Pots and Container types

Pots for Indoor Plants.

These are pot covers as they dont have drainage holes, so you dont get water on floors and furniture.

Typically the plant is in a plastic pot which fit insides these ones.

Not suitable for plants outdoors, as they will become waterlogged

 

From Glendoick owner Kenneth Cox's book Gardening Made Simple
You can grow plants in a huge variety of containers, made from many different materials.

Drainage

Outdoor containers must have adequate drainage holes at the bottom to let the rain out…and these not be allowed to become blocked. Broken pots and coarse materials at the base of the container help keep the drainage open. To increase the number or size of drainage holes, you may need to melt (with a soldering iron) or drill containers.

When repotting plants which have outgrown their container, add approximately 5cm to the diameter. For example a 20cm diameter pot move to 25cm. 

Pot bound plants where the roots fill the whole pot may need to have the roots teased out to help them to grow into the new soil when repotted. Newly potted plants need more looking after: water, feed and wind shelter. Best to do it in Spring or Autumn.

TYPES OF POT

• Clay or terracotta   

• Attractive, but tend to dry out more quickly than plastic and unglazed terracotta pots are also prone to cracking caused by frost. In colder areas select frost-proof pots and stand pots on 'feet' over winter to prevent them sitting in icy water which can crack them. 

• Glazed Pots... in almost any colour.

• Our best selling pot range, Frost resistant.

• Large and small and it many shapes.

• Plastic  

• Much lighter than clay pots, and don't dry out as much.

• These days some plastic pots can look very realistic and you can be hard pressed to see that they are not clay or metal.

• Plastic pots are great for hanging on railings and on walls.

• Metal  

• Often gives a more contemporary look and they are frost-proof and won't dry out like clay.

• They can heat up quickly in summer, and likewise, are very cold in winter.

• They tend weather and corrode giving effects which can look attractive and/or distressed. 

 

• Wood  

• Attractive but does need maintenance (wood preserver) to prevent rotting. Half barrels are popular but are heavy when filled and hard to move.

• Household items such as old pots, baths, jars and tins can make quirky containers.