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Avatar for NewbieGardner
Jun 23, 2020 9:07 PM CST
Thread OP
Seattle, WA (Zone 8b)
Please help me what should be the size of container for growing fruits or big trees.
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Jun 23, 2020 9:08 PM CST
Name: Kat
Magnolia, Tx (Zone 9a)
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Depends on the type of fruit, but I believe 33 gallon pots are used to start with
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Jun 23, 2020 9:09 PM CST
Name: Daniel Erdy
Catawba SC (Zone 7b)
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Depends on the fruit or tree. What would you like to grow in the pot?
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Jun 24, 2020 8:23 AM CST
Name: GERALD
Lockhart, Texas (Zone 8b)
Greenhouse Hydroponics Region: Texas
There aren't any absolute requirements. I think appropriate advice is going to vary with the variety of tree and your expectations. Fruits, for instance, mostly can do well in containers but may not grow as large as they might otherwise, but can still be nice trees and productive. But I would never try a permanently potted pecan. It would never reach a productive and pleasing size. Obviously, you should aim for trees that are not so very large when mature.

And there are things you can do. Root pruning can help keep the tree of an appropriate and healthy size for the container. A tree with root and top balanced is better than a sickly, root-bound tree. But I personally think you want the largest container you can manage in your chosen ultimate location, remembering that the larger the container, the larger the natural root system can be before you have to intervene, but the more strenuous the job of getting it in and out of the container. The farther you get away from the natural in-ground state, the more work it will ask of you. And I believe you should always be prepared to undertake that job. A pot-bound plant is a poor thing.

But it always seems to me that fruit trees are able to be productive in somewhat smaller containers than I might expect, even to the point that they look a little unbalanced. Citrus, in general, seems to do well. But I think it's mostly how well you follow a proper program that decides if you get a good container specimen.
Avatar for NewbieGardner
Jun 24, 2020 9:58 PM CST
Thread OP
Seattle, WA (Zone 8b)
Thank you
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Jun 29, 2020 9:19 PM CST
Name: Al F.
5b-6a mid-MI
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How large a container 'can' or 'should' be, depends on the relationship between the mass of the plant material you are working with and your choice of soil. We often concern ourselves with "over-potting" (using a container that is too large), but "over-potting" is a term that arises from a lack of a basic understanding about the relationship we will look at, which logically determines appropriate container size.

It's often parroted that you should only move up one container size when "potting-up". The reasoning is, that when potting up to a container more than one size larger, the soil will remain wet too long and cause root rot issues, but it is the size/mass of the plant material you are working with, and the physical properties of the soil you choose that determines both the upper & lower limits of appropriate container size - not a formulaic upward progression of container sizes. In many cases, after root pruning a plant, it may even be appropriate to step down a container size or two, but as you will see, that also depends on the physical properties of the soil you choose. It's not uncommon for me, after a repot/root-pruning to pot in containers as small as 1/5 the size as that which the plant had been growing in prior to the work.

Plants grown in 'slow' (slow-draining/water-retentive) soils need to be grown in containers with smaller soil volumes so that the plant can use water quickly, allowing air to return to the soil before root issues beyond impaired root function/metabolism become a limiting factor. We know that the anaerobic (airless) conditions that accompany soggy soils quickly kill fine roots and impair root function/metabolism. We also know smaller soil volumes and the root constriction that accompany them cause plants to both extend branches and gain o/a mass much more slowly - a bane if rapid growth is the goal - a boon if growth restriction and a compact plant are what you have your sights set on.

Conversely, rampant growth can be had by growing in very large containers and in very fast soils where frequent watering and fertilizing is required - so it's not that plants rebel at being potted into very large containers per se, but rather, they rebel at being potted into very large containers with a soil that is too slow and water-retentive. This is a key point.

We know that there is an inverse relationship between soil particle size and the height of the perched water table (PWT) in containers. As particle size increases, the height of the PWT decreases, until at about a particle size of just under 1/8 inch, soils will no longer hold perched water. If there is no perched water, the soil is ALWAYS well aerated, even when the soil is at container capacity (fully saturated).

So, if you aim for a soil (like the gritty mix) composed primarily of particles larger than 1/16", there is no upper limit to container size, other than what you can practically manage. The lower size limit will be determined by the soil volume's ability to allow room for roots to 'run' and to furnish water enough to sustain the plant between irrigations. Bearing heavily on this ability is the ratio of fine roots to coarse roots. It takes a minimum amount of fine rootage to support the canopy under high water demand. If the container is full of large roots, there may not be room for a sufficient volume of the fine roots that do all the water/nutrient delivery work and the coarse roots, too. You can grow a very large plant in a very small container if the roots have been well managed and the lion's share of the rootage is fine. You can also grow very small plants, even seedlings, in very large containers if the soil is fast (free-draining and well-aerated) enough that the soil holds no, or very little perched water.
I have just offered clear illustration why the oft repeated advice to 'resist potting up more than one pot size at a time', only applies when using heavy, water-retentive soils. Those using well-aerated soils are not bound by the same restrictions. As the ht and volume of the perched water table are reduced, the potential for negative effects associated with over-potting are diminished in a direct relationship with the reduction - up to the point at which the soil holds no (or an insignificant amount) of perched water and over-potting pretty much becomes a non-issue.

Al
* Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. ~ Socrates
* Change might not always bring growth, but there is no growth without change.
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