posted
Hi ^.^ I was wondering why gardeners do this thing where they put 3 plants in one pot really close to eachother. I got my rubber tree in a pot of 3 (hey that rhymed!) and I immediately separated it and gave the other two to my friends. My room mate's is growing the best, mine second best, and the guy down the hall's is not growing at all. Its root system is teeeny weeny!
My mom's jade, and my friends jade that i'm taking care of are also 3 in one pot. Mom's jade is a lot smaller, and i'm not sure if its 3 in one pot, cuz i haven't repotted it or anything, so it could be all joined together in one thing on the bottom; but my friend's is definately 3.
And the other day, while i was working in the green house, they told me to put 4 begonias per pot, and 3 impatians per pot... I try to get one plant per pot.
I don't like the idea of roots getting tangled n stuff, cuz my dad kinda drilled the whole weed concept into my head of roots wrapping around other roots and strangling one another.
So ya ^.^ What's up with the whole multiplantsinapot thing? Thanks!
The roots of potted plants do not strangle each other. In fact, the healthiest potted plants are the ones that are quite potbound, i.e., the roots are well wrapped around the outside of the rootball. (When I purchase a plant, I always look for roots tightly wrapped around the rootball.)
Growers put multiple plants in a pot in order to fill up a larger pot and to create a fuller looking plant. You may prefer to separate them, but personally I think the potted plants look far better when there are multiples in the same pot.
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posted
Ooooooooooooooh okay ^.^ Thank you Will! I personally prefer single plants, because when they get big and fluffy, you get the privelage of saying "yep, i grew that, and it looks that good." It might just be a me thing though ^.^
I was always told that plants with further spread out roots can gather more nutrients because they're more spread out, and can catch stuff easier as it falls past, like water, plant food, and stuff like that. Is that a false statement?
That may be true for outdoor plants, but it is not true for potted plants. Any decent potting soil has plenty of nutrients throughout the soil and when watered properly, all of the roots in a pot get lots of water.
The greatest hazard for potted plants is soil that stays moist for too long. That happens with over-potted plants, but rarely happens with potbound plants.
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posted
Oooooooooooh okay. So if a plant is potbound, it'll hold less water and soil in the pot, thereby reducing the root rot thing; while a plant with spread out roots will be in a pot with more soil, which will hold more water for a longer period of time, thereby increasing the risk of root rot, or decay, or some other kinda weirdo disease that plants get >.o plus there would probably be more chance of a soil dwelling buggy, right?
posted
Yes, you've got it, except for the soil bugs part. If you use a sterile potting mix, such as Pro-Mix, you will not have any bug problems.
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