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Re: potting on

Terry Dowdeswell asked:

>Is there any demonstrable practical advantage in potting on where 
>plants:- 
>a) spend their lives in relatively small pots?
>b) are to be planted out into the garden later?
>c) anything else?

I recently experienced an "anything else" situation.  I had grown a large
number of seedlings of Hebe speciosa 'Imperialis' which had been sown in a
flat and then moved up into a plug tray, which I hoped to sell wholesale at a
later date.  There were about 1/2 a dozen seedlings left over, which I put
into 4'" pots thinking I'd just pass them along to friends, etc. (never
wanting to throw away any youngsters).  The growing conditions & feeding have
been identical.  Well, I can't tell you the difference in growth rates!  All
the seedlings in the plug tray have poked & plodded their way along -- the
seedlings in the 4" pots _thrived_ and are more than twice the size of the
plug-grown ones.

This was my first time experience with this species, so I had no idea what to
expect.  It has been a valuable learning experience though not as successful
as I'd hoped.  Needless to say, with the sorry look of my plug tray, I'm
moving up all the strongest plants into bigger pots.  Now it will be
interesting to see if they ever catch up with their siblings.....

Anyone else have comparisons to share?

C. Carter, Northern California, Zone 9
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