UK Tropical Garden Basics 3: Growing Tropical Plants in Pots & Containers 

Thank you very much! You'll have to check out some of my more recent vids to see how it's evolved!

Haha thanks, yes, it was a big old job! Never again 😂

Cheers Mark! My job’s nothing to do with horticulture although I probably would have gone that way if I could have found the right niche when I left school. There’s something to be said about having a passion that’s not necessarily your day job, but I’m at the point where I’m lucky enough to be putting our garden together and feel equipped enough to start putting more regular videos on here.

Thank you very much, I’m pleased my vids are helpful 😃

Thanks Mary 😃

Thank you Anna, I’m sure you can find something that’ll work! I did look at growing Miscanthus and Fargesia bamboos to create quick vertical height in my budget video but they’d be more suited to growing in the ground really.

Thanks 😃

Thank you! You’re right on the money there, it was always in the pipeline. I did end up planting over most of that nursery area in 2018-19 but that was more because I didn’t know when we’d get the right opportunity and it seemed daft to restrict myself to one triangle of ground. Of course the area of garden was the biggest factor for the new house, you know me well! 😂 It’s not the perfect house and garden but we’ll make it work and ultimately, if parts of the house were bigger and better, it would have been out of our budget. I could have 5 acres and I’d still find a way to fill it, I’d just be thinking in terms of forests rather than borders! 😂 As for the Dicksonias, yes, that’s not surprising. I gave these ones everything and I could see keeping them potted wasn’t viable long term which is why I’ve tried to steer people away from it slightly.

Thanks, I appreciate it! I’ve got loads more tropical garden videos planned 😃

Thanks Mickey, that’s a good shout! While most of my pots were heavy enough to not be a problem, the wind did blow all my Ensetes over just after we moved in last year, not great! 😬

Thanks Pawel, do you grow these kinds of plants too?

@@GeorgesJungleGarden Yes , i grew most of my plants from seed 😁

@@pawelkoodziejczak5105 Nice one! It’s a great way of not having too much to overwinter too!

@@GeorgesJungleGarden thank you and Best regard😉🇵🇱

@@pawelkoodziejczak5105 Good luck with your gardening this year! 😃

Hi, unfortunately not, just me and my brother helped out too. Seriously hard graft!

Hey, no worries. They’re functional and strong, I got mine from EBay in large batches, most were from Oakland gardens I think. I’ll probably be EBaying some of mine later in spring but collection only so I’m not messing around with posting them.

Thanks

@@oilondon No worries, just search for ‘heavy duty black plastic with handles’ and it should bring them up.

Thanks Colette, great to know you’ve enjoyed it! Off the top of my head, the purple ones would be Ricinus New Zealand Purple which you can grow from seed this month. I’ll hopefully do a longer video soon when I plant everything out going through all the names 😃

Thanks Cindy! I used to grow a lot of plants on and was thinking of starting a little nursery but decided against it, our new garden is all garden 😃

Thanks Bryan! It’s something I’ll consider in couple of years maybe, the garden is nowhere near that point yet, there’s plenty to be done. Doing everything myself and to a tight budget going forwards means that it’s going to be a while before it’s half presentable but I’ll get there!

You could spend the same amount of money on upgrading to a slightly better model of VW Golf and nobody would bat an eyelid, it’s all about priorities. Most of the big plants were bought a few years back as I mentioned in my budget video and plants have got more expensive since then. I sold the smaller Jub in this video, I’ve now got one big Jubutia and a couple of medium sized Jubs, they’re in my video looking at feather palms. I do have some Jubs I’ve grown from seed too but they’ll take a while to get going!

@@GeorgesJungleGarden I’d much rather have all of those nice plants too, than a fancy car! Happy growing to you.

@@MrThomtree Well you have excellent taste! Thanks and all the best with your garden plans for 2021 too 😃

Hi Louise, thanks! They were mainly bought in bulk off EBay, mostly from Oakland Gardens I think. If you’re around North Lincs I’ll be Ebaying a load in Spring!

Just remembered you were from Stockport way, maybe a bit far! They’re not ridiculously expensive and durable so will last a long time.

It did take a fair while, it’ll definitely be easier when they’re mostly planted out! If the tree fern is potted I’d say it will certainly need watering most days in summer but it doesn’t take long 👍

@@GeorgesJungleGarden thank you for reply and very interesting and informative videos

Hi Yvette, completely understand if that’s the way you feel. Personally I’d say autumn or spring would work well, ideally avoid hot spells but they’re generally very tough plants. Good luck with your new house / garden hunt!

Thanks Danny and hi to Max! I’m actually doing a video on yuccas soon but my top 3 would be Gloriosa Variegata (common but tough and impressive when grown well), Rostrata (reasonably hardy, I’ve had no problems) and Linearis/ Linearifolia (more hardy and beautiful!). It’s a fantastic group of plants and I got a lot of mine from Hardy Palms.

@@GeorgesJungleGarden fantastic will look into this, thank you for the swift reply. All the best and looking forward to the video

@@dannygallagherfluidart7276 No worries, they’re beautiful plants!

Hi, it varies by plant type but generally speaking I go for a John Innes no. 3 type compost for long term slow-growing plants, then a good multipurpose for bananas etc. As for feed, again it varies but a monthly or fortnightly feed of liquid seaweed in spring - late summer seems to help most plants. Then some Miracle Gro etc. as a boost for the big leaved plants.

Hi, for most plants I guess not! You might have to water them a bit more but as long as there’s enough soil, you’re not using them for really tall and top heavy plants you should get fine. If you’re going to put the plants in the ground on the future, don’t choose pots with a bottle neck or funnel near the top otherwise you’ll have fun getting the plants out!

@@GeorgesJungleGarden thank you so much for taking the time to help us newbies out ☺️

@@kerrymeynell8983 No worries, it’s great to see so many people getting into this style of gardening!

Which part of the video Craig and I’ll have a look?

Hi Karen, it depends on what palms they are and why they’re not looking healthy - there could be other factors at play and most palms can be slow growing in pots anyway. I tend to use coir but it can get difficult to track down at the right price so I’d potentially look at John Innes or Jacks Magic too.

@@GeorgesJungleGarden thanks George. They are the trachycarpus fortunei. I bought them tiny in a sale (20 cm high) and was hoping to grow them on. I will try some John Innes this year and see what happens. At least they survived this winter.

@@karenwhitley84 Oh right, Trachycarpus Fortunei are pretty easy going and tough plants. They’ll definitely prefer a soil based compost if they’re in small pots though, peat can get clumpy and stops retaining water as well. Regarding the size of pot, don’t go up too large, go from say, a 2lt to a 4lt.

@@GeorgesJungleGarden Thank you. My job for the weekend now.

@@karenwhitley84 Nice one, enjoy! It’s a great time of year to get on with these things.

We’re in North Lincolnshire Teresa, just South of the Humber 👍

Hi Ian and thanks for watching! I believe that one is Mountain Spring High by Gabriel Lewis.