Goog question. If we could keep our plants planted directly in-ground, they'd take off.

One of my favorite authors, original Victory Garden's host, James Underwood Crockett, has a section in his House Plant book about placing house plants in-ground.

He digs/dug, 'Mr. Crockett is now in heaven,' a trench, placed potted plants in the trench, then surrouned each inserted plant with peat. I can't recall if he said loose moss or sheets, would have to dig out the book.

I think plants would do fantastic in-ground, but then we'd have to worry about SPIDERS, earwigs, ants and every other insect known and unknown to man.

Plants do fantastic outside above ground, imagine how they'd do in the earth.

Toni

I've said many times before, that how proficient we are as growers can be measured in our ability to eliminate or reduce the limiting effects so often associated with container culture. The amount of difference we see between plants growing in the ground (or in the ground while still in containers) vs those growing conventionally in containers is a good indication of how much potential there is for improvement in our practices.

I don't harp much on soil temperatures here because it's 'houseplants' and our soil temperatures are usually close enough to the plant's preferred range that little issue exists. On the other hand, I DO harp a LOT on root congestion, and especially the effects of perched water or excess water retention because ameliorating these issues offers the grower an important opportunity to reduce the effects of those limiting factors.

For all of us, the greater the difference between how a plant performs in the ground vs how it performs for the individual in containers, is a reliable indicator of how much work we have to do .... or, put another way, how much potential we have yet to claim.

Al

Yes, I know I'll almost certainly dig up some critters, they're in the pots anyway.

I just can't decide for some stuff with hard, woody roots, if it would be better to plant them without pots. Probably less lost roots when they get shoveled up later than what I do for a regular repot...

various Aglaonemas
Alocasia African mask, hates being in a pot
Alternanthera atropurpurea, never looks like the plants in the ground in pics
Anthurium - always looks chlorotic
various Begonias
Calathea (ornata?)
Callisia fragrans ¹
Cordyline fruticosa
Dieffenbachia
Dracaena fragrans, corn plant ²
Dracaena sanderiana, lucky bamboo - wants to get wild & lucky
Dracaena surculosa (godseffiana) Florida beauty - totally bored with its' pot
Fittonia argyroneura - sending me subliminal messages
Gynura, purple velvet - it's due to die anyway, right? LOL!
Philodendron scandens, heart-leaf ³
Sansevieria trifasciata
Schefflera arbicola

^{1 Callisia fragrans} - I did this one already last year. The plant I dug up is so much "better" than the mama.

^{2 corn plant} - I'd like my plant (a short tip cutting) to grow like crazy all summer but worry about digging this one back up. As a tree, I'd expect it to make some roots way too deep to keep, but wouldn't mind the work if I get some votes of confidence about reducing it to fit in a 5-gallon bucket sometime in November. Isn't this similar to how "balled and burlapped" shrubs and trees are handled?

I have other Dracs I might experiment with also, having multiple copies, since they are such a finicky bunch in pots, but this one in particular I think would be worth it to see if it can be encouraged to become as big, vigorous, and healthy as possible, so maybe it will make those reputedly wonderfully fragrant flowers sometime before I croak...

^{3 heart-leaf Philo} - One of the few experiments I've not yet done with this one, wonder how high it can climb up an oak or pecan tree before frost?

What do you think about these ideas?

Does anyone see any potential invasiveness problems (besides the Callisia, which I'm aware of?) I don't want to end up having to dig up an unwanted patch of some overly exuberant exotic invasive in a couple years, like spider plant, no matter how much I might like the plant. I'm expecting all of these to be killed if I don't remove them from the ground and back into pots before (a real) winter, or be barely clinging to life if they do make it.

For me, both of those suffer immensely when I put them outside in their containers -- shade or sun, cold or warm, windy or calm -- and are even picky in the house about where I put them. Thankfully, both recover nicely too, with a little time, but if there is one plant I don't much like in my house right now, it's the Calathea ornata. She's like that really whiny (but very tall) crybaby in the corner, LOL. She is also the only one that continues to develop fungus gnats -- which drive me insane (hence, her trips outside and back over and over again).

Do keep us updated and once you get them outside in the ground - photos!!

tj

I used to plant my rubber plant in the round, pot and all, in the summer in Lincoln, Nebraska. It did wonderfully. It did much better than it did the summer before just leaving the pot above ground.

Sugi, I'm nervous about placement too. Some of these plants are pretty new to me. I'm sure I'll err on the side of caution, mostly shade, for most. Any plant that doesn't like humidity is going to be in trouble, whether in a pot or not. I think the cooler soil will be good for some plants, IDK...

