How to choose the best pots for your plants.
Choosing the best pots for your plants is as important as caring for each one of them properly.
When choosing pots for plants it’s important to consider these 4 aspects;
- Size
- Drainage
- Material
- Style
They are all as equally as important for the health of your plants!
It takes a bit of an eye, (and knowledge too), to be able to pick a pot that suits the plant’s needs, its aesthetic values, as well as the style of your home!
But don’t you worry! I am sure, that after reading this article, you’ll have the knowledge you need to make the right decision for your plants and your home!
A Snake Plant in a glazed ceramic pot without drainage holes.
Even though I always preach the importance of drainage holes, I am not particularly worried about Snake Plants not having drainage holes. These plants are almost impossible to kill! They require very little water, and do well in low light conditions. Drainage is not an issue when plants such as this one don’t get watered too much and too often!
size
Let’s start with the basics; Size.
Size matters! (We all know what, right?).
The only reason why you’d want to repot a plant the moment you take it home from the store, is because you don’t like the pot it’s currently planted in.
It is rare you would need to repot a brand new plant into a bigger pot, (unless it was neglected by the store’s owners).
And even if you just wanted to change the pot from the standard greenhouse plastic one, to a nicer pot, I strongly recommend you give your new plant a couple of weeks to get used to the new space before, your repot it.
It is a big environmental shock for any plant to go from a space to a different one, with different light and humidity conditions.
I also recommend you consider the season before you repot your plant. If it’s winter, perhaps, just be patient, and wait until Spring.
Once your plant has settled, and Spring has come, you can repot it into a different pot.
If the plant has grown bigger to the point its roots are cramped into its current pot, you can plant it into a bigger pot. How much bigger? Keep reading!
If the plant is still two weeks old, and pretty much the same size, repot it in the same size pot.
When repotting you need to consider;
- the soil appropriate for the plant your are dealing with,
- the proper size pot,
- a pot with the proper drainage.
You can find pretty much any soil mix at any big box stores.
As far as size goes, we will discuss it here below.
And for drainage, you’ll have to wait until the next section.
One of the main aspects of choosing the best pots for your plants, is choosing the right size pot.
The rule of thumb is to always go up one size, max two, (example; if your plant has outgrown a 4″ pot, you’ll want to repot it in a 6″ pot. Avoid placing it into an 8″ pot straight away!).
If you go too big, you risk to actually damage your plant. How?
Too much soil for little roots. The extra soil will retain more water, promoting root rot.
In addition, the plant will be spending more energy growing roots, rather than developing stems and leaves.
Having said that, it is important you document yourself on the particular plant you intend to repot, as different plants, have different needs.
For example, certain plants, such as Peace Lilies, enjoy being root bound, (having cramped roots inside their pots), and as such, they don’t need to be repotted for a long time, even when it looks like their leaves are bulging out of the pot.
Large houseplants can reach a pot size plateau; for example, Strelitzias, can be repotted until they reach the 14″ pot size. After that, there is no need to repot them anymore.
Photo Credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash
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drainage
Choosing the best pots for your plants means making the best decisions for the health of your plants. That’s why, choosing pots with proper drainage is oh! so important!
I even devoted an entire article to Plant Drainage! I recommend you read it to learn all the details.
I know it can be overwhelming to choose the right pot when you have to consider so many aspects, but if I can narrow it down to the one most important thing to consider, I tell you to go with drainage!
Pick a pot with draining holes!
If your pot doesn’t have draining holes, your plant can get water logged, and eventually die.
Now, there are ways to get away without drainage holes, and being able to use the beautiful pot you fell in love with.
(You can click here to find the 4 Ways to Plant in Pots Without Drainage Holes article).
However, my first recommendation is to always go with pots with draining holes.
Photo Credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash
material
Another important aspect of choosing the best pots for your plants, is pots material.
It seems like all the literature available on this subject, is agreeing on ceramic being the best pot material for plants, followed by plastic and terracotta.
