How To Grow Honeysuckle In Pot?
If you are a plant lover, you may have wondered in the past about how to grow honeysuckle in a pot. Honeysuckle is a beautiful plant and very popular in the garden, and it brings a delicious scent to any yard, but can you grow it in a pot?
Yes, you can! All you need to do is choose one of the best varieties for growing in containers, and get planting!
You will need a large container if you want your honeysuckle to thrive inside a pot, as these plants generally prefer to be planted in the ground. A small container will not give them enough space for their roots, and they will dry out too fast, or end up root-bound.
How Do You Plant Honeysuckle In A Pot?
You should choose a large container for your honeysuckle to grow in. It will need good drainage holes at the bottom, and you should then add some drainage material to ensure the honeysuckle doesn’t get waterlogged.
This means pouring some pea gravel into the bottom of the pot or adding some pieces of broken terracotta pots to it to ensure water can drain away from the soil.
Next, take your compost and pour it in until the pot is nearly full. Use a small trowel to dig a hole in the center, and then place your honeysuckle’s roots inside the hole. Top the pot up with soil until it reaches the edge of the pot, and gently pat it down around the plant.
You can add a layer of mulch on top if you want to, or leave it with just the compost. Mulch will help to maintain the temperature in the pot and will also trap moisture so you don’t have to water the plant as often.
Once this has been done, water the plant. This helps to wash the compost down around the roots and settles the small root hairs into the soil so that they can start to pick up water and nutrients.
Finally, you will need to get a trellis and insert it into the container. Make sure that it is firmly pushed down, about six inches away from the main plant’s stem.
You don’t want the trellis too close, because the honeysuckle will get crowded out if the trellis is not far enough away.
Once the trellis is firmly buried in the soil and is nice and stable, use some natural string to lightly tie the vine to the trellis. Don’t tie it tightly; you want the string to be loose around the stem so that it doesn’t get damaged as it thickens and grows.
You can tie the honeysuckle in multiple places and shape it gently so that you are happy with its look. You will need to do this every so often as the plant gets bigger; take the time to trim or tie up loose vines whenever it gets out of hand and needs more support.
Which Varieties Of Honeysuckle Are Suitable For Growing In Pots?
Many different varieties of honeysuckle will grow in containers happily. However, one of the commonest varieties, Lonicera japonica, will get too big for containers and needs constant heavy pruning if you wish to grow it in a pot. It can be done, but it’s better to choose one of the smaller kinds.
A few good options include Trumpet Honeysuckle, which has red flowers and red berries. You can also grow Henry Honeysuckle or the Goldflame Honeysuckle.
If you want a really small variety for your garden, you could try Celestial, which does not get big at all. This is good for yards with very restricted space.
Where Should I Put Honeysuckle In A Pot?
It’s best to put honeysuckle in a sunny spot. Although honeysuckle will do well with partial shade, it will really thrive when there is enough sunlight for it.
Your honeysuckle will not grow well if you put it in a heavy shade. However, if possible, you should provide some shade to your honeysuckle’s roots, and lots of sun to the upper parts of the plant.
This is a good way to keep the roots from getting hot or drying out, while still providing the leaves with enough sunlight.
Does Honeysuckle Need A Trellis To Climb Up?
You might be wondering whether you really need to provide your container honeysuckle with a trellis, but you certainly do. Honeysuckle is a climber, and it will not succeed if you don’t give it something to climb up.
Instead, you will find that it ends up sprawled all over the floor, unable to photosynthesize effectively, or that it climbs the things you don’t want it climbing up. Make sure it has a good, strong, supportive trellis that will work well as the plant gets bigger.
Do I Need To Fertilize Honeysuckle In A Pot?
Yes, container honeysuckle will grow considerably better if you fertilize it occasionally. You can add a granular fertilizer every spring, and this will help to provide the plant with everything it needs for the whole year.
It should not need more fertilizer, but you can give it a top-up if it is growing very slowly or its leaves are yellowing. Make sure you don’t over-fertilize, however; this will burn your plant’s roots and could make it sick.
How Big Should The Pot Be?
This depends a bit on the variety of honeysuckle that you grow, but in general, you want a pot to be about twenty inches across the top, and thirty inches deep.
Always check that there are good drainage holes in a container before you use it because repotting honeysuckle can be a challenge due to its climbing nature. You don’t want waterlogged honeysuckle.
Conclusion
You can grow many kinds of honeysuckle in pots, although you will need to prune the plant occasionally during its dormant season to keep it under control. Give it some fertilizer every year to ensure it has everything it needs, and make sure that a good amount of sunlight falls on the leaves throughout the day.