Thanks, Tsuga. I get critters in pots just sitting on the front porch, usually ants but plenty of others too. A few things might get sunk in the ground with their pots, but most will just be going commando. When I dig them up, I'll probably rinse roots completely before potting up to come inside. Might end up being easier than trying to evict critters from pots, or I may end up here cussing my stupidity in November... I'll keep it real and report the failures too.

Larry, until recently, I wouldn't have thought submerging pots in soil would be any different than having them sitting on any other surface. BUT since I can't stop buying plants even though there's NO MORE ROOM by the windows, some of them sit on my bed all day. When I water plants, I let them drip out in the sink, then tilt the pot in a bowl for at least 10-20 mins, until no more water will drip out. Then I kind of do a dropping motion with the pot, to see if any more drips will come out. But sitting pots on the bed leaches more water from moist pots, even if they haven't been watered for a couple days. So it's logical that submerging pots would have a much more dramatic and positive effect on drainage than I was thinking it would, and your anecdote seems evidence of that too. So just for the ease of removing when it's time, plants that are really trees or shrubs, with woody roots, will probably get planted in their pots. The others seem like they would be very easy to dig back up.

I would love to find some slugs to feed to the anoles. Soil mealies sound like a problem. Hope those don't show up! Thanks for the warning.

Nothing planted with a pot so far, all commando.

I think I'd be afraid of crazy spreading problems!

You are so lucky.
Presumably, it's safe planting tropicals in-ground so soon after winter?
I gather, there's no chance of frost?

Purple, your garden looks fantastic. Imagine how nice it'll be in a month or two, when plants are well-establish.

I doubt plants you've set in the ground, 'except, possibly Coleus,' will produce long, deep, massive roots.
In other words, too large for containers, previously potted in.

Are Coleus and Perilla plants you over-wintered in water?

Hello Tiffany..Now I have a question, a few in fact?

What will you do when it's time to take them out from teh ground and you have to cut off all the roots that have found their way into the ground?
Will this shock a plant that was doing so good?
If you are left to cut off all the roots that got away, what happens with all the top growth that is missing the roots that once supported that?
Will you use a pest killer before bringing them in?
How will you kill the critter in the pots?

I once did this with a Fig tree. I actually only buried it 1/3 of the way down to just stop the wind from blowing it over, and it seems that more than half its root grew into the ground.
When I cut them all off, the following season, it took all summer for it to recover.

Just curious now that you got me thinking...I know there are advatages, but there are also disadvantages too.

Hope you are well. I have been sick and I will write you soon:-)

Mike

Mike, sorry you've been under the weather, bet it's the weather!!

"What will you do when it's time to take them out from teh ground and you have to cut off all the roots that have found their way into the ground?"
Some stuff I think will just pull up, others I might need a shovel. I don't intend to save every bit of every plant. Some I will just take cuttings, the same special treatment usually only awarded to Coleus and a select few other "tropical annuals" that are really perennials. Some I will just snap/cut pieces off.

"Will this shock a plant that was doing so good?"
No more than repotting would, and plants will be quite robust, assuming I'm not terribly off about placement.

"If you are left to cut off all the roots that got away, what happens with all the top growth that is missing the roots that once supported that?"
A few leaves may be sacrificed, a nice pot of fresh soil should help ease any pain. One thing all of the selected plants have in common is being easy to propagate. Why should a partial root system be less able to recover than a cutting without roots at all? I don't think it would, not worried.

Cissus discolor is one I haven't had before and in the ground, so starting from scratch learning this one - both ways.

"Will you use a pest killer before bringing them in?"
No way! I will rinse roots and probably bring in way fewer pests than the number of existing pots from previous years.

"How will you kill the critter in the pots?"
I usually don't unless there are ants or I see a spider. That just leaves worms which are welcome.

I won't be doing this with any substantially-sized woodies, at least not commando, I would bury those with pots so the roots that travel past that area aren't a large portion of the overall roots, and would probably repot first as well, so the pot has plenty of room before the roots even get to the holes.

Also blessed with a lot more hours of sun during winter than folks up north, so it's not such a shock when plants come inside.

"Just curious now that you got me thinking...I know there are advatages, but there are also disadvantages too." No doubt. Obviously this will be a little more work than just picking up pots and walking them inside. Or it might be easier if I'm just snapping things off at ground level. It's a big experiment.

Just to give anybody who feels like it the opportunity to say, "I told you so," here to report on frost bite, and the ephemeral qualities of a 10-day forecast. I scrambled to bring most pots back in, but some stuff already put in the ground was left to its' own devices. I ain't too proud to describe in detail how unbridled enthusiasm (worse than Billy Mumford) has so far led only to mayhem.

