Making a drainage hole in ceramic pot
16 years ago
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Soil 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 MoreCeramic pots & drainage question
Comments (5)That they appear to have no holes or They have no holes? I would be very leery of growing plants with no drainage. As is mentioned, terra cotta does dry out faster, but that's no substitute for a drainage hole, particularly since TC is so easy to drill, with just about any drill bit (glass.tile, masonry, even high-speed steel if you have to). The plants will live, but they don't do well in the long-term, so eschew holeless plants is my advice....See MoreVintage ceramic planters w/o drainage holes
Comments (9)Trust me, I do this all the time...start slowly from the outside until you barely poke through and finish it off from the inside. Forgot one of the most important parts of the drilling... keep the tip of the drill bit wet with water.. a puddle of water on top of the pot is must. It keeps the dust down, cools the bit and just makes for a better cleaner job! This post was edited by bikerdoc5968 on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 14:04...See MoreOutdoor flower pot w/o drainage holes???
Comments (11)Tmelrose, I'm glad all our 'helpful advice' didn't send you running for the hills! I, too, miss my grandparents and all the gardening knowledge they had in their heads. I would like to think I absorbed a lot of their knowledge when I was helping them in the garden, but it still would be nice to be able to ask them questions at times. In my neighborghood when I was a kid in the 60's, we had some of those 'little old lady' gardeners who always wore big floppy hats and gardening gloves. Being ladies, they always wore cotton housedresses outside, usually in floral prints. I always thought that they had beautiful yards, especially their flowers, and wish I had picked their brains to learn all their secrets too. They were so sweet and kind and so tolerant of all the questions kids ask, and I do remember that their pure love of gardening just oozed out of their pores. I would like to think there is a bit of them in each of us, even though we share our experiences and ideas now over the internet instead of over the backyard fence. Susan, I always have a lot of plans for things I never get around to doing too. Maybe all gardeners are that way. Having an unfinished 'to do' list or a 'list of plants to try' always keeps me occupied in the winter....when I think, of course, that "in the spring, I will get to that", although I usually don't. And, I have yet to meet a single gardener who thinks their landscape or garden is "finished" or "done". They always have a mental list of things to do and things to try. Even my rural neighbors who are lifelong farmers/ranchers/gardeners and are mostly in their 80s and 90s now always have something new they are going to try "this year or next". Dawn...See More- 16 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)