Peony planting query

AnniD

I have rescued 2 peonies in pots from my mother in law's garden and was going to pot them into larger pots in loamy compost as l have no room in the ground at the moment. However when l extracted the smaller one from it's pot, although it has plenty of fibrous roots they were nowhere near filling the existing pot. She says they have never flowered so l was going to make sure l didn't plant them too deeply, but now l don't know whether to plant this one in a bigger pot as planned, or use a smaller pot and then pot it on again when hopefully it's roots have filled that ?
Any advice gratefully received 

Perki

I plant it in the smaller pot for now but it depends on how big the other pot is and how well the plant doing.

I don't plant plants in over sized pots, they can sit in wet soil for to long causing rot. 

Fairygirl

Has it got a lot of top growth, Anni?
You could just cut it back and keep it in the pot it's in until it's a better size. It should build up a good bit over the next few months and you could pot on then.
I think that's what I'd do. 

AnniD

Not a vast amount of top growth @Fairygirl, not compared to the other one. That one has a much better root system by the looks of it so l'm not so concerned about that. This one is like the runt of the litter, needs a bit more TLC! 
@Perki there was a lot of excess soil and considering it's been neglected for goodness knows how long and dumped at the back of the greenhouse, l was surprised at how moist it was. I think l will err on the side of caution and coddle it along in a smaller pot for the time being.
Thank you both for your replies 

Fairygirl

I agree with Perki - I don't like things being overpotted when they're on the small side, or are struggling. Better to keep potting on for a while.
If it was something that didn't mind sitting in damper soil for a long time, it wouldn't be so bad, but peonies like a drier medium. Better to be cautious 

AnniD

Ms Cautious,  that's me ! 😊
I've left them in a couple of trugs for now,  tomorrow is another day.....

Helix

Don’t leave them too long in the trug, and hope it’s covered.  Peonies can be a bit inclined to sulk when moved, and sit for a year or so doing absolutely nothing. So try to make the move as stress free as possible. 

AnniD

Trugs are covered @Helix, they are first on my list of jobs for the morning. I shall tell them how lucky they have been - they nearly ended up in the green waste bin.