I tend to disagree on this opinion, solely based on my personal experience with INDOOR plants.
And that’s probably where the literature is not relevant enough to this subject, as it seems that most articles on planters material have been written for outdoor plants.
Based on my personal experience with indoor plants, terracotta pots are the best pots for houseplants.
It’s true, terracotta is quite porous, and tends to dry the soil out much faster than other pots, like plastic and ceramic, but considering the controlled conditions of indoor environments, it is not much of an issue.
In addition, the great majority of terracotta pots have drainage holes, while the great majority of ceramic pots don’t.
The advantage of ceramic pots is that, they are glazed inside and out, and for this reason, are less porous than terracotta pots, allowing them to retain moisture for longer periods of time.
Plastic pots, on the other hand, are lighter, virtually indestructible, come in every possible shape and colour, and always have the best type of drainage. However, they have no porosity at all, retaining moisture for even longer periods, which can become risky if the excess water is not removed from saucers, or, if the pot doesn’t have drainage.
But, let’s look at these material’s pros and cons in detail here.
terracotta
Terracotta means Baked Earth in Italian.
It is unglazed, porous ceramic, made from clay.
There are some more expensive inside glazed terracotta pots, designed to prevent excessive loss of moisture. They are probably worth the cost for outdoor plants and flowers, but not for indoors.
PROS
- Fairly inexpensive.
- Quite porous, and as such, suitable for plants that thrive in dry soil.
- Great drainage.
- Neutral and attractive colour that goes with every plant.
CONS
- Easily breakable when mis-handled.
- Crack in cold outdoors winter temperatures.
- Heavy containers, especially when large pots are filled with soil.
- It can be too porous for plants that thrive in moist soil conditions.
ceramic
Made from finely textured clay, that is subsequently glazed, both inside and out.
The pots are fired at high temperatures in kilns, which reduce their porosity.
Lower porosity means that the soil retain moisture for longer periods of time, loosing less moisture than terracotta pots.
Because of this, ceramic pots, are more suitable pots for outdoors plants.
The soil can dry out much faster in hot outdoors summer conditions, rather than indoors, where the climate is controlled in most homes.
PROS
- Less breakable and more durable than terracotta pots.
- Less porous than terracotta pots, maintaining moisture for longer periods of time, making it suitable for plants that thrive in moist soil.
- They come in many different colours and shapes.
CONS
- Expensive.
- Not many of these pots have drainage holes.
- Heavy containers, especially when large pots are filled with soil.
plastic
Plastic is the default pot material.
It is cheap, it is indestructible, and it has the best drainage. Some plastic pots are quite attractive too!
However, even though they have the best type of drainage holes, it doesn’t mean they are the best pots.
Plastic has no porosity, meaning, no breathability for the roots.
If a plant is planted in a plastic pot, with great draining holes, and this pot is placed inside another, more attractive pot, to cover the less attractive plastic one, there is great potential for plant damage.
How?
When you water your plants, most times, some water drains out of the draining holes.
In the case of a plastic pot inside another pot without draining holes, all the water will accumulate at the bottom of the latter. If not emptied, the water will become stagnant, and with time damage the roots.
If the plant was inside a terracotta pot, instead of a plastic one, the excess water would be absorbed by the terracotta, and released as moisture into the air.
PROS
- Inexpensive.
- Light.
- Attractive colours and shapes.
- Excellent drainage.
- Non porous and ideal for plants that thrive in moist soil.
CONS
- Non porous
Photo Credit: Vera Cho on Unsplash
style
Now the fun part!
Choosing the best pots for your plants also means matching “plants personalities” and aesthetics to pots styles, making sure that the combination of the two, suits your home style.
There are several ways to do this.
You can group different plants, and find common themes and coloured pots, or you can group the same type of plants and plant them in completely different styles of pots.
Read my article on How to Pick a Pot for Your Plant and Your Home for details on choosing pots for your home.
Whatever you do, make sure you always prioritize proper drainage, size and material.
Don’t forget to be creative with your space!
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