Plants in containers

1) Plants do not like being in containers

How to mitigate against this.

2) If possible do not have a base on the container, let the roots enter the ground. They will access the nutrients and moisture in the soil. The plant will not become pot bound, it will suffer less from being in the pot.

3) If you cannot do the above, either make the pot from Air Pot or line the pot/planter with Air Pot. It prevents girdling of roots, it stimulates fibrous root growth and allows easier root pruning to prevent the plant becoming pot bound. Air Pot air prunes the roots, a small air gap should be left if lining the pot.

4) Plants in containers, need more watering than plants in the ground. They dry out quicker, drain often too well (or not enough see below), suffer from the heating up and cooling of the container. Little and often, ideally via a monitored automated irrigation system.

5) The plant will exhaust nutrients in the container, they need to be replenished. This should not occur with inorganic fertilisers. Man made chemicals destroy the natural Soil Food Web. The pots should be mulched with woodchips (not bark much - too slow to compost down, never stones). As the mulch composts down it feeds the Soil Food Web in the container with organic matter. Annually the pot should be top dressed with PAS100 compost, to replaced the nutrients used by the plant.

6) Ideally the pot should be drenched with Compost Tea and a bio stimulant four times a year to ensure, optimal soil biology is present .

7) Ensure the pot drains, this can change over time.

8) After 2-3 years, when the plant is pot bound (no space for extra roots ) it should be root pruned and new organic matter placed in the voids created.

9) See 1)