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Getting Potted Plant or Place
the Pot First? So before you start planting your pots make sure, if they have any size at all, that you place them in the garden, on the patio or where ever, before you plant them. If you have the slightest inkling of back problems find someone else to do it for you. Some of today's large clay pottery and stoneware is incredibly heavy. You'll save yourself a lot of possible grief. You can always replace a pot or recover from a pulled muscle, but you can't always fix a damaged spine. That type of injury can live with you the rest of your life. Certainly some of the small six to ten inch clay pots can be filled with soil and planted on a bench or table. But to cut down on weight, don't water until you put them where you want them. A large 23 pound or 64 quart bag of potting soil is pretty heavy as well. You can fill a bucket with soil and carry it to the large pot. It may take a trip or two but you won't hurt yourself in the process. If you're a regular gardener and endowed with a bit of arm muscle then you can put a whole bag of potting soil into a wheel barrow along with a soil scoop or shovel and then roll it to the pot that needs filling and planting. Extending
the Life of Clay Pots The Plastic Pot Insert The big boxes, Lowe's and Home Depot usually have a fairly good selection of relatively inexpensive green, gray and terra cotta colored plastic pots. Some have an attached saucer or you can buy the plastic saucers separately. The plastic pots area a great way to extend the life of some of your less water repellant clay pottery. And since the pot is placed inside the clay pot the plastic doesn't break down as quickly because it's not exposed to direct sun. And since the plastic isn't as porous as the clay pottery there won't be as much evaporation so you shouldn't have to water quite as often. Another advantage is the plastic is insulated by the outside clay pot keeping the plastic and soil from heating up in the summer. All those characteristics of the plastic pot are advantageous but not all the news is good. The plastic isn't porous so not as much oxygen gets to the plant roots and if you're not careful with your watering the tray beneath the pot can fill with water and eventually water log the roots. You need to make sure to water the plants only when they need it and not out of routine or habit.
One more thing to consider about plastic pot inserts is the convenience of changing out the plants, especially annuals. If you keep a few extra plastic pots around you can get replacement plants ready to go into the clay pot when the original starts to look past its prime. All you have to do is lift out one plastic pot and replace it with a freshly planted one. Quick, easy and the garden doesn't have any down time. The Plastic Bag Insert The main problem with the trash bag insert is you have to trim the bag so it doesn't show at the top of the pot. And you don't want to trim it so low that when you water moisture runs down the side of the pot between the plastic bag and the pottery. A mulch of wood chips, compost, or even small stones might aid in hiding the trimmed plastic. Some plants like petunias or sweet alyssum would grow over the edge of the container and hide the plastic.
Another way is to insert a plastic pot without a saucer inside a plastic bag. You've got double the protection and you can be assured the moisture will run out of the bottom of the container. It's also easier to trim the plastic and poke it down around the sides of the plastic pot so it doesn't show. Cooler Coating and
Water Sealants/Repellants Liquid water sealants and repellants can also be brushed or sprayed on to the inside of unglazed clay pots. I'd save the method for a really expensive fairly well fired and glazed pot that cost a bundle. The hope is the sealant will fill the holes in the clay. How long it will last or even if it works is debatable and you always have to wonder if these products will leach into the potting soil and affect the way a plant grows. The I Don't Want
to Use Two Bags of Expensive Potting Soil to Fill My Large Clay Pot Syndrome If you're concerned about using too much potting soil you don't think is needed then you'll have to place a filler in the bottom of the large container. Light weight materials are best: packing peanuts, cut up Styrofoam, crushed aluminum cans or empty water and soda plastic bottles with lids. Don't use the bio-degradable packing peanuts because they dissolve when wet. Your filler would disappear, defeating its purpose.
Once you've filled the pot to the level you want you'll have to put a material over the filler so the potting soil doesn't work its way down filtering into the cracks. The material needs to be porous so water can also filter through. A piece of landscape fabric or the non metallic window screen will work. Once everything is in place, then add your potting soil and plants. One other option to consider. If the pot isn't three feet tall you could use a less expensive potting soil on the bottom and the premium grade for the last 10 -12 inches. Pot Saucers and
Mosquitoes Often the clay pot sits directly on the saucer and when the water drains, the bottom of the clay pot sits in a pool of water. That water starts penetrating back into the clay. You can actually have the moisture attacking the clay from the damp soil inside the pot and from without. All that moisture can be brutal on low temperature fired clay Mexican style of pottery as well as terra-cotta. Both begin to disintegrate. Any paint or thin glazing will begin to sluff off, then the clay begins to crumble. Don't let clay pottery sit in water. Small pieces of flat flagstone, bricks, pot feet or even filling the saucer with pea gravel can be used to raise the pots elevation so, in theory, the excess water fills the saucer and the bottom of the pot remains dry. Those saucers of water can turn into productive breeding grounds for mosquitoes in July and into fall if they don't dry out quickly between watering. There is nothing more unpleasant than to try and enjoy the patio in the evening and have to abandon the plan because of hungry blood sucking mosquitoes. Mosquito Dunks®, which can be purchased at local hardware and the big box stores are a biological mosquito control that attacks the mosquito larvae in the water for up to 30 days. They can be broken into smaller pieces and placed in the pot saucers to actively kill any larvae. They will continue to work if the saucer temporarily dries out and then fills again. Keep in mind they work on mosquito larvae and not the adults that continue to bite and lay eggs
Hard Water & Efflorescence Terms like patina, rustic, weathered, or natural beauty might be used by some to describe the gradual aging of the pottery. To others, it might be signs that pottery needs to be replaced. It's a matter of opinion and each gardener will have to decide what looks acceptable in their garden. Return to Getting Potted (2008) |
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