Good plants for shallow container without drainage holes?
emilylime
14 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
14 years agoemerald1951
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Cachepot and Water Garden - pots without drainage holes
Comments (3)For water garden, try Colocasia, creeping jenny (will grow in water easily-very nice hanging over sides of pot), aquatic canna, cardinal flower; water lettuce, water hyacinth, parrot's feather; water lilly, duckweed...some of them multiply very fast, some are very tall, so check ahead. There is many, many more. They could be in soil held by special pots for using in water, or you can go frugal & use stocking instead of pot (works very well). Some don't need any soil, they just float. If I was doing a water garden, I think I would use 'bubler', or even a 'fogger'...Depends how wild you want to go. You can have any plant in cachepot, since you are planting in another pot & using glazed ceramic for decor. I would make sure there is some space between planted pot & decorative pot for good air circulation, and that it is raised off the bottom so it will not sit in water that may/will drain out. Use a brick or some large rocks to raise it. Or a 'feet' made for raising planters off ground....See MoreAnyone use nice ceramic pots without drainage?
Comments (32)My neighbor gave me an amaryllis in a pot with no drainage hole, and it has bloomed for 3 years in a row. I don't get it. I just water when it gets dry, but I don't let it out in rain to get soaked. I keep it under a covered porch or carport in summer. And bring it in for winter. I had several plants survive for about a year after my mom died, sent in a nice hole-less pot but I repotted them after a couple years---pothos, coffee, dracaena, prayer plant. I wish I could use all those pots without getting out a drill, but they are too shallow. But I do tend to root plants in water and they seem happy for a year or so at least. So maybe those--anything but succulents--won't mind these kinds of pots? I have all kinds of plants rooting and growing in water....See MoreSoil drainage in closed pot (no drainage holes)
Comments (14)I have a really pretty large ceramic pot with no drainage, and it is an odd shape (not round) so I can't find any cache pots that sit correctly. I did read about the masonry bit to drill into pots, but this one is glazed so I feel like it would crack easily. I also don't have a masonry bit or a hand drill. To solve my problem, I went to the store and bought some rocks (~$4 for 40lbs) and some sturdy 1/2 in plastic tubing (~$0.33 per foot). I put the tubing in the bottom of the pot and layered up larger rocks around it, then put in some smaller rocks in between the cracks so that I could not see the bottom of the pot anymore. I chose larger rocks for the bottom layers to avoid clogging my tubing with small rocks, and small rocks at the top so that my soil wouldn't fall down in between the larger rocks. The total depth of the rocks was around 3-4 inches. I added soil/plants on top of my contraption allowing the tubing to hang over the side of my pot. I am hoping that the rocks will allow good drainage to my soil and that I can siphon off extra water in the bottom of the pot as it collects. I just put this together yesterday so I can't attest to how well it works, but I am hopeful since I read reference to this method earlier in the thread. As a last note, the tubing doesn't look pretty coming out of it, but I hope plants will cover it up. I am also worried that the tubing will be yanked out of the soil, so I think I will tape it down to the back of the pot....See MoreContainer with drainage holes, but no air ventilation
Comments (9)emisanwald, i know the struggles of overwatering on a hot hot day T__T or should i say my tomato plants have felt the pain. thanks for your advice, i am going to make the holes bigger but i guess my main problem is should i just get rid of the drainage container all together or try to somehow increase the gas exchange capacity of the container. Mrblubs - the pot actually has drainage holes that drains the water into a separate container beneath the actual pot. jentsu - i'm really worried about mildew forming and i'm definitely going to increase the drainage hole size, but worried that it won't drain properly because the drainage container is (kinda) sealed to the bottom of pot. Al - thanks for you reply Al! i feel as if i'm talking to a container gardening god haha. Your advice has been reposted on a lot of different gardening forums/websites and has helped me understand a lot. I guess what I'm curious about is when water is being driven up the soil through either the plant or properties of the water, does a significant amount of air enter from the bottom drainage holes of a typical container, or does the majority of gas exchange happen at the top of the soil's pores? I am planning on using your container soil mix, but just worried that the drainage/aeration of the container might be too poor to grow anything....See Morejeannie7
14 years agobekwud
3 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agoUser
3 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)