Those round, thin metal things that weight lifters add to their barbells take up very little room, and at the bottom of the pot they add a lot of stability. They are kind of expensive, but sometimes are sold second-hand by people who think they want to get in shape and then decide it's takes too much effort. They have a hole in the center that allows for drainage, also.
Obviously, rocks or chunks of cement are cheap and heavy.

Thanks eldo. Yea those things would work great. I have seen them at yard sales for cheap. Another body builder gone to flab......filix

filix, be careful just what you put into the bottom of the pots to add weight, it would also take up valuable space that the plant needs its moisture level kept at in the soil.
Such addition should not also interfere with the soil's ability to drain properly.
By using excessive space-taker in a pot, the roots may grow themselves right out of contact with the soil and moisture.
Such weights may also allow too much free-space where water would collect and maintain excessive contact with the roots.

I don't know if jeannie7 is referring to the discs that I suggested using on Dec. 23 at 17:17, but none of her objections are valid. These discs are shaped like a large coin with a hole in the center. They take up very little room in comparison to the weight they provide to stabalize the container. The hole in the center and the space around the perimeter of the disc allows for proper drainage.
If they are placed in the bottom of the pot, the matter of creating "free-space where water would collect" is a non- issue.

Wind always seems to be blowing here. I have started using pots wider than they are tall. That helps a lot. Some pots shapes I really like have had a few inches of concrete poured in the bottom with plastic pvc pipe through it for drainage.

randy

I like both these ideas, esp. Randy's as I don't get to garage sales etc. these days. It would be a simple matter to make forms and pour some discs w drain holes in them. I grow brugmansias in larger nursery pots and since I prefer them trained as standards they are subject to being tipped by the wind. Thanks folks and have a great holiday.
Will

Golly, the request is typically what can I do to make my containers lighter rather than heavier :-) Other than some of my smaller containers (heavy and just potting mix alone is typically sufficient weight (specially when thoroughly moistened) to keep things upright. We get some significant winds around here and I've yet to have a planted container blow over from being top heavy.

filix, if your pots are a large enough diameter (>18") and with not too severe a taper, you shouldn't have much to worry about with just the potting medium. And if the depth of the pots is not considerable, I would worry about impacting drainage by adding much in the way of stones or bricks for the same reason that layering pot shards or gravel at the bottom of containers is no longer recommended.

gardengal

I have plants blow over on a regular basis depending on weather. I live in a rural setting with all the large trees slowing or blocking wind. Ever heard the line "When the wind comes sweeping down the plains?" :-)

I don't use a light mix either. A 4 to 6 foot tall plant in a standard pot is going to blow over here when wind gusts hit 25 mph or more.

I grow perfectly nice looking plants in pots with concrete in them.

Interesting to read other's experiences. I don't think I have ever had a pot tip over and I don't do anything to add weight. Winds in excess of 60mph sometimes cause damage to canna leaves and such, but the pots don't go anywhere.

Like GardenGal, I can put an 18+ inch pot anywhere with just potting mix and it doesn't move. Smaller pots get grouped together for stability if they are to have tall, wind catching plants in them.

Maybe one difference is that in my area periods of high winds are usually preceded by lots of rainfall in a short period of time so the containers get that extra water weight.

It IS interesting to hear of different experiences.

Our winds come funneling down the Sound rather than sweeping down the plains, blowing in straight from the Pacific. Last week we had the windstorm of the "century" (supposedly) with gusts recorded at 80-90 mph. While full grown trees were uprooted all over the place and there are still pockets of power outages, none of my 40 odd containers, some with large-ish trees and all of them permanent plantings, suffered the slightest bit of damage. I guess it's just a matter of the center of gravity with containers - most of mine are rather wide and squatty and even with 6'+ plants in them they are not inclined to blow over. And too, at this time of year none of them could be considered to be underwatered :-)

The cement in the bottom sounds like a good idea. My plastic pots are 15" wide and 28" high. I have never had any blow over. But always had some type of vine in them. This year im going to do canna, vine, canna, vine ect.... I thought with al's mix [ which I will be doing for the first time] being on the light side, and 6ft canna's going down my 200' driveway, I would get blow down. Maybe I wont. But just in case, I was thinking of adding weight to the pots with canna's......Thankyou so much....Filix

This year im going to do canna, vine, canna, vine ect.... I thought with al's mix [ which I will be doing for the first time] being on the light side, and 6ft canna's going down my 200' driveway, I would get blow down. Maybe I wont.

I don't think you will get any benefit from Al's mix with Cannas. If anything I think you will get reduced results if you aren't super attentive to fertilizing and watering with cannas.

This isn't to take anything away from the idea of an open, well oxygenated mix, it is simply that cannas not only don't require it, but they do not (in my experience) do best in it.

