Small pot in a big pot? What?

[boytjie]

Okay, I'm gonna be the sole dissenting voice in this thread. I've gotten a few plants in past that were seemingly being "choked" by tiny pots. In both cases, all I did was cut the small plastic pot in strategic places to relieve the pressure on the rootball, with minimal damage to healthy roots. Then I just potted up the whole mass (mess?) into a larger pot with fresh mix. Both plants are growing like crazy a year later, no sign of any problems. Just my FWIW.

Stephen

[Rosiefuture]

Hi J, what Stephen says makes a lot of sense too. If you could just carve away any parts of the pot that won't involve cutting roots.

Any chance of seeing the root ball as it is now?

Marion

[peeweelovesbooks]

I don't think you are necessarily dissenting here. None of us are advocating cutting roots of it's unnecessary. Sure, if you can cut the pot--then by all means do so. I've cut up a pot or two trying to wriggle out roots.

Having said that, I advise soaking the roots to minimize damage. Sometimes it's a matter of cutting the pot, but if it is so rootbound, I doubt that cutting a pot is all you have to do.

Good luck either way.

[cb977]

Keep in mind that if you soak the pot or basket for a while prior to working in the root zone, it will go much easier

[jeffg]

I'm kind of with Stephen here. I learned over the last year with my Onc alliance that they LOVE cramped quarters. I have one 'Barbra Bush' that is a clump of roots hanging over the 3" pot. My instinct said "repot", but I just left it and it is thriving and threw the best bloom yet.
The times when I did pot up, they went down-hill. Some more experienced growers have told me to just leave them alone until I can divide (rather than pot-up), then send the divisions into to cramped pots. Working on it!

[RosieC]

I've had ones I bought like this and the main problem was not the presence of the pot, but the fact that inside the pot was rotten moss while outside the pot was bark (leading me to water based on the bark not realising there was rotten moss in the center).

I can't see any reason for the pot causing a problem, but I would probably remove to check if the medium inside was OK.

[jrodpad]

Thanks again for all the great input, it's comforting to know that there are others who've had to deal with this same situation. I've resigned myself to not panic and to carve away the parts of the pot that I can remove without causing major damage to the healthy roots once the beallara has stopped blooming. I'll be sure to post a photo series of the extraction so that you can see what I mean when I say that the roots are "swallowing" the smaller pot. It's really quite something.

In the interim, the first two blooms have opened up and I couldn't resist the urge to share. I'll post a few more pics when all of the buds are open. I really like the color and the pattern - I just wish that the lip didn't have that bit of a curl to it. Am I being overly critical? I feel like that's a really picky comment.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks again!

Regards,

- J

[Rosiefuture]

Originally Posted by jrodpad

In the interim, the first two blooms have opened up and I couldn't resist the urge to share. I'll post a few more pics when all of the buds are open. I really like the color and the pattern - I just wish that the lip didn't have that bit of a curl to it. Am I being overly critical? I feel like that's a really picky comment.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks again!

Regards,

- J

It's beautiful J, so delicate and elegant looking. Yes, you are being overly critical

Marion

[UKCat]

Stunning flower.
If/when you do 'crack' the small pot open do check to make sure that there is no old media in there rotting down, that's the only problem I have found with the 2 pot method.

[Swamper]

Very beautiful indeed. I too am over critical with my blooms but oh well.