I am planning on going shopping for some more pots or maybe ordering some and was wondering what sizes are best for streps. Is there any guideline to follow like there is for the avs or is it just by root mass? I read that they prefer shallow pots so I'll probably look for the tub pots like at Cape Cod. Or maybe the pan pots are better but they are so large starting at 5" diameter.
Also I am used to pruning roots on other plants because it encourages new finer roots to grow which you want more than the longer older roots sort of like trimming your split ends lol. But with a few exceptions most AV roots are not pruned. Are you supposed to prune strep roots like other plants? or are they more like AVs? Oh also pruning is usually done at the beginning of the growing season. Do streps or AVs have a growing season? My Avs seem to always grow but maybe it's something sublte I'm missing.
Pot sizes for Streps
Hey Anna,
Can't wait to see your new babies grow that Susan sent you. I know you will get addicted to those. As you can see, Susan knows how to grow them and don't forget about our Queen of Steps (Shanika) :) They will probably come on here and give you some great advice. I have had wonderful luck with the ones that I have so far. When I ordered a few from David Thompson, he sent me a care sheet and I have had great results with his instructions so far.
The growing conditions are very similar to those of A.V.s but there are some differences. Some wick theirs, I don't as they like to dry out a little between watering's. He says to avoid exceeding a 4-inch pot. A small plant can go in a 4-inch pot. Mine seem to do better pot bound and I use solo cups until they get big enough to repot. When repotting them about every 9 months, you can shorten the longest roots when you remove the old soil. Jim and others have posted on here that they like cooler growing conditions than a.v.s and that has worked for me also. I hope this helps out.
Connie
Edited to say: OOPS! Was not trying to disrespect other wonderful growers on here by only naming two. mrsbonnie, Jan, Lynn, Melanie and others. They can all grow them.
This message was edited Feb 6, 2010 4:07 PM
Connie I am sure that no one would ever take offense at what you said. It's hard to remember everyone and we all know we respect each others skills well except mine because I haven't ever shown anyone anything but that's a different story. Really I'm just joshing about me but you know what I mean, right?
So I don't need to do anything different in terms of pots and I should prune the roots when repot but I can use up to a 4" pot if I want when they are younger. They are all in Solo cups now I think but some of them have two in a pot still because I didn't think they'd all live but so far they have so I need to repot them into their own.
I don't have many 4" pots and maybe I'll get a few more of those though so I'm ready for them even if I don't move them right now. Thanks Connie.
Thanks, Anna! I am assuming that David means trimming the roots once you already have it in a 4-inch pot and you are repotting it to change out the soil. I would think that your babies would need all the roots they have when you pot them up to the 4-inch pots. That is how I understood it.
i try always to use azalea pots for streps & trailing violets, they seem to do very well in them.
mrsbonnie
I do too Bonnie,but what size do you prefer?
i use the 5 inc.
bonnie