Great question because I'm planning to plant in pots on my deck too for the first time and was wondering how many to what size pot. Guess we'll learn together if anyone chimes in here :)

I'm no expert, but have grown both from seed in ground beside corner porch posts. By late summer they had both reached the top and filled in so much you could not see the posts (I had 3 posts on each corner so I strung string between all three and laced vines thru).

Point being, I don't think u need to worry about them reaching the top. So if u choose to put in planters halfway up, I would still plant some down at ground level, and preferably IN the ground so u have less worry about them drying out. IOW, they will take less maintenance if planted in ground.

As for how many seeds and size pot....whatever seed pack says for how much ground. The bigger the pot and more seeds, the more vines which is what u want for coverage. I'm guessing 3 - 4 seeds per sq. inch??? If u don't have the pkg, go to any store and check one out there. Even Dollar General sells Morning Glories. I would err on the side of too many since you can alway thin out if need be.

As someone else pointed out in another post, be sure u REALLY want them where u plant them because they will take over AND they can reseed and come back next year. And they will latch onto any nearby plants, fences, lattice, trees, etc. I found they needed almost daily tending to, as far as keeping then trained up the posts and off my corner bushes and day lilies. They do pull out easily tho.

Wish I could be more helpful but it's been years since I planted them. They were pretty, but in my case, they were just too close to other things on my porch, so if I ignored them for several days, I ended up having to pull them off my potted hibiscus tree and wicker chair. And then it was a pain once they die, having to pull down all the old vines. Not a big deal. Just one more job I didn't have time for...lol.

Good luck,
bonnie

Bonnie - Thank you for your post and helpful info, although there is at least one MYTH that you posted which I believe must be offset by some more detailed information regarding different species of Morning Glories .

There are many different species of Morning Glories and far fewer people who know how to accurately identify the different species and the seed companies are more often incorrect than accurate when labeling packages , which adds to the confusion.

Ipomoea tricolor (often incorrectly placed as the Botanical name on I.purpuea by many sellers) will NOT survive repeated thaws and freezes and as such serves as a quintessential example of a Morning Glory which will not self-sow in any climate zone where there are thaws and re-freezes because the water swollen cells burst from the freezes completely killing the seed.

The very large flowered Japanese Asagao like most Ipomoea nil are also not usually cold hardy enough to self resow...and there are literally thousands (!) of different species most of which are not available to or grown by most home gardeners and typically only available via devoted Morning Glory enthusiasts.

So, whenever I see any post where all the different species of Morning Glories are somehow and for whatever reason inaccurately lumped together and people are warned that 'all' Morning Glories will somehow be a perpetual pest forever, I must then point out that the Tropical species (e.g., Ipomoea tricolor & Ipomoea alba) will NOT survive relatively cold wet Autumnal, Winter or Spring conditions.

Enjoy your Morning Glories and that may be even more enjoyable if you learn how to tell the different species apart , and if you are not sure what species you have , then post photos so I (or others who are very familiar with Morning Glory species identification) can assist you with determining what species you actually have.

I can often determine the species by very good closeups of the seeds and am glad to help.

You can also consider joining (e.g., check my homepage and / or send me an e-mail) one of the groups devoted exclusively to all Convolvulaceae (= The Morning Glory Family of plants.) and you will learn more about all of the many different 'types' ,species and cultivars of Morning Glories than you might ever have thought possible..

This post was edited by ron_convolvulaceae on Thu, Apr 3, 14 at 4:49

Wow Ron.....who knew???!!! Well, apparently u did *smile* That's why I love this site. I can alway learn something new. Thanx for sharing that all that info.

How big is the pot you propose to use?

5 gallon.

What types of morning glory do you want to grow? List the names, please?

I personally grow only one variety per pot. That way the seed collection will be not a mix and you will know what is what the next time you want to grow something. But that's just me, some folks like a mix of flowers in the container for esthetic reasons.

Like gerris2, I grow only one variety per pot.
I use either 10 inch, 12 inch or 10 inch hanging pots and put one seedling in the center of the pot.
In the pots there is a plastic pole in the center for the vine to start climbing on and I just continue to wrap the vine around it and around itself.

Mt fugi fushia in 12 inch pot
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rose silk in 12 inch pot
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aumaraski in 10 inch pot climbing up the railing
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unknown growing in 10 inch hanging pot

Fran

Is the second picture a chocolate? Very pretty! I've been looking for chocolates in the stores and haven't found any. But I guess it's for the best because I already have more morning glories started than I have room for anyway. I just love them.

When I mentioned a 5 gal. pot, I was thinking of around 3 plants together in one pot, like you would get a tree. That way you can actually put 3 different colors to vine together.

I grew MG (unknown seeds from Burpee) 2 summers ago in the ground. I had one volunteer appear last spring so I just left it. . . well that lil ole seed made a really big vine wrapping itself around a small shrub, a post and down spout, and a 3ft ornamental fence. . . it was so full and bloomed like crazy. FROM ONE SEED ! ! ! ..