Beginner Gardening: Pot Size for Draceana marginata, 1 by purpleinopp

purpleinopp wrote:
For the size that plant is, I wouldn't consider the pot large at all. After you've repotted a few times, you'll see how big and fast the roots grow.

In the first pic below, a group of small trees I just repotted, back into its' same pot, after trimming the roots fairly aggressively, as I do whenever I repot them. Usually about once per year.

The 2nd pic is a tree that I've skipped repotting this year because it's in a much larger pot, and I recently removed a much taller trunk (to both serve as a cutting to make/be a new tree, and because it was too tall for my style of potted plants.) The growth at the top seen in the pic started growing on the stump a few weeks after I removed the older, taller top. (And all of the little trees in the 1st pic used to be parts of the larger tree.)

My plants are outside most of the year, most of them sitting where they can be rained on. If the soil rots the roots when/if it stays moist, that would be a death sentence for most of my plants.

A mix like that in your pic (or anything chunky, that can't wick moisture sideways or up - like 'cactus' or 'orchid' mixes,) can be a little strange to get used to, for those using something like that for a first time. Moisture will only fall straight down, so it's necessary to sprinkle the whole surface well to deliver moister thoroughly, to all parts of the root ball, and to make sure it escapes both the pot and drain saucer. (You'll probably need to add too much excess water for a drain saucer to catch anyway, to moisten all parts thoroughly. I take plants to sink/shower for watering for that reason.)

This message was edited Oct 27, 2014 10:26 AM