P for Plants, P for Pots

 Hello gardeners,

we have seen pots being used to grow all different kinds of plants since we were kids. But do you know that containers are being used to grow plants since the time our ancestors started setting and living in a society. Containers have evolved since then to what we see today. Container gardening makes way to imitate nature in our very own home, even at places covered with concrete.

Growing plants in containers are not as simple as it seems. When grown on earth directly plants will have supply of all the moisture and nutrients around them, but when it comes to growing in containers there is restrictions to both supply and growth. But container gardening has advantages of its own. They are compact and hence, saves space, they provide scope to grow plants anywhere and everywhere, they can be carried around easily, etc. So, in this post let us learn everything related to container garden.

There are different types of planters of different size, shapes, material. There vases, bowls, pots, jars, mugs, etc., made of mud, plastic, terracotta, cement, fiber, fabric, stones, etc.

terracotta pots

                            stone planters                          

Plastic pots

ceramic pots

   

How to choose among these wide range of planters?

Well all one needs to keep in mind is WHAT you want for and WHERE you want for. While choosing planters for interiors fiber or plastic ones makes shifting easy, ceramic ones adds beauty and terracotta ones adds beauty and also provides good aeration (through their micro pores and by absorbing some amount of moisture) and keeps the media cool. While choosing for outdoors cement and terracotta plants have more life compared to plastic ones, but of course if one needs a lighter one for easy shifting and movements you can cross out cement ones since they are too heavy and choose fiber or plastic ones. For growing trees, fruits, vegetables, tall plants grow bags can be your best mate. For hydrophytes, one can choose glass vessels, for succulents a low-profile wide planters will do good and for trailing plants a hanging pot can be used.

How to prepare potting mix?

Preparing a pot doesn’t just mean filling the planter with soil. For starters, get to know the soil texture. Moist the soil (do not make it completely wet) and feel it between your thumb and fore fingers. If you feel smooth, the soil is rich in silt; if you feel sticky, it is rich in clay; if you feel course, it is rich in sand. Knowing the soil gives us idea on how much of what to add. A good garden potting mix should be loamy, with good drainage and water holding capacity. To prepare a good potting mix use soil, sand and coco peat (or compost) in the ratio of 2:1:1.

How to prepare a pot for planting?

Before plating it is important to make sure that the container has good drainage. Make sure the planter has a drainage hole, if not try to make one and add potting mix. If the planter doesn’t have a drainage hole and even you can’t provide one make sure to layer with gravel stones, charcoal and sand before adding potting mix so that excess of moisture can be drained and absorbed.

If you are planting cuttings, propagules or plantlets fill only ¾th of the planter and fill the other ¼ part later after planting, and if you are sowing seeds fill the planter and sow the seeds at a depth twice that of the seed’s width, if seeds are too small just sprinkle them and over it spread thin and even layer of potting mix. Make sure to leave an inch or a few cms of space above the media so that when watered the water does not just overflow.

 

 Pot with drainage hole

Drainage in pot 

  without drainage hole 

Watering:

As mentioned in the last post, water only when the top layer is completely dry. You can know this by inserting your index finger into the media. Indoor plants will require watering only once every fortnight or once every week during summers. Outdoor plants require watering every alternate day or even every day during summers. Make sure to have a dish/plate below the planter so that it can collect drained water.

Fertilizing:

Since containers will have only some quantity of nutrients, soil nutrition has to be enriched regularly at an interval of 2-3 months. One can fertilize by mixing compost during re-potting or by applying liquid fertilizers like seaweed solution (3 ml/litre of water).

Soil loosening:

Make sure to loosen up top soil, by raking every two months when the soil gets hard and color of top most layer of soil changes, for good aeration and water absorption.

Re-potting:

Re-potting is one of the major process to be followed in case of potted plants. It is important to make sure proper root health and also to provide proper space for its growth. Water the plant an hour or two before re-potting to make sure soil comes out easily. Loosen the soil at the edges of the planter without causing damage and take out the whole plant with the media. If the plant has grown out of size for the present container, place this in a new container layered with potting mix and add extra potting mix to fill. If not, after removing the plant loosen the soil without causing damage and replant it to the same container. Make sure to water your plant after re-potting.

Container gardens are easy to maintain yet attention requiring at the same time. With right knowledge and interest one can beautify anyplace indoors or outdoors, balcony or terrace with container gardens. Since now you know what to do why wait anymore? Start right now and let me which plant you started with and about your experience.

Take care

Grow plants

XoXo

 

PS: Please let me know in the comment section about how informative and useful this post was to you and also, what topics you want me to discuss in the new post.