John Lonsdale wrote >Flying in the face of expert advice I recommend under-potting bulbs, at >least smaller bulbs of the 'alpine' persuasion. I don't grow anything >bigger than Muscari macrocarpum in a pot. I standardize in 2 1/2", 3 1/2" >or 4 1/2" square Kordlok pots, or bigger round pots if necessary, the latter >adding extra width but not much extra depth. All are plastic. Everything >goes into a mix of 50% perlite, 50% BioComp BC5. ... I'm >always mortified when I see the size of Jane's pots - so she can tell us how >her system works so well for her. There are a lot of differences between John's style of growing and mine; as he notes, I use clay pots from 4 inches diameter up to 10 inches, and also some larger plastic mesh bins about 12 inches square and deep. These pots are plunged to the rim in plain sharp sand in frames, and I feel the mesh ones in particular offer an environment not very different from growing in the open ground. This is reinforced by the fact that my potting soil is totally different from John's: 50% sharp, coarse sand from a mountain river at some elevation, 25% ground horticultural pumice with fines, and 25% sieved forest loam. In other words, nearly a scree mix. I'm sure the pumice has a lot to do with it and apologize in advance to everybody who can't get it in the quantities we use it here (I just ordered 12 cubic yards to be delivered next week, which should last me at least 3 years). I think that John has to water more than I do, because my frames draw up groundwater in a normal winter and I may not take out the hose for 3 or 4 months, even though the plants are all covered. We both use liquid fertilizer delivered through an in-line tank system, but I believe I apply it less often. Also, I repot only every other year; the collection is so large that that's all I can manage. By the time I empty a pot, the humus content of the soil appears greatly diminished. As long as the nutrition is there, however, it shouldn't matter if the plants are restricted in space. One reason I use large pots is to get the depth, as John also suggests. Another is that I like to grow a lot of bulbs in one container to save space in the frames, and to produce an attractive flowering group. The English, with their plant shows, like to have very crowded pots--and so do I, but I also allow for increase because of the two-year cycle of potting. I'm just beginning to repot the current year's bulbs and have extracted some Tecophilaea for the surplus list already. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA