potting

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act of placing something, especially a plant or seedling, into a pot.

   The potting of delicate ferns calls for a light, well-drained mix.

   Careful potting helps young roots settle into their new container.

   Similarplanting

   Note

   A gardener's word that counts as well as names a task: each move into a fresh pot is a potting, so one plant goes through several. The Floricultural Cabinet, and Florists' Magazine (1841) advises that in all subsequent pottings the root ball should sit in a mound at the pot's center, keeping the roots from saturation. Used without a plural, it names the work in general, as in potting soil or a potting bench.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of pot.

   The gardener is potting cuttings for the spring plant sale.

   He kept potting seedlings until every tray on the bench was full.

   Note

   One spelling carries every verb sense of pot, not only the gardener's. A snooker player is potting the black, an engineer is potting a circuit in resin, a hunter is potting game, a cook is potting fruit to keep it. As a gerund (potting cuttings takes patience) it keeps a direct object; with "the" and "of" in front, it has become the noun for putting things in pots.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The craft of making pottery and other ceramic objects from clay.

   The potting of fine porcelain demands years of practice at the wheel.

   His interest in potting grew after a weekend ceramics class.

   Similarpottery, ceramics

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