bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Training Pot Rule of Thumb

The bigger the better is not better

. Using a training pot that is huge compared to the root ball can make for soggy soil and waterlogged roots and root rot. The roots can't colonize the huge volume of soil in a huge container, leaving excess water. This is especially true for conifers, since they don't push massive amounts of roots as some deciduous species do, so that space will be vacant for some time.

My rule of thumb for training pots is to go about a third larger (maximum) than the rootball. There really shouldn't be more than couple of inches of room on the sides and on the bottom. An inch would be great, for your juniper, I'd think.

8-Jan-2007	#3
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	The bigger the better is not better . Using a training pot that is huge compared to the root ball can make for soggy soil and waterlogged roots and root rot. The roots can't colonize the huge volume of soil in a huge container, leaving excess water. This is especially true for conifers, since they don't push massive amounts of roots as some deciduous species do, so that space will be vacant for some time. My rule of thumb for training pots is to go about a third larger (maximum) than the rootball. There really shouldn't be more than couple of inches of room on the sides and on the bottom. An inch would be great, for your juniper, I'd think.