Potting On Experiment

Hi All. I have read and followed recently with my cuttings of Fuchsias & Pelargonium’s the advice of potting on to a pot the next size up 2 1/2” to 3”, 3 1/2” to 4” and so on. I know there are exceptions to this but this is the general advice. Indeed I did buy once some large fuchsia plugs and after a few days of settling in I potted them straight in to large pot, they never survived. However I have about 8 Pelargonium and around 10 fuchsia cuttings I took this spring and basically I have been experimenting with them.
One thing before I start is I have noticed on fuchsia & pelargonium comps that the max size pot they exhibit plants are about 5”, 13cm and the plants are huge. No doubt to the care the particular plant is given.

Below are a group of Pelargonium cutting all taken at same time in spring? One Pelargonium I have potted on as per advice, they do say Pelargonium’s do better in a much smaller pot. Plant pelargonium into a too large pot and they will grow but will not flower, so I have read.

You can see the difference drastically between the plant in the smaller pot and the others. All cuttings were more or less the same size but the cuttings potted into much bigger pots are growing and flowering nicely. The other cuttings were potted directly into a garden size container.

Same for the fuchsias, again you can see the difference between the smaller cutting potted on as prescribed and the lager plant which I jumped several pot sizes.

It does make me wonder if this is a hard & fast rule or really one that is essential if you are showing your plants at a competition. To me once the cuttings get to a decent size & growing well it does no harm to pot up to a much larger pot. Just to see what would happen I let one of the small cuttings flower, Cannot believe such a small plant would give such big & nice flowers.

Just wondering if I have been lucky or there is a too strict rule for going up one pot at a time? If I did this with all cuttings in spring then the plants I get this summer would be very small.
Thinking about it also some if not all cuttings purchased from places like B&Q, Homebase etc are also very small yet I wonder how many of us do the next pot size thing, then again a lot are annuals so may react differently to perennials.

As I say just an experiment and wondering if anybody has any experience, thoughts, on this.

 

Hi Trogre,

I start my cuttings in single cell tray inserts then they go into 6.5 cm pots then into 9 or 10 cm pots.

After that it depends on what you want them for.
That size pot is perfect for setting straight out into hanging baskets or mixed planters.
If growing as a specimen plant on it's own I would gradually increase the pot size until the final is reached.

A thing to always remember with Fuchsias is that they flower best when they are potbound, hence the way you're smaller one is flowering.

As for competition quality plants, that is a totally different method of growing which includes ( bare details here ) growing the plant on what is called the " Biennial Method "....... Growing the plant for around 18 months with no flower buds being allowed to form whatsoever. Pinching it out at every 1 or 2 sets of leaves ( depending on the variety used ). Growing it at a constant temperature throughout this period, preferably around 50 deg in winter and 65 deg in summer.
And, repotting , that is taking it from it's pot and removing the compost carefully so it will fit into a smaller pot again. Then when it once again needs potting on you can go upto the next size and start the process all over again. Until you reach the size if pot that is specified in the show schedule. You can have the most stunning plant in the world but if it's in a pot that is half inch bigger than specified you'll automatically be disqualified.

 

Must admit I like to go through the process of potting on into slightly larger pots, but then I dont really grow much in the way of bedding plants.

I think there is also a difference between potting into very large pots early in the season, and doing the same thing once things are warm and the plants are really moving.

I'm not a great fan of the potbound theory, although at certain times of the year, eg. winter, its not a bad idea.

 

Pete I think you are right,when roots are very small perhaps they cannot cope with a lot more soil or more important too much space & water. However when a lot stronger and actively growing strong then a bigger pot would be ok.I think that is why my small pelargoniums could cope in a larger pot as the roots were strong.
Roger I am amazed what work is involved in getting a plant ready for a show,up to 2 years in advance you got to be looking at!! When you mentioned the " Biennial Method " I looked it up on google and one person who shows fuchsias at comps was saying when he prepares his hanging basket fuchsias which was the same method as you mentioned he has to pinch out around a 100 tips!!
I suppose you have to have several plants growing and pick the best for show and there must be a lot of heartbreak & frustration if after 18-24 months something goes wrong just before a show,dedication.