Agapanthus
hello, wondered if anyone can give me some advice. I have purchased (in 2016)Agapanthus corms that my friend also shared and have been growing well in temporary plastic pots.
Come the Spring i'd like to put them in their permanent pots which are going to be ceramic planters. I can't put them in the border because when I look after my son's dogs, they run around and through the borders and will absolutely destroy anything that's not hardy enough to withstand dogs feet !!!
I have a few concerns :
firstly what compost should I plant them in ?
will they need to be protected over winter, bearing in mind I don't have a greenhouse ??
any advice welcome
many thanks
shazza
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John Innes compost is best if they're going to be in there for a while.
Deciduous types are much hardier than evergreen types. ( Depends on your location )
Try to avoid " pot bellied " pots as you'll never get them out without smashing the pots. Go for those with sloping sides, or use a plastic pot inside a ceramic one.
what's a "pot bellied" pot ???
sorry aym, I disagree.
IMHO nothing likes to be "potbound" I'd say they like to have the roots to the outside of the compost, but , in my experience, never " potbound"
shazza, this is the sort of shape I'd avoid.
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/boscastle-blue-glazed-plant-pot---29cm-097131?_$ja=tsid:49590|cid:320438656|agid:13692647656|tid:pla-171800310496|crid:56351646376|nw:g|rnd:4247982036227988957|dvc:c|adp:1o3&gclid=CNSH5aH-pdICFe4Q0wodvjAA3Q
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The one I have that is doing best is in an old pot the bottom fell out of so it's half buried in soil. The pot is metal and the agapanthus seems to love the warmth as well as the free draining situation. It's not pot bound, I feed it every spring, and divide it every few years so it isn't huge, either. It flowers really well. It's about 20 years old, I've moved house with it. It used to be in a clay pot but that got broken, as Hosta describes above, as I was trying to get the agapanthus out to split it.
PS It's a deciduous one. Survived minus 15C and where it is gets very windy. I love it
Last edited: 23 February 2017 10:19:15
they need to have fairly constricted roots to flower, also don't overfeed them, this also stops them flowering,
if you keep them in a terracotta pot they tell you when they want potting on as they'll break the pot!
I often wonder how being pot bound really works, they grow in half acre diameter pots in Cornish gardens, how do they restrict root growth?
Hiya Lyn. xx
I've tried, and failed, to scan a leaflet from Pine Cottage Plants. National collection holders, over 850 different varieties, including 250 bred by them.
" Whilst the very best plants are produced by growing them in the ground......"
" Lack of flowering......3. Overcrowding of rhizomes and root system in pot. Re-pot into a larger container or maintain health by liquid feeding"
The only reason you grow something hard and tight is to get it to flower prematurely, any plant, if in distress will flower, the have too to preserve the genes And hopefully produce their seed. So keep it pot bound, chuck a load of feed onto it and it will flower, whether that's fair to the plant or not, I don't know.
I do know that they grow better, stronger plants if they are in the open ground, but only in the warmer areas.