Choosing The Right Plant Container
Choosing the right plant container depends on several factors. Let’s dive in and explore the most crucial ones to ensure your plants have a happy home:
- Porosity - Containers can be porous, like clay and terracotta, semi-porous, like wood, or non-porous, like metal and plastic. The more porous a container is, the quicker it will lose moisture and require watering. For some plants, like cactus and succulents, porous containers are really beneficial while others prefer the increased moisture of a non-porous pot.
- Weight - Make sure that the container can support the weight of the plant. Choosing a container on aesthetic appeal alone can make it tough for your plant to get the support it needs.
- Drainage - Perhaps the most important plant container consideration is drainage. Every pot must have drainage holes in order to keep the plant’s roots from sitting in standing water. If you love a pot that doesn’t have drainage holes, you can either (a) drill small holes along the bottom (or side near the bottom if the container is sitting on a flat surface) of the pot, or (b) pot the plant in a plastic pot with drainage holes and place that pot inside the decorative pot so that you can take it out when watering. An inability to drain freely is an invitation for root rot so don’t overlook this important consideration!
- Color - Dark-colored pots will absorb more heat and dry out quicker than light-colored ones, so be mindful of this point for any pots that sit in sunny spaces.
- Size - Choosing the right-sized container is easy if you follow a few basic steps and is essential to making sure the plant’s roots have the space they need. The main considerations are really just depth and volume. Bigger pots require less watering but too much space could also encourage root growth at the expense of flowering. As a general rule, give small plants a pot that is 2-3 inches in diameter wider than the root ball of the plant, and for larger plants use 3-5 inches as a guide.