Zapped but still alive and doing their best to grow back:
Gynura (purple velvet)
Cissus discolor (Rex Begonia vine)
some Coleus cuttings. Most were still inside waiting for the pecan tree to make leaves/shade.
some Sans trifasciata leaves
Callisia fragrans I've been weaving up the arms of its' hanging basket all winter.
Cane Begonias lost some leaves, but as expected, have responded with double the number of new tips.
Thanksgiving cactus, a few edges singed
The dumb Trad zebrina that I put up with inside all winter so some pots could get a faster start, now almost even with the left-outside-all-winter pots. Doh!

Still unsure, may be dead:
Tradescantia spathaces, rooted cuttings in washtub planter
Pseuderanthemum atropurpurea (purple perfection)
Cordyline fruticosa (rooted cuttings that were planted still firm at base, but leaves are toast)
NOID Philo with giant burgundy leaves. Forgot this was outside, knew it was not frost-hardy. Since it was hanging in a tree, hard to know if it completely froze or just the leaves. As an extremely slow-growing plant, it could be weeks before I can tell. Luckily I have other parts in other pots, but the big inch-thick stems on this had huge leaves.

Pleasant surprises:
Three diff Aglaonemas made it through with only slight damage on a few leaf edges.
Easter cactus actually seemed to like it, now has about 9 buds.
Drac marginata 'tricolor' rooted cutting - looked fine until our dog managed to step on it, despite magical protective rock ring.
Tradescantia 'Red Hill' of dubious EA lineage... still flowering profusely, unaffected at all.

I think that's everybody involved in the rocky start to this thing. Not looking for any sympathy (but will gladly accept any good vibes for possible recoveries.) None is deserved, just reporting on the experiment, as promised.

I've been back out there, doing it again, most of this stuff had back-ups. Kinda stuck now, waiting for pecan tree to make shade, it's still naked. Putting on my optimism pants and climbing back on that horse, making hay while the sun shines and lemonade out of lemons. Will report on new progress soon, and some pics of the aftermath.

Maybe there is no cause for alarm,but don't pecan trees produce juglone like walnuts and hickories(which are related)?

Super excited to see how this goes, though. Thanks for being a hardiness guinea pig.

Here's most of what's visible today (as in some of the things are still unknown... tiny spots of life at ground level on some, probably some fatalities.) With the weather, everything's way behind, going really slowly with all of the clouds and taking forever to warm back up.

This is where Rex Begonia vine (Cissus discolor) WAS growing up the fishing line. Definitely still alive, but will be a while growing back from the ground, until it's back like it was.

Two kinds of Aglaonema. The red one is almost horizontal because it had a lot of promising-looking nodes along the stem. Hoping they all sprout into new tops. Scented Pelargonium got frosted but has a new shoot.

I'm not sure if these Ags are taking a while to manifest frost bite, or are getting sunburned. Going to move these if it turns out to be sunburn, waiting to see what a new leaf does, and a tree nearby wasn't leafed-out when I put them there, so it's more shady now. Planted amongst Oxalis.

By now it's obvious exactly where the damage is on Sans leaves, apparently completely arbitrary. The one plant in the middle is fine. So strange! Will trim the dead ones soon. Closest to the foreground is Talinum paniculatum. All the way to the left is an Aglaonema modestum, Oxalis against the fence at the back, the other 2 green lumps are Hydrangea. The dead "stick" in the middle is attached to still-alive Persian shield, so reminds me not to step on it until it grows enough to see.

I very much appreciate what I believe to be your sincere efforts to provide helpful info, but I'm left thinking you didn't read the discussion. I'm sorry this is kind of cranky and nowhere near finished, that's a pet peeve of mine. There was no intention to expose plants to frost, and I trust the hardiness info about them that is already well established. Nobody needs me to stick these plants outside to see how they react to frost, and I could have covered some things with a sheet, but didn't. I'm not trying to give advice or make scientific findings, just decorating with what I can part with if things go wrong. The weather just went screwy this year.

This is supposed to be about what the plants do without restraint, and using them for decoration, not just sitting around futzing with everything always in pots and the fussing over drainage, being potbound, PH, fertilizer. Like I said above, many of these plants could be treated the same as Coleus for much more interesting "annual displays" and I just don't have room on the porch for all of them. I wasn't happy with the status quo, feeling at the mercy of the needs of all of these potted plants, and this is what I'm doing about it, reversing the situation.

I've had that Sans for 20 years and have done a lot worse to it. It's in other spots in the yard, as well as other pots. I didn't just run out and stick all of my house plants in the ground, and with just a couple exceptions, none of what was planted was even the "mama" plants, just stuff propagated during winter boredom.

Besides it isn't like everything you put out got buried in snow. :)

I am a bit frustrated, and cranky. I readily admit the science has gotten more mad than I intended. Thanks for bearing with me and hearing me out. Ended up with a good chuckle too.

I am un-pleasable. (That IS a word. Now.)

Grace