Lattice Pots

[mark smyth]

Alan whatever eats them in a pot is going to eat them in the ground also. What eats them? Narcissus fly?

[Maggi Young]

I dumped many round and square lattice pots last time I had a clear out of the shed but still have 20+.

I'm releasing all my snowdrops from their lattice pots because I think they dont like them. Mine are in 13cm round x 10cm deep and 11.5cm square x 10.5cm deep. My experience is when I lift pots to give away/swap snowdrops not enough roots have got out of the holes. The rest spiral around the base of the pots. The soil inside the pot has always deteriorated in to a rubbish very dry fibrous material which I guess is caused by a build up of old roots. I think they would have been better repotted every year.
Has anyone else found this?

What you describe is surely not the 'drops disliking being grown in lattice pots, but not liking being grown for too long in (any) pot without being repotted....

[mark smyth]

Yes but will people with bulbs in lattice pots repot every year? Hopefully my experience will help others.

All these c. 50 nivalis Viridapice are in one lattice pot   Today I heard them whimpering with a tiny voice Mark help us

[Maggi Young]

Yes but will people with bulbs in lattice pots repot every year? Hopefully my experience will help others.

All these c. 50 nivalis Viridapice are in one lattice pot   Today I heard them whimpering with a tiny voice Mark help us

Well HELP them , then!!

I would hope that what we have both said will encourage people growing in lattice pots, or thinking about doing so, to repot the bulbs at least every second year, if they can't manage every year. You cannot just put bulbs in a lattice pot and sink it in the ground and leave them like that indefinitely!

[mark smyth]

... and give them a good mix in and around the pot. When I did mine I put ?Westland composted farm manure under the pots and in the mix. 

One problem I have in my raised beds is too many other bulbs - Crocus, Pushkinia, Anemones, Tulips, Narcissus in and around the snowdrops. These were planted while the snowdrops were dormant. These get disturbed when I do anything.

[mark smyth]

 .. and Geraniums, Iris, Pulsatillas, Roscoeas and .....

[loes]

are you sure the bulbs will benefit from repotting each year?what about the micro-life in the ground,they do not like to be disturbed I think?

[Maggi Young]

Loes, I think that every other year will do.... but if they are growing well and getting crowded it is better to repot them and give them fresh soil.... the 'micro-life', as you put it, will soon recolonise the replanted pots.

[snowdropman]

What you describe is surely not the 'drops disliking being grown in lattice pots, but not liking being grown for too long in (any) pot without being repotted....

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Maggi's observation!

Some years ago I took the considered decision to use lattice pots in which to grow my snowdrops and in 2008 I wrote, in the RHS Daffodil Snowdrop & Tulip Yearbook

"As my collection grew I realised that, partly through constraints of space, I would have to change this approach of planting directly into the ground, particularly as it became clear that the bulbs of many forms of galanthus had a tendency to ‘wander’, with the danger of intermingling with the bulbs of neighbouring galanthus. It was then that I heard about the lattice pots, used for growing pond plants, which offered the potential for containing this wandering habit, whilst also enabling the roots to grow naturally into the surrounding soil through the holes in the pot. I decided to experiment by planting some bulbs in these pots, using my own ‘mix’, before then planting the pots in the ground. Whilst this offered the immediate benefit of stopping bulb ‘wander’, allowing different forms to be grown closer together, I quickly realised that there were other substantial benefits, viz

- controlled feeding – by getting my ‘mix’ right, I could ensure that the plants got the balanced feed they need, year on year, with minimal need for supplementary feeding,
- easier to lift bulbs – most galanthophiles that I know hate digging up bulbs because of the risk of damage. By growing them in lattice pots, I find it is so much easier when lifting dormant bulbs, and it even helps when lifting ‘in the green’, because you know exactly where they are and can greatly minimise damage to the bulbs and their roots,
- regular checking of the health of the bulbs – because I have to lift the lattice pots and replenish the ‘mix’ regularly, I can take the opportunity to carefully examine the bulbs and thus get early warning of any signs of problems and, where necessary, take immediate corrective action before the bulb is too far gone.

I now plant all of my new plants in lattice pots and am gradually transferring the bulbs that were originally planted directly in the ground.

I should not move on without talking about my ‘mix’ but I must emphasise that this is what works for me, in my growing conditions [my soil is very sandy], and is not intended in any way to be prescriptive. What I have tried to do is devise a ‘mix’ that provides both quick release and slower release fertiliser for the plants, whilst at the same time ensuring that the soil remains free draining. My ‘mix’ comprises, 2 parts sharp sand, 2 parts John Innes No 3 and 1 part multi purpose compost – for those snowdrops that are known to require a more acidic soil, or a chalkier soil, I adjust accordingly. Since changing to this ‘mix’, I have had consistently good results, with plants generally showing strong growth, flowering well, with good natural division.

Following the very heavy and prolonged rains in the summer of 2007, when the bulbs were sitting in saturated soil for long periods, at a time when they would normally expect to be dry/dormant, I found that I had a higher than usual incidence of bulb rot/ stagonospora curtisii. So this year I have further improved the drainage by adding 1 part coarse grit to the ‘mix’ and, when potting/re-potting, I now seat the bulbs on a bed of sharp sand to try to avoid the bulbs sitting in wet soil in their dormant period. With increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, this will probably not be the last adjustment that I will make."

Two years on from writing this article, I have no reason to want to reverse my decision to use lattice baskets, indeed I believe that I have achieved excellent results as a result of using this method and, in ending this message, I can do no better than re-iterate something else that Maggi said viz "You cannot just put bulbs in a lattice pot and sink it in the ground and leave them like that indefinitely!"

[Alan_b]

Alan whatever eats them in a pot is going to eat them in the ground also. What eats them? Narcissus fly?

You misunderstand me, Mark.  Bulbs planted in the open ground regularly get eaten.  Bulbs planted in pots have never yet been eaten.  Attack seems to be from the side of the bulb (rather than the top, bottom or interior) so I don't believe it is the narcissus fly.  My prime suspect is swift moth larvae and I have certainly found what I think are swift moth larvae in suspicious proximity to clumps of bulbs but never caught one in the act (which probably takes place in summer or early autumn.). 

[Anthony Darby]

My garden has been covered in about 4" snow since a week past Wednesday. Tonight's temperature is about 4^oC (first time +ve at night for over a week) and I found a vine weevil walking across the middle of the snow covered lawn!

[Eric Locke]

My garden has been covered in about 4" snow since a week past Wednesday. Tonight's temperature is about 4^oC (first time +ve at night for over a week) and I found a vine weevil walking across the middle of the snow covered lawn!

Anthony, I hope you showed no mercy.

Eric

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks to all the links above I have now had delivery of a crate of pots...is there no hope for me

[Maggi Young]

...is there no hope for me

Precious little hope for any of us here, Brian.... thankfully we have the forum as a support group. 

[Paddy Tobin]

Thanks to all the links above I have now had delivery of a crate of pots...is there no hope for me

Brian,

You are completely beyond redemption but what better way to be.

Paddy