Last fall I planted several different lettuces in one of my raised beds. They were very small plants when the first hard freeze came in early Dec. Before the freeze I covered them with remay cloth and about 3 inches of leaves with some wooden boards over the leaves to hold them down. About 3 weeks ago I uncovered the beds and found lots of seedings that were alive. Even though they looked pretty bad I transplanted several of the healthiest into another bed that I'd amended with chicken manure compost. They immediately began to grow and I'm sure that we'll be eating salads by the 1st of April if not before. This is the second year that this technique has worked . Love those salads!

The walls of that pot are pretty thin to support much water. The only way I can think of would be to coat the entire inside with the Epoxy paint to essentially create a pot within a pot. Otherwise, the water pressure on parts not covered would force the edges of the crack to separate. The Epoxy would not be damaged but the clay would crumble and split. Most Vietnamese pots are for plants and are fired at fairly low temperatures which means they are not particularly strong and water soaks into and through the walls like a sponge. Changing temps cause the water to expand and crack the clay. That is why they are coated on the inside with tar. It makes them waterproof. If the coating on the inside was not black I suspect it might have been latex paint which would be a lot cheaper and thinner and less weight to ship. It is also more likely to let water through. Pots from Mexico are fired similarly to the Vietnamese pots and are just as fragile but not quite as expensive. Pots from Italy are much more durable since they are fired at a higher temperature, making them harder. The kind of clay makes a difference as well. The pots I lust for are made in the southeastern USA. but I can't afford them. Other than buying a new pot, you might look for a plastic nursery pot to set inside the clay pot. That would remove all side pressure from the clay pot. You would have to seal up any drainage holes with Great Stuff. Perhaps one of the small pond or barrel liners would fit.

Normally, only cracks and holes would be filled during prep. The examples you show can be improved by sanding and spackling, but it would be very time consuming and there would still be imperfections.

Pretty nearly impossible to accomplish an actual repair to splits (I take it you mean the panels) without disassembling. To get any glue to hold, the surfaces have to mate up closely and be clean. Hopefully these aren't old cracks that are full of paint, caulk and dirt. I have sometimes had success by striking the "raise" molding of the panel with a hammer and block of wood to free up the halves of the panels from their plowed slots in the sticking of the door. This allows the gap to be widened temporarily while I clean out the debris. Then the panels are brought together. I lay the door flat and apply tape to the underside of the crack, to prevent the glue from running out. If need be, small blocks for clamps can be hot-glued to the surface along either edge. I use epoxy for these repairs. Try not to glue a panel into the frame; stop the glue short of the ends. When the glue is cured, the excess can be scraped and sanded off. If you mean surface checks in the sticking of the door, then these are seasonal and may close on their own in summer. At that point, having the door fully sealed will prevent the from opening up every winter. Casey