What a beautiful baby!!! Love his smile and baby blue eyes!! 💕

Thanks!! It is the least buried in snow today of my pots lol. I am lucky to have a local plant pot store where it's a huge outdoor maze of pot after pot at decent prices. I am not sure of it's official name because we all call The Pot Shop. They do fine outdoors all winter as long as they are raised up on feet which this one and all of mine are if they arent on my gravel area.

Here are a couple more...both still larger than a half barrel. The green one has had the rose in there as a band and grew that big in one season and the brownish one in front I just planted in the fall.

Thank you for posting this, pippa. How low are your winter temps? You leave the roses in their pots out all winter? What potting mix do you use?

We are hardiness zone 7 but typically our lows are in the 20 or 30s for most of the winter. Yes I leave them out no matter what and as long as they are on pot feet or something so the water can drain as they freeze and thaw they are fine. The shop I got them from taught me to do it that way and it works for me. I have a few more totally under snow right now lol. In these huge pots I usually put some branches in the bottom then I use mainly G an B Organics Rose and Flower soil mix along with random other soil mixes I have on hand.

Here's one on gravel...again its wider at top and also taller than a half barrel so a big pot. It has Rose de Rescht in it that I rooted from a teeny twig.