It helps to understand that cannas are marginal plants which puts them in a special category. Marginal plants are plants that natively occur either on water borders in soggy soil or in the shallow portion of water bodies and are constantly flooded. Once the tubers sprout they become water sponges and are heavy feeders.

The way I grow cannas is to plug up the drainage holes, douse liberally with slow release fertilizer and then flood the container. Only after there is above mix level growth though.

Save the open, highly oxygenated, fast draining mix for plants which will appreciate it (of which there are many), cannas are not one of them.

Again, I am not trying to undo any learning you have experienced in regards to the role good root oxygenation plays. There are certain plants which are simply well adapted to different conditions and canna are one of them.

Once above mix growth appears you can't over water. In fact they are a popular plant in ponds. You also would have a hard time over fertilizing. It is easier to over fert than water (which is impossible), but either one requires serious effort.

gardengal, I have been SO interested in how you might be faring in all of the wind and storms in your area!

I rarely have any problems with pots blowing over in the wind, and I live in a neighborhood called 'Windy Knoll'! The only containers I have to upright after a 'blow' are my big plastic pots, lol. But I have the windsail effect of their foliage to blame. They're conifers.

Thanks justaguy. You would know. Since it sounds like you have been growing them for a while. I will take your advice. I have some 2 year old compost I made thats filled with earth worms, black and rich. I have read at some sites[horn] that the soil should drain well. Bogs don't drain well. They also said they dont like alkline soil. Also dont like alot of nitrogin. Would something like miracle grow work? Thanks alot.....filix

Rhizo, I've lived here long enough to be pretty used to the ups and downs of NW weather, but this year, I am pretty sick of it!! :-) Snow in November, record breaking rainfall levels with accompanying floods and this last whopping big windstorm - enuf already!!! This is the time of year when I plan to do the bulk of my gardening chores (too busy tending others' the rest of the year) and the weather is just not cooperating.

I really shouldn't complain too much - I have been very fortunate that the weather has not affected me personally other than losing power for a day and missing a few days of work. Others have lost their homes and their livelihood with floods or falling trees.

Sorry to hijack the thread with that personal tidbit, but here's hoping everyone on the Container forum has a productive, peaceful and pleasantly plentiful year in 2007!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Filix,

Horn is very reputable and you can listen to what they say, but you can also email them and ask them about what you intend to do to get some feedback directly from them. I think their instructions are meant to be for the masses and generally saying 'well drained' is safer than saying 'plug up the drainage holes'.

I think it is important to restate something from my last post and that is they can be flooded *after* they have above potting mix growth. Before that and they can rot.

Miracle Grow would work fine with them as will most any fertilizer. A complete fert is a good idea.

Here is a copy/paste from Hart Canna on canna culture: They will grow in damp places, even waterlogged places, and can also withstand dry conditions (though they may curl their leaves for protection if it gets too bad - a sign that they need watering. They will grow well in sandy soil and also in heavy clay. They are amazingly tolerant and gutsy plants. As with many other gutsy creatures, they have a good appetite, and what they do not like is poor soil. If they are starved of nourishment, then they will become spindly, but still they will flower.

Just have fun growing them whatever way appeals to you most. It's hard to go wrong with them.

My experience with cannas is variable. Those that are grown 'in situ' did well if the soil was moist, as long as the site was well drained. But whenever I tried to grow them in containers, a coarse textured (fast draining) medium was required for (my) success. If you use turface in your mix, you will find that it not only holds on to water much longer than you think it will, but also that it's heavier than you guessed.

Turface also has good CEC, a quality that should interest most of you who want to get away from soil based or compost-y potting mediums.

Off subject, but just a point of interest: I've done very well with canna in the well-aerated mixes I use, simply by keeping them evenly moist and feeding heavily with a high N fertilizer - usually additionally supplementing them with 5-1-1 fish emulsion. I don't think that Cannas prefer low O2 soils, only that they tolerate them reasonably well in certain instances. It's also good to remember that a waterlogged soil that's high in organic matter (container soils) will produce much more CO2 that a soil with higher mineral content, and the CO2 will diffuse at a much slower rate from container soils. In case you wonder at why I mention this, high concentrations of CO2 in soils encourage multiplication of anaerobic rot organisms.

Al

Eldo, certainly no reference to your suggestion...just a kindly reminder to not use up space in a pot where the soil and roots are left open to be at the mercy of too much water.
Your disc idea may be a very good way to help the poster.
I have heard of such discs....never have had occasion to use but hey.....if it works ...let the news be spread.

Eldo, certainly no reference to your suggestion...just a kindly reminder to not use up space in a pot where the soil and roots are left open to be at the mercy of too much water.
Your disc idea may be a very good way to help the poster.
I have heard of such discs....never have had occasion to use but hey.....if it works ...let the news be spread.