Can I plant this in a large LARGE tub???

[VilootShesCute]

Have been given this as a gift and wondered if it would do okay in a large container?

[ChuckGravestones]

Yes, make sure the soil is acid and you don't water with tap water.

We have one, it flowers but never fruits.

[VilootShesCute]

Thank you!

[Trethew]

gravestones that's probably because drimys have male and female flowers on separate plants. Both sexes flower but you will only get berries on a female plant that has been pollinated by a nearby male. Look up dioecious if you think i'm joking!

[ChuckGravestones]

No I know, I haven't got room for three. I teach horticulture so am well versed in pollination. Just saying to the OP that it's unlikely that they will get berries.

[Trethew]

I tried to explain this to an elderly couple who wanted skimmia berries like next door's. I told them they needed a female variety to get berries and they responded that they had better have one of each because they didn't think the neighbours would let them have any pollen!

[saranuff]

Chuck - what do you mean "don't water with tap water". Does it only drink Evian?

[wowfudge]

Rainwater?

[gingeroots]

I always copy my lovely greenfingered friend and leave watering cans filled with tap water to stand for days before using .
But I don't know what this is achieving --allowing something unhelpful to plants to evaporate ?

[ChuckGravestones]

Chuck - what do you mean "don't water with tap water". Does it only drink Evian?

As PP said, rainwater. Same with other acid loving plants eg blueberries. As soon as they get alkaline on them they can get lime induced chlorosis and they start to turn yellow as they cannot take up iron from the soil.

Leaving watering cans to sit in order to water lime hating plants doesn't take the lime out! The bigger bits might fall to the bottom. Rain water is what you need.

[gingeroots]

No need for the exclamation mark Chuck - I know I'm stupid ,you don't need to sound amazed by my ignorance .

[shovetheholly]

I am sure that wasn't addressed to you ginger! Chuck is lovely and would never mean to make you feel stupid.

Plus, it's not idiotic to think that leaving a can out might have an effect- there's been a lot of media coverage recently about how leaving a glass of water out overnight means it absorbs CO2 and goes more acidic which is why it tastes worse in the morning than at night. That's the same effect that makes rainwater acidic - it gains CO2 from the atmosphere. I guess the effect in a can is far too small to change the pH enough for lime-hating plants, though!

If we're talking about ignorance, I think I have a right to the crown. Until this afternoon, I thought that Bicester was pronounced Bye-ces-ter - something which is currently causing my assembled friends much merriment.

[gingeroots]

I'm sure you're right Holly - a tad oversensitive on my part ,apologies to Chuck

But ...has me thinking as I have a shady bed where I have used ericaeous soil and planted a hydrangea and other things . The hydrangea doesn't look happy and I frequently have to water it ,using tap water . Do you think that might be bad for it ?

[BerylStreep]

How is Bicester pronounced? I would have pronounced it as you do.

We set up a drip watering system for our beds, which are full of acid loving plants. My poor hydrangea, which was once a glorious blue, is now a dark purplish grey. We're torn. They love the extra water, but not sure how we can acidify it. I was thinking of putting coffee grounds round the base of each plant?

Anyway op, your skimmia is lovely, and my Mum has one in a pot that does well.

[ChuckGravestones]

Hi sorry Ginger, that wasnt to make you feel stupid - i didnt want to come across as 'telling', it is so hard sometimes to be lighthearted with no facial expressions. More a smile than an eye roll at you, honest.

Yes tap water can have an effect on acid hating plants. I am lucky that i have a canal at the end of my garden so my lime hating plants in pots get watered with that. I also mulch with old christmas trees, the pine needles help to acidify the soil, and a win win as i use trees that have been chucked in the recycle space on my way to the allotment. I just lop branches off nd chop them as small as i can and leave them to rot on the surface around the blueberries.

If you havent got any other option, what about a water butt, or leave a container out to collect the water, or just not watering acid loving plnts at all if they are in the ground? I never water the blueberries at the allotment.

[gingeroots]

Aargh ,the written word can be tricky sometimes !

Love the christmas tree idea ,will give that a go .

I think my hydrangea must have some problem . Possibly to do with the roots .I wonder if it's hit some buried ancient tarmac .There is a lot of that in my garden .it must have been a hardstanding in some former lifetime .
Though I dug very deep in establishing the bed - it was a patch where the grass never thrived . I put that down to the shade .

Anyway the hydrangea droops really quickly and revives with water ,but more ,I fear ,than I could collect .

But ...will collect some for my container acid loving plants .so much to learn ! What fun !

[TheCrowFromBelow]

Bisster is how Bicester is pronounced. A bit like Leicester = Lester.

[shovetheholly]

Yep, apparently it is BIS-TER. Sometimes the English language just has too many consonants!!

ginger - I wonder if there's tarmac under there, or something else causing a pan to form - a layer of hard soil that the plant can't get through, into which nutrients are washed? It sounds like a job for a mattock and sackloads of organic matter!! Gypsum can help too.

[gingeroots]

Yes ,that's what I'm thinking Holly .

Mattock ...sounds like my type of gardening tool . Sigh ...

Maybe I could move the hydrangea ,replace with something with a shallower root system .

[shovetheholly]

My experience of soil pans is that nothing much will thrive - not even weeds sometimes. Not sure why - perhaps it's the way nutrients wash out as well as the problems of compaction? Someone better informed might be able to explain. It's probably less hassle to dig it out in the long run. At least you get to keep your lovely hydrangea that way!

[gingeroots]

Thanks Holly .Interesting .

Mm ,I'm not sure I'd be up to digging any deeper than I did orginally .

Might have to be a large planter in situ .

I have one ( thrown away by the rich people of neighboroughing streets ,because that's what we're like in London ) that's about 3' by 3'

Which brings us nicely back to the real subject of this thread ...

[shovetheholly]

That could really work ginger! I put in a big raised bed in my front garden because the soil there is only about 12 inches deep. My house is on what was a quarry once upon a time, and because of the slope of the hill, the bedrock is very close to the surface at the front but much deeper at the back - I've been down over a meter and not found it. (Also, if I go underneath my house, I have to lie down at the front to fit bu I can stand at the back).

But the point of all this digression is that I bet your hydrangea would be happier in a big pot!

[bookbook]

Just a little aside to ginger here. As far as I an aware I don't think hydrangeas need ericaceous soil. The flowers just are a different shade from pink to blue depending on the local water. So most likely to be lack of root run than the water per se.
I always leave any tap water in a watering can overnight too - especially in my greenhouse. :)
And to the OP - almost anything, unless enormous will do in a pot, as long as water and nutrients are kept up. Just remember, it may need either repotting, or the compost/soil refreshing every few years.