iochromas

Hi there!

I have 3 iochromas in little 2 inch pots. I got them mail order 2 weeks ago.
Should I plant them in a bigger pot before I plant them outside, or should I plant them in the garden right now?

Thank you, Christie

They are tender vittles.
All of mine have completely defoliaged from the freeze we had a couple weeks ago and I think I have lost at least the I. cyaneum and possibly even one of the younger coccineum. ( I have some that are 6 years old and about 12 feet tall - they are completely defoliated and about 1/3 of the terminal + lateral branches are now dead wood = major pruning and fertilizing for them this spring ! )

I'm located 15 miles up the road from you and I am still seeing frost in the morning.
I might wait just a little bit longer and keep them outside in their pots but protected on a front porch .

It may be safe, but why take a chance with such young plants that have such wonderful promise if you hold off 2 or 3 more weeks.

Should I pot them up in a slightly bigger peatpot, or leave them in their small nursery pots?

Thank you, I will wait a while!

I agree, definitely don't plant them in the garden yet. I had mine on a somewhat protected patio and think I lost all of them in our freeze. If you're planning to plant them in the spring and they haven't outgrown their current pots, I'd leave them alone for now, but if they're really rootbound then repotting may be better. But if they're still an appropriate size for their current pots, I think it's probably better to not transplant them twice, less stress on the roots that way.

They are born from cuttings, I haven't dared to take 'em out to check the roots...
Probably a good size pot for now then.
Thank you!
Edit; uh oh, typo!



This message was edited Feb 4, 2007 1:09 PM

rule of thumb i used in transplanting is... the top is lusciously growing, and roots are oozing out of the bottom of the pot. it may be too much work for some, but graduation in pot sizes also work best for me.. from personal experiences, i've observed plants love their roots to be snug and tight in order to perform well. besides, cold weather is not the best time to re-pot, u take too much risk. wait until it get a tad bit warmer.

i do not know about ur area, but in the upper desert, we are still experiencing frosty conditions. our weather does not warm up until Easter week comes... that again is my que that spring is here. if u are as observant as i am, normally or immediately after the Holy Week, temperatures soars up, next thing u know summer is here.

hope that help... btw... this method of mine applies to all plant that i nurture.

ma vie