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It is time to transplant my gardenia, which is currently in a 5-gallon clay pot. I am considering transplanting it to a fabric pot (smart pot, spring pot, etc.) but am concerned as I have been told gardenias like to be slightly rootbound. The fabric pots are supposed to prevent plants becoming rootbound.
Has anyone grown a gardenia in a fabric pot? Any gardenia experts have an opinion? I don't want to kill my plant. It is a Frost Proof gardenia plant that is about 3 years old and very healthy at this point.
I haven't used them, but if I was going to try them I'd want to trial them and experiment first with less valuable plants that have similar growing requirements as gardenia, but which are less "precious" to me than an already well established, healthy gardenia.
From the reading I've been doing about the fabric pots it's pretty clear that due to transpiration of both air and moisture through the fabric the soil in them will dry out a way lot faster than it will in a container with solid walls. Plus it air-prunes the roots of plants, (the roots dry out and shrivel up when they make contact with the fabric) and that is how it stops plants from getting root bound in circles. I don't want my plant's roots drying out and shriveling up. Also the fabric will not provide the same kind of insulation from cold and cold triggered dehydration that a solid walled container will.
So I think I would not want to put a gardenia in one of them. With a plant like that which has more value to me I'm going to stick with what I already know is tried and true.
But I would certainly be willing to try the fabric pots with other plants whose roots would be more resistant to the drying effects of air circulating more freely through the soil.
I agree with Zoisite. I don't know anything about fabric pots, but I don't experiment with my precious valuable plants.
Try the pots with a tomato plant first. If it doesn't work, you aren't out too much.
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