This 20l bucket is the final pot. The trees will stay in them the rest of their lives. Some did up to 18 years.
This way I plant them in the ground or in a larger pot. It makes them easier to transport into winterquarters. Moisture in the root ball can be better controlled.
What a clever idea. Monika, i am going to go for some trees this year, a few to start.
So you dig a hole and drop that in,in the fall you sever the larger roots and bring it inside for the winter,what does it go in in the winter,a larger bucket with new potting soil in it???
Okay ladies,
Check out DH's tool box and see if he has a drill attachment to make the hole in a door for insertion of a new door knob...this makes the perfect size hole. The attachment actually comes in two pieces, a pilot drill bit with a circular attachment that is roughly 2.5 inches in diameter.
Joydie
P.S. I have my own toolbox...LOL
As always...Impressive. Thinking if one simply potted up your best 4 hybrids that one could have a good start that way for those Northerners into hybridizing and lacking a green house. Be honest though, you climb up on a ladder to pollinate some of those. I know I would. Either that or have the kids stand on my shoulders with pollen in one hand....
This message was edited Wednesday, Feb 27th 3:01 PM
The pots come into a plastic bag. If you have enough room, which I dont have, you can put the pots into larger ones and fill them up with soil.
I pollinate flowers on lower branches.
Eric, are you sure you want your kids messing with your brugs? I'm sure going to try this method this year and hope to gain some big trees in a few years. I'm so glad you are willing to share with us Monika. You too, Eric and Kyle. I've learned so much this last few weeks. Boggles my mind.
bump
but how do you water them once pulled up with all those holes? The plastic bag would get full of water as it gushes out the sides.....I would think.
monika, the alley trees here: http://davesgarden.com/s/200626.html
are they in 5 gallon pots also??
They are in five gallon pots.
so is a 201 bucket just a 5 gallon pot?
the reason I asked monika is that the trunk on some of them look as big as the pot!!
do you treat your soil for bugs or worms or anything before bringing them in?
I would think you would not have to dig the hole every year for you plant them back in the same hole. But would the roots you left from the last growing season have had the time to disintegrate by then?
Monika, do you use the same hole over and over again each year?
oh! and that brings up another question, how do you cover your holes during the winter?
No, I dont but I watch out for snails or slugs. Earthworms ( we call them rain worms) are no pests. They dont harm the roots at all. I never had problems with bugs in pots. Only aphids start to hatch about Dec. Only one time spraying eliminates them until May. Its too cool for spider mites in my GH.
I know we're going to drive you to drink, but just to clear things up for me (I'm very slow) you never repot these trees? never new soil? never taking out and repotting with fresh soil in the same pot?
I check the roots every spring, remove all dead roots. The holes,I am making by doing this, are filled up with fresh soil. Thats all. - After digging up, the bucket is placed either in a dark plastic bag or like the large and heavy trees, put in the ground in the GH. Otherwise, light and air kills the thick roots on the side holes.
yikes, so you have to dig these holes every year then?? LOL! DH isn't gonna like that!! I might have to come up with empty buckets to put upside down in those holes.
tiG - I think she meant she puts fresh soil in the containers where she may have trimmed some dead roots off of the the root ball - to fill the holes and keep air from getting at the roots. Is that what you mean Monika?
Not the holes outside where they were growing in the ground.
Monika . . are you saying that when you remove the dead roots in the spring that you fill up the place where the dead roots were removed with soil and that is all the soil that you add before putting it back in the pot and placing it in the ground. Also, when you take them out of the ground before winter, do you place a emply pot in the hole to retain that hole until spring.
OH !!!
Well, now I am really confused!! LOL
so Monika takes the pot with the tree out of the ground in the fall. She then has a hole in the ground that she leaves ?? empty?
She puts the tree in the storage house in the pot with lots of holes in it. but because of the holes, she must cover the pot with a bag so light and air does not get at the roots in the pot by going thru the holes.
Then in spring she takes the trees out of the holey pots to cut the dead roots off and refresh the soil that will fit where the dead roots were. She puts them back in the same pots and goes out and sticks these pots back into the same holes that were left last year.
The biggest trees she puts into holes in the GH floor instead of a plastic bag? In their holey pots? then don't they grow more roots? or is it too cold so they just sit there all winter?
Please you all, correct me!!
Well, what ever you Monika, it sure works!!!
Kell . . that's the way I understand it. If we are wrong, I hope someone corrects us.
Frannie, I am glad you are still talking to me, I promise a check is in the mail....................tomorrow......LOL! I can be slow but I always come thru!!
Sorry, aol deceided last night, it was time to rest for a while. Couldnt get back online.
Kell, there are many bucket sized holes in my garden. I leave them as they are, because there is no danger, somebody would step into one of them. The trees are put back into the holes in the spring, but before, I dig around these holes to enlarge them. After putting the pots in the ground, the connection to the surrounding soil is very important. Otherwise the plants makes less or no roots out of the potholes.
The biggest and most heavy trees are put into the GH floor. It is so cold in my GH, that they will make no roots during the long winter months.
Nanny, you are right with refilling the space,removing dead roots gives a lot of space to refill.
Wow! This is all really impressive! And lucky me, I have a bunch of hole saws and know how to use them! LOL I can see how this method would reduce transplant shock as well as making it so much easier to dig and replant them. Cool!
Thought this was great information too!
Thanks for bringing this up. That what I need do it with my all brugs.. So I dont have to water them often down here. Very humid and hot!
It's so good to see the photos and comments on care talked about it monikas book!
Monika, you may have posted this somewhere before but I haven't seen it....About how long is your growing season? How long from the time you can safely take your brugs out of the greenhouse and put them in the ground to the time you have to take them up again. Also in winter what are your low temps and what are your high temps in summer....
Would like to know for comparison..... :o)
Dee
And this is why Monika is Queen of the Brugmansia! Gosh, thanks Monika for teaching us all about brugs. If it weren't for you we would all be spinning our wheels in the dirt. You are what makes this brugmansia forum so special.
Kell said it and I'm standing by it, Monika.... lol
Can you imagine how far behind we would be w/o Monika???
Next year! I'll start this fall by deciding where I want the large ones to go and make their hole. That way, I'll know how many to winter-over. Once they start blooming (and it shouldn't be long now, I have Ys) I'll tie ribbons on the "must keep" and start making "holey pots" for next year. This way, you also know what and where to under-plant. I love it.
I agree 100% Kell
Wonderful thread! This sounds like a GREAT idea! I have my largest two brugs in their final pots now, and they are REALLY heavy (I need to go get a wagon) to carry around, which I do, to get them out of the wind if it's windy, or to get morning sun, then late afternoon sun, etc...... And in the Spring, before I've really got back into shape, I usually end up straining my back by overdoing it at first (I'm aggressive when I start working).
I think I'll try this for the next three's graduation. If I choose the route of putting them in the soil outside (which I'd like to) I do think I will fill in the holes with upside down pots & very tall markers, to prevent the kids from falling into them, if they are out there making snowmen or whatever (like they even play outside anyways - sigh). The markers will prevent someone from stepping on the upside down empty pot and most likely crashing right through it.
Clever, clever idea Monika! And my thanks to Shelly221 for bumping this thread back into action!
Can anyone tell me the name of the 'tool' or drill that Monika uses to drill the holes in the pots??? I feel like I must get many of my plants in the ground and the hole in the pot is the only thing holding me back. I know this has been discussed but the URL, the message says, is in error. Thanks!!!
You can use the drill bit that is used for drilling doorknob holes.
Thank you so much Liz!!! That's what I thought it was but I could not remember. SherryLike
