Potting plants and knowing what size pot to use is not an exact science. There are, however, some general guidelines you can live by. We’re going to summarize them for you here.

What are you growing?

The first thing to consider is what are you growing. If you are growing vegetables in pots, then you will want to err on the side on giving them more room, rather than less room. Tomato plants in tiny pots may not bear any fruit. You can be stingier with pot size for indoor plants.

Indoor plants

For indoor plants, like tropical plants, the general rule is if the plant has obviously outgrown the pot, give them a new pot that is an inch or two in diameter and in depth, larger. The reason for this is that if you put a houseplant in too large a pot, it may take a very long time for it to get established. Many flowering houseplants will not flower if the pot is too big.

Also, there are some plants, indoor and outdoor, that don’t like being transplanted, and a slightly larger pot is less stressful than putting a small plant in a massive pot.

Outdoor plants

For that same reason, sometimes when you are growing from seed, it’s better to seed in place, where the plant will live permanently or seed in small peat pots that can be planted directly into the ground. A couple of examples are poppies that, if grown from seed, rarely survive being moved, and the Monkey Puzzle tree, Araucaria Araucana, that also does not like to moved once planted.

Rather than spending a lot of time worrying about what size pot to use, the better question is what conditions does this plant need to flourish? To fruit? To flower?

In general, if you need to repot, try not to disturb the roots, and after repotting, water thoroughly, so water runs out the bottom. And you can always come by our store, and we will help you.

Art Knapp has 15 locations across British Columbia and is well known as the go-to garden centre for everything garden-related. Art Knapp, himself, began the business in the 1940's, and now, 80 years later, you can find more than he ever dreamed of in our stores. Come and see us on King George Boulevard in Surrey.

If you have any questions about this article or want to talk to us about gardening, just give us a call at (604) 596-9201.