When buying plants mail order I usually tip them out of the container they arrive in and if they have a good root system I will generally wash off all soil and repot into a compost that I think is suitable for the plant, into the next size pot, so going from say 9cm to a one litre or two litre pot. They then spend about a week in the shade and then move them to a cold greenhouse. Some plants received are nothing but rooted cuttings that have just been potted on. Often these spend their first week in my propogation area, then to the greenhouse bench. It has been known for me to send plants back that are not of good enough quality, or are not as specified.
The pots I generally use for Clematis are 9cm square x 10cm deep.
1 litre Long Tom is 11cm diameter at the top x 13cm deep.
2 litre Ditto is 13cm dia x 18cm deep.
3 litre Ditto is 15cm dia x 20cm deep.
4 litre Ditto is 18cm dia x 23 cm deep.
Unfortunately there seems to be no universal sizing system for pots, as metric, imperial lateral measures are used as well as cubic capacity, in the US Gallon sizes are referred to, which is totally confusing to me.
The containers that I grow my clematis in vary from minimum 30 cm dia x 30cm deep, for smaller Clematis, usually frost proof clay (Yorkshire), but I also use Chinese Glazed Clay pots but line them with a suitably sized plastic pot. To 45 cm dia by 45 cm deep of similar type. I do not use the clay pot feet as I have found that they tend to result in the pot falling over in wind, but stand them in groups of three for stability. I do not go above 45 cm pots as they tend to be difficult to deal with when repotting, which will need to be done after a about three years.
Good Planting and growing.
Roy Nunn
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