 | How to pot up Plug Plants |
When potting up young plug plants, you must be aware that you must not disturb the roots of the tiny plant and do not use too large a pot. Doing both will probably kill your plant. Some plants may arrive with a net covering the compost, do not remove this you will damage the roots of the plant. This will degrade over time. A 6-7cm pot is the maximum size to use. If you use a pot larger than this you stand the chance of killing the plant. The reason being, the compost will stay much wetter, for longer, and the little plant will not like sitting in wet compost. Half fill the pot with compost insert the plug, and top up with compost around the sides. The compost should be of the best quality, sieved through a 10mm hole sieve, and would be better if you could add around 20% of Perlite or sharp sand, this helps drainage. It is important that in the plants early years to have the best quality compost, good drainage which provides good aeration through the roots, and NOT to over water. Once potted, water once, then do not water again until the compost has dried out. Over watering, no drainage, and bad cloggy compost, with big bits in it, will kill your plants ! Liquid feed once a week, after a couple of weeks in its new small pot. In a few weeks, the plant will have grown more roots. Once the roots fill this little pot size, you can pot up into a large pot, say a litre size. Too big a pot will stunt your plants growth, and hold too much water, which the plant will not like. Always pot up into a slightly larger pot, not an enormous pot. This might mean you have to re-pot your plants a few times, until you get a plant with tons of roots, before planting into a large container, or in a permanent place in the garden. If you buy your plants during cold weather, you will need somewhere warm while young. If it's the middle of summer, then you should be ok outside, away from the wind, and to start with, direct sun for long periods, as strong sunlight when the plant is young will dry the small pot too quickly and frazzle the little plants leaves. Shears Young Plants Grow Guides |