Quick question for soil growers

[RoyMoss1987]

Hey guys, does anyone line the bottom of your pots with anything to help with drainage? I had a friend suggest rocks or sticks just lining the bottom, but I haven't read anyone say anything about it in all the things I've read.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I started with the fabric pots and am so glad I did...
Much better than clay or plastic
But when I did use plastic I did put some gravel in the bottom

 

[RoyMoss1987]

I started with the fabric pots and am so glad I did...
Much better than clay or plastic
But when I did use plastic I did put some gravel in the bottom

I tried looking for them at my local garden shop, but all they had was coconut husk pots, which I had not heard of. Where did you get them?

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I tried looking for them at my local garden shop, but all they had was coconut husk pots, which I had not heard of. Where did you get them?

Local hydro shop...maybe call around, Amazon does also but seemed spendy, are like $2.00 for a 5 gal localy

 

[RoyMoss1987]

Unfortunately there aren't any hydro shops around here. I thought maybe using a layer of perlite might help. What do you think?

 

[Chris Scorpio]

That would work...or mix it in the soil....helps that way also

 

[RoyMoss1987]

That would work...or mix it in the soil....helps that way also

I did both for my starting soil for a seed I have germed so I feel better that it will work. My first and current plant was not done properly and it's been a headache. Thanks for helping me out!

 

[Mayne]

Before you fill your pot with soil, put a small flower pot bottom, ( next size down ) in up side down with more holes drilled, then fill the pot with your soil. The root NEVER will sit in water. I will post a pic tomorrow of what im talking about.

Of course, this is with the plastic pots. As for fabric, it might still work as long as its round i suppose.

 

[pontiacman]

I use hydroton pellets. I mix with soil. Can be cleaned and reused.

 

[RoyMoss1987]

Before you fill your pot with soil, put a small flower pot bottom, ( next size down ) in up side down with more holes drilled, then fill the pot with your soil. The root NEVER will sit in water. I will post a pic tomorrow of what im talking about.

Of course, this is with the plastic pots. As for fabric, it might still work as long as its round i suppose.

That may work perfectly actually. A buddy just gave me several sizes of plastic pots, and never sitting in water means less chance of root rot...so that sounds perfect.

I look forward to seeing the picture to confirm what I think you're talking about.

 

[Mayne]

Here you go Roy, you lose some room in the pot, but your roots will never sit in water. You can also put in some fabric if you want so the roots dont sneak into the holes, but the bulk of the roots, wont ever sit in the water with this method. Hoped this helped ya out bro,.

 

[RoyMoss1987]

I like that, I'll give it a shot with this next one. Thanks for the pictures!

 

[RoyMoss1987]

Here you go Roy, you lose some room in the pot, but your roots will never sit in water. You can also put in some fabric if you want so the roots dont sneak into the holes, but the bulk of the roots, wont ever sit in the water with this method. Hoped this helped ya out bro,.

Thanks again! I didn't have one size down exactly, so here's what I ended up doing:

I filled the gap with Perlite and then put my mix in. I think it'll work quite nicely.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Hey guys, does anyone line the bottom of your pots with anything to help with drainage?

If I want to help with drainage, I'll mix 25% perlite (or thereabouts) all through the soil.

If I am concerned that the hole(s) in the bottom of the pot is(/are) too large and that I might see a relatively significant amount of the medium get washed out when I water, then I might place something in the bottom of the pot. A piece of screen, maybe. But since I often use containers that started life as something other than a houseplant holder (buckets, trash cans, big yellow cat litter containers, et cetera), I generally make the holes myself and just don't make them too large.

YMMV, of course. I used clay pots a few times some years back (quit due to salt buildup on/in the pots' surfaces... didn't feel like buying a giant chili pot just to boil the clay pots in white vinegar in, then worry about whether there'd be acidic residue from that which might screw up the pH), and the holes in those were fairly substantial. I just used broken pieces of a handy (<SMASH!> ) donor clay pot for that.

If you mean... putting a layer or something in the bottom of the pot for any reason other than you've got overly large holes in the bottom and your medium will wash out... No. The space inside my pot is reserved for my plant's roots and the medium they grow in.

 

[Koren55]

Amazon has them, just do a search on Fabric Pots. They run about $9.95 for five 5 gallon pots, with Prime free shipping.

Koren55