Dem Pots Are Hot

[BlackThumbNJ]

I have been thinking about the opposite, cold problems with pots. But I think some things would work for heat also. It may help regulate drying out as well.

In a second larger pot but with a layer of mulch between pots, seems to be the best. A little messy and inconvenient though.

Nurseries sometimes have used pots they want to give away or sell very cheap.

[RazinCane]

Cold hasn't been an issue for me fortunately. This past winter was a bad one for us here in the Mid-Atlantic with 4' of snow and month in the teens and twenty's but the dozen or so Rubro I had in 5 gal. containers weathered it without a problem. I set pots into the ground and covered the ground around the plants with pine needles and they stayed green all winter, no top kill and very little leaf dessication. .

[ghmerrill]

I potted up a bunch if Henon last year, in 3 gallon pots. When I was checking them at the end of the summer last year, all the ones in full sun had dead rhizomes on the sun exposed side of the pot. The same thing happened to a Vivax Huangwhenzhu I purchased- I put it where I was going to plant it, and did not get around to digging the hole... we hit a hot spell, and the thing started dying. I made sure it was watered, and the soil was moist enough, so I pulled it out of the pot, and all the roots and rhizome along the pot were dead. Im not sure what temps it takes to do that, but we do get several days well over 100f here.

[RazinCane]

My potted boos fall into one of two categories. Those that have filled their pots with root mass and are awaiting planting in the fall, benefit greatly from some shade, and those that need to fill their pots over the next couple months and need full sun without cooking the rhizomes, these I provided a card board collar, the pots taper the card board doesn't, providing a shaded air space around the pot.

[Mike McG]

Apparently pots can get too hot even in Canada according to this news article: http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/153496

Mike near Brenham TX

[RazinCane]

Seems somebody should have watered a little more often. It doesn't seem possible that potting soil could spontaneously combust but stranger things have happened. Glad I moved mine to the shade.

[Bradboo]

Simple solution... Put em in the ground and let them spread.

[benboo]

I like that idea

[RazinCane]

Simple solutions are not always that simple. My soil is heavy clay that bakes to concrete and can't be dug until the weather cools and rains comes in the fall. Watering is far more difficult for field planted boos in July and August than potted boos in the shade by the hose.

[dudley]

i agree with put em in the ground and let em spread, but please be considerate. barriers or maintenance are a must.untended bamboos allowed to spread to the neighbors are the cause of alot of the bamboo hate and misinformation out there.

[Alan_L]

I finally did some quick measurements. On a black 3 gal pot (I think -- about 10" diameter), the temp putting the probe in the soil touching the plastic was about 125ºF. The soil in the center was about 105ºF. A second pot of same size but dark green right next to this was 127ºF at edge, 110ºF in center.

These both were sitting on concrete driveway in full sun, air temp 95ºF.

[va_highlander]

I finally did some quick measurements. On a black 3 gal pot (I think -- about 10" diameter), the temp putting the probe in the soil touching the plastic was about 125ºF. The soil in the center was about 105ºF. A second pot of same size but dark green right next to this was 127ºF at edge, 110ºF in center.

These both were sitting on concrete driveway in full sun, air temp 95ºF.

This agrees with what I remember from heat-mass transfer, back in the day. The absorbtivity of a black pot and a dark green pot, with respect to sunlight, should be nearly identical and both fairly close to unity.

[Roy]

I wonder why they don't make white plastic pots for nurseries?

This is an opinion based upon observation, but not scientifically verified as being true:

I used to worry about black pots baking the roots of my bamboo here in good old sunny Florida. So I got some white pots and tried them out. Sure enough the white pots were cool to the touch in relationship to the black pots. But time and time again, my divisions in my black pots would root in quicker and faster than my white pots. I'm slowly getting rid of those white pots and one day I won't have anymore--some are at least 15 years old or more. I really thought the white pots would be a good idea, but for me, they didn't work out that way. Others mileage may vary!

[benboo]

I have a clear cheap pot that I put a cutting of stinging nettle in. It is fun to watch how they can be so invasive. The roots, once formed, quickly filled the pot and I could tell when to move it into a bigger pot.

[foxd]

I've been using clear plastic cups with holes cut in the bottom so I can monitor root growth. Very